St Anton visit

Billy Mays · 18-02-2020 10:24am

Some12 wrote: »

Last year was my first visit to St Anton with the best snow I’ve skied to date – I vowed to return! Thanks to all back then for teh great advice and suggestions!

Well, my flight leaves Friday morning for another week skiing with my first day on the slopes of St Anton this Sunday! Weather looks like snow falling the full week so I guess a goggle burn won’t be a badge this time. The goal this year is to NOT break bones.

Really looking forward to the Rodeling Thursday night. I expect to do this well lubricated and understand there’s a refuelling pub on the route down! This, however, may defeat my goal of no broken bones...

I was hoping to hit Solden for a few days after but my ski buddy wants to hit Garmisch-Partenkirchen again. Unfortunately, the Kandahar run is showing closed so a speed run looks like a miss.

Anyone else in St Anton next week?

How did you get on?

Heading back to St Anton on Saturday. Long term forecast isn't showing much fresh snow for next week, fingers crossed that'll change

skallywag · 18-02-2020 2:20pm

Billy Mays wrote: »

Long term forecast isn't showing much fresh snow for next week, fingers crossed that'll change

1/4 metre or so due tomorrow, and another 10cm or so Friday, so could be worse.

By the way, you should get the 'Bergfex' app in case you do not have it already, by far the best and most reliable snow sport app in my opinion.

Billy Mays · 18-02-2020 4:25pm

skallywag wrote: »

1/4 metre or so due tomorrow, and another 10cm or so Friday, so could be worse.

By the way, you should get the 'Bergfex' app in case you do not have it already, by far the best and most reliable snow sport app in my opinion.

The thing with St Anton is the snow due this week will be well tracked out by the time I hit the mountain on Sunday. Fresh pow doesn't last long in the Arlberg.

Yeah, Bergfex is my go to weather forecast site

Some12 · 24-02-2020 11:17pm

I’m back after a week in St Anton where I only got to use 3 days of my 6 day pass due to high winds turning snow into a very efficient sand blaster.

Day 1 (9 Feb) was a beautiful day but my old school friend, who joined me from California, managed to hurt his knee 4 minutes into the first run. That was a kick in the teeth!

At the top of the Galzigbahn, I said we’d warm up on a blue (I hadn’t skied in a year) so started leading the way. I stopped for him to catch up and when he did, he popped in front and made a wrong turn to drop a black; I shouted but he didn’t hear.

So, I take the black to catch him and found I could still ski! Then I see a ski & pole laying in the snow. About 50 meters further down the slope is the other set. And about 25 meters further down is my buddy. While I gathered his skis & poles, other skiers had pulled up checking him while I skied down with his gear.

We got him on his skis and slowly made it to the MooserWirt for a beer and to rest his knee. A visit to the clinic & X-Rays later on suggested a Minuscus issue with the warning to stop skiing. His travel insurance kicked in and got him home five days later where an MRI came back with a torn ACL and a cracked Tibia.

I was on my own skiing from the 9th so the three bad weather days were good for beers, schnapps & catching up with an old school friend. We took the train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen on the 15th where a taxi collected the wounded skier shortly after arrival for the flight home. Travel insurance is a MUST!

The snow at the Garmisch Classic was kind of poor, and I was on my own, so only did a few hours there on a 3 day stay. Munich after that was a couple of quiet days with good beer and food.

So... No Run of Fame and no Rodelling (which probably saved me from an injury). And I think my friends wife has a hitman on the way to Ireland.

There was a positive note; I met my goal and didn’t break my ribs this time! Looking forward to next years ski trip!

skallywag · 26-02-2020 1:28pm

I think I know exactly the black you ended up on, is it the one that you need to use to get back to St Anton when the 'motorway' is closed? It's very difficult if it is the one that I am thinking of, also keeping in mind that Anton is anyway ranked as pretty difficult, and has blues that are normally ranked red at other resorts.

How did your friend manage to get down to base, was he still able to ski? What a balls though to happen on the first day.

On an unrelated note, this was taken in a resort not too far away in Switzerland two days ago, really cool, you do not see these guys around much any more ...

https://www.tagblatt.ch/ostschweiz/zwei-woelfe-streifen-ueber-skipiste-in-flumserberg-ld.1197756

a148pro · 27-02-2020 3:27pm

One of my life's ambitions is to see wolves, if I could combine that with skiing would be great!

Amazingly they're on a big come back in Europe and North America, there were reports of them being seen in another ski resort last season, hopefully I'll get to see them yet

Billy Mays · 04-03-2020 10:36am

A week of two halves in St Anton this year

It was about 10 degrees in the town when we arrived last Saturday week. From Sunday morning into Monday it rained non stop, not just in the town but also up on the highest peaks. Packed it in at lunchtime (a first for me) on the Sunday as I was saturated. No fun at all.

Brightened up a bit on Monday afternoon but the snow was fairly sh!te, especially off piste where it was horribly sticky. Temperatures dipped on Monday night leading to a lot of pistes being dangerously icy on the Tuesday. It finally started snowing on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning which improved things a lot. It continued snowing for the next 48 hours which dumped about 3 foot up the mountain.

Thursday and Friday were by far the best days of the week. Visibility was quite poor on Thursday so spent most the day down low in the trees in, at times, nearly waist deep powder. Absolute heaven. The sun came out on Friday morning so got on the first lift and spent the day putting down fresh tracks in beautiful bluebird powder conditions.

Overall a very good week. Started off with the worst conditions I've ever boarded in and finished with some of the best. Plus I didn't hear one single Europop apres song all week

Just to add, that video posted above of the wolves in Switzerland is fantastic

skallywag · 04-03-2020 12:54pm

Yeah, it has been a bad season this year all in all condition wise, and very much so at the lower altitudes. When it is so warm in the town itself it just feels 'all wrong' somehow, and when it then rains while you are out that is just cat altogether. I think rain has to be the worst of all conditions? You can take heavy snow, wind, etc. to a certain point, but rain is definitely the pits.

Anyway, as the injuries we have been noting on this thread go, they are pretty light compared to one that I heard of yesterday. A friend of mine was in a hospital in Austria for a routine op, when the chopper brought in a German lad who had just had a bad ski accident, he broke 6 ribs, with some of them possibly having fragmented. Even two days later he was literally screaming out in the pain from his bed, all the nurses could do was to jab him with morphine when it became unbearable, which thankfully knocked him out within a few minutes. The latest X-rays then showed that some small pieces of bone may be close to penetrating the lung so he had to be brought straight into the OR for a 4 hour op where they put a fibre optic camera into his thorax cavity looking for such pieces. And it seems he did not even do anything spectacular, just a routine fall so to speak.

Those wolves are indeed brilliant! It seems wolves are becoming more and more sighted over the last years. There have been incidents of lynx too, and even a bear a while back. Not all are happy about it though, they can and do play havoc with sheep and other livestock.

skallywag · 13-03-2020 3:55pm

St Anton and Ischgl regions under immediate quarantine effective immediately.

Austrian PM gave a speech an hour or so ago.

Rew · 13-03-2020 5:03pm

skallywag wrote: »

St Anton and Ischgl regions under immediate quarantine effective immediately.

Austrian PM gave a speech a couple an hour or so ago.

No one can leave inc tourists for 2 weeks apparently

skallywag · 13-03-2020 5:04pm

Rew wrote: »

No one can leave inc tourists for 2 weeks apparently

Correct. It is in complete lockdown.

Combine that too with all lifts forced to closed, and all bars and restaurants must close at 3pm latest.

Rew · 13-03-2020 5:30pm

Im leaving Hinterglemm at 6am... hopefully...

skallywag · 13-03-2020 5:34pm

I believe you can.

The announcement basically said that the tourists need to get out of Austria ASAP.

Here is the exact text ...

Ausländische Gäste, „die sich jetzt in dieser Gegend aufhalten“, dürften hingegen abreisen. Sie sollen aber zügig und ohne Zwischenstopp in ihre Herkunftsländer reisen. Außerdem würden ihre Personalien aufgenommen und an die Behörden in den Herkunftsländern weitergeleitet.

Rew · 13-03-2020 5:40pm

My flight has to get our of Munich once I get out of Hinterglemm...

skallywag · 13-03-2020 5:56pm

Rew wrote: »

My flight has to get our of Munich once I get out of Hinterglemm...

PM me if you get stuck, I live in Austria.

Rew · 13-03-2020 6:43pm

I see St Anton have implemented a guest exit procedure where you can get a permit to leave.

skallywag · 13-03-2020 6:52pm

Yeah, just heard that too. Basically it seems that if you are willing to go right now, then you can.

I cant see many arguing against it!

Rew · 13-03-2020 6:54pm

Don't think I've ever wanted to be home more in my life then right now, 6am cant come soon enough!

Then comes the fear for ~5-10 days of did you bring an unwelcome guest home...

Rew · 14-03-2020 3:47pm

Home safe!!

Just heard that Irish who were in St Anton last week have got positive tests so if you know anyone who was in ischgl or St Anton they need to be locking them self’s down.

skallywag · 14-03-2020 4:48pm

Yeah, real panic today in St. Anton.

skallywag · 16-03-2020 12:45pm

Austria in full lock down now more or less, you can leave your home for one of three reasons:

* Absolutely necessary work cannot possibly be done remotely or postponed.
* To buy food or medicine
* To Help someone.

Other than that you need to stay at home.

It's coming everywhere I think ...

a148pro · 17-03-2020 7:16am

skallywag wrote: »

Austria in full lock down now more or less, you can leave your home for one of three reasons:

* Absolutely necessary work cannot possibly be done remotely or postponed.
* To buy food or medicine
* To Help someone.

Other than that you need to stay at home.

It's coming everywhere I think ...

Does that apply in rural areas or just cities? I mean can you go for a walk or jog if you're in city or countryside?

Chances of infection outside without going close to other people must be functionally zero, unless you're touching surfaces other have come into contact with

skallywag · 17-03-2020 1:15pm

a148pro wrote: »

Does that apply in rural areas or just cities? I mean can you go for a walk or jog if you're in city or countryside?

Chances of infection outside without going close to other people must be functionally zero, unless you're touching surfaces other have come into contact with

The rules are for all areas.

That said, it seems that you are indeed allowed outside for a walk, on your own, or with your own family members. Some people are cycling / jogging etc. but on their own, no groups.

Kaisr Sose · 29-03-2020 12:06am

I dodged multiple bullets this season. I had booked 2 weeks in Japan, but had to cancel it as my off piste advertures fell through.

I then went to St Anton in Mid Feb. Crap weather for 2 ays, nearly everything shut. Great snow for two days with a guide (Mario Matts brother Andi, nice guy, excellent skier). Got caught in a mini slide on Schonhraben caused by boarders above. Not buried, just knocked over, but no way was i getting out myself.

I waa due to go to St Anton again or Ischgl on 28 March or sooner. If it was not hearing about the Icelandic travel advisory I might have been over for St Pats.

They let some English employeeals leave today or yesterday. The shots are being called at Federal level. Local authorities have no say.

A formal investigation now underway in Ischgl. They have a lot of explaining to do The night of the full closure of bars, one of them had a season ending party and was rocking. Guests were then told to leave accommodations, with no measures to quarantine them. Some went home, others stayed in hotels in Innsbruck with no restriction on movement.

Not good. Many of Europes cases can be traced back there, including possibly patient zero in the UK.

Some12 · 27-10-2020 11:56pm

skallywag wrote: »

I think I know exactly the black you ended up on, is it the one that you need to use to get back to St Anton when the 'motorway' is closed? It's very difficult if it is the one that I am thinking of, also keeping in mind that Anton is anyway ranked as pretty difficult, and has blues that are normally ranked red at other resorts.

How did your friend manage to get down to base, was he still able to ski? What a balls though to happen on the first day.

Sorry for the long delay in responding!

Yeah, that was the black run. I didn't think it was a hard black - but... I didn't start it thinking it was a blue. My friend hit it thinking it was a blue.

About an hour after him getting up, we kind of slowly skied down to the MooserWirt for a rest & a few beers. Then a limp down to base for lunch followed by a visit to medical where the bad news came in.

As of now, he's had the surgery and is on the mend. Unfortunately, there's no 2020/2021 season for him.

About a week after getting back to Ireland, I got pretty sick and was down for about three weeks. I didn’t get tested but do wonder if I actually had a mild case of Covid.

Unfortunately, with the Covid situation, I think I’ll have to miss the 2020/2021.

St Anton visit

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