jamesdeluxe
Administrator
After skiing at two well-known mainstream ski areas on Monday and Tuesday that had varying degrees of scratchy trails due to continued cold temps for this point in the season, I opted today for a Bregenzerwald local's ski area that tops out at 1600 meters. My hope was that the lower elevation and straight northern orientation would result in softer snow and the bet paid off for the most part. Hochhäderich (pronounced "Hoke Hayd Rick") is a below-the-treeline hill that doesn't offer anything spectacular compared to the two previous ski areas; however, it turned out to be the right call for today.
I've been having on-again off-again challenges with my smartphone on this trip so without GPS support I made a few wrong turns in the Austrian countryside before finding the sign I'd been looking for:
1,200 verts, two t-bars, one fixed chair, inexpensive lift tickets ($29 for the afternoon), and pleasant but not mindblowing views:
Uphill transport for the main part of the ski area is via a parallel double t-bar that has two pretty steep sections where I had to hang on with both arms. They only use the lift on the left during peak periods:
An inversion moved in this week, which is creating a layer of woodstove smog that you can see in some of these pix over the tree-lined trails:
Conditions were transitioning to spring sugar, which skied nicely. It's been too cold lately for corn to develop.
Odd: the terrain on the looker's left of the t-bars is only accessible by hiking five minutes to the ski area's summit. I suspect that there used to be a rope tow or something up there that was not replaced. I followed these three ski instructors:
And admired their impressive form:
After a steep pitch at the top, there's a long runout on this one. You can see the base lodge to the left:
Here's the Panorama trail on the far skier's left:
-- which leads to the Henemoos hut, where it was time for mid-afternoon break:
I ordered the regional brew, Mohren, and relaxed in the sun for half an hour with the other lounge lizards:
40 minutes later, I was back for my fourth and final night in Bezau at the Gasthaus Engel, a pleasant B&B that also has a very popular restaurant where I've dined the last two evenings.
Tonight, I had spinach dumplings with salad and a Franziskaner:
I leave tomorrow morning for a different part of the Bregenzerwald along with my first ski visit to Germany.
I've been having on-again off-again challenges with my smartphone on this trip so without GPS support I made a few wrong turns in the Austrian countryside before finding the sign I'd been looking for:
1,200 verts, two t-bars, one fixed chair, inexpensive lift tickets ($29 for the afternoon), and pleasant but not mindblowing views:
Uphill transport for the main part of the ski area is via a parallel double t-bar that has two pretty steep sections where I had to hang on with both arms. They only use the lift on the left during peak periods:
An inversion moved in this week, which is creating a layer of woodstove smog that you can see in some of these pix over the tree-lined trails:
Conditions were transitioning to spring sugar, which skied nicely. It's been too cold lately for corn to develop.
Odd: the terrain on the looker's left of the t-bars is only accessible by hiking five minutes to the ski area's summit. I suspect that there used to be a rope tow or something up there that was not replaced. I followed these three ski instructors:
And admired their impressive form:
After a steep pitch at the top, there's a long runout on this one. You can see the base lodge to the left:
Here's the Panorama trail on the far skier's left:
-- which leads to the Henemoos hut, where it was time for mid-afternoon break:
I ordered the regional brew, Mohren, and relaxed in the sun for half an hour with the other lounge lizards:
40 minutes later, I was back for my fourth and final night in Bezau at the Gasthaus Engel, a pleasant B&B that also has a very popular restaurant where I've dined the last two evenings.
Tonight, I had spinach dumplings with salad and a Franziskaner:
I leave tomorrow morning for a different part of the Bregenzerwald along with my first ski visit to Germany.
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