backcountry journal
Kuhtai summit tour
mid March 07
At last Mio returned to Europe.
On the weekend we drove to Austria and enjoyed our first back country tour together in far too long. She was gone for 6 weeks and on her second day back she wanted to sleep in a rental car so that we could go touring. So rather waste time and money going out to dinner like a normal couple after a long time apart, we loaded a rental car with boards and mountain gear and headed to Austria. In fact, when I came home from work on Friday afternoon I found Mio struggling down the stairs with a big snowboard bag containing two boards, boots and all sorts of other gear. A very committed girl. After driving for 5 hours we spent that night sleeping in the folded down front seats of a small hatch back with the snowboard bag and dog taking up valuable space.
After the powder of last weekend the weather turned very warm and a spring freeze-thaw cycle started. Unfortunately the snow had not quite turned into corn and we rode incredibly tracked out and re-frozen chop higher up with deep soft and heavy wet mank lower down. The isothermal snow pack was on the edge of loosing structural strength in the lower parts of our tour. Higher up it was ice.
On the weekend we drove to Austria and enjoyed our first back country tour together in far too long. She was gone for 6 weeks and on her second day back she wanted to sleep in a rental car so that we could go touring. So rather waste time and money going out to dinner like a normal couple after a long time apart, we loaded a rental car with boards and mountain gear and headed to Austria. In fact, when I came home from work on Friday afternoon I found Mio struggling down the stairs with a big snowboard bag containing two boards, boots and all sorts of other gear. A very committed girl. After driving for 5 hours we spent that night sleeping in the folded down front seats of a small hatch back with the snowboard bag and dog taking up valuable space.
After the powder of last weekend the weather turned very warm and a spring freeze-thaw cycle started. Unfortunately the snow had not quite turned into corn and we rode incredibly tracked out and re-frozen chop higher up with deep soft and heavy wet mank lower down. The isothermal snow pack was on the edge of loosing structural strength in the lower parts of our tour. Higher up it was ice.
The line of descent Mio and I enjoyed on Saturday. This picture was taken on a prior weekend when the snow was infinitely better.
A side view of the summit showing the nice consistent slope. It is a classic "peak shaped" peak. On the way down I was a bit worried that the dog would wander too close to the cliff.
The positive side was that we had the chance to ride a nice summit in the Kuhtai area without any risk of avalanche in the higher more exposed section of the line. The downside was that the snow was probably the most un-rideable frozen chop I have ever attempted to slide on. There wasn't a whole lot of fall-line turning taking place. 30-40 degrees of rock frozen and incredibly chopped and irregular snow. Very difficult riding. Once on the actual descent line it was difficult to spot the traverse we wanted to take giving access to a more protected steep bowl. As we rode past a corniced cliff we also passed that entry point. Instead we simply cut across slightly lower down, but it meant missing out on a few more turns in better mostly untouched snow. Lloyd was happy and the super firm snow made it easy for him to run down with us on our slow descent. Despite the horrible snow conditions it was a fun tour with access via the side of the peak taking under 3 hours and providing 700m of vertical.
That evening we drove slowly home, sleeping again in the car along the way.
This weekend we collect a big campervan, load it with 6 snowboards, 3 pairs of boots, a pair of skis, a couple of sets of bindings, German beer, topo maps, loads of mountain related gear, myself, Mio and a dog. We then head off for 3 full weeks of back country touring - starting in Austria and working our way to Chamonix through Italy then back via Switzerland. Pretty good timing considering that the snow depth in most areas doubled in the last two weeks and stabilised with isothermal conditions. Then, in the last day alone, between 30 and 50cm has come down. In Austria it fell as reasonably warm and sticky snow which will set-up a slightly more stable interface for what is forecast to follow in the next three days: 50-100cm of -15C powder. And we have a campervan!
Yesterday we used the kitchen table to wax and tune all 6 boards. It took hours.
From the sporadically reliable snow-forecast model:
This weekend we collect a big campervan, load it with 6 snowboards, 3 pairs of boots, a pair of skis, a couple of sets of bindings, German beer, topo maps, loads of mountain related gear, myself, Mio and a dog. We then head off for 3 full weeks of back country touring - starting in Austria and working our way to Chamonix through Italy then back via Switzerland. Pretty good timing considering that the snow depth in most areas doubled in the last two weeks and stabilised with isothermal conditions. Then, in the last day alone, between 30 and 50cm has come down. In Austria it fell as reasonably warm and sticky snow which will set-up a slightly more stable interface for what is forecast to follow in the next three days: 50-100cm of -15C powder. And we have a campervan!
Yesterday we used the kitchen table to wax and tune all 6 boards. It took hours.
From the sporadically reliable snow-forecast model: