Ski touring is fun

pizbuin-11
Originally uploaded by ripsaw ridge

I'm happy to report that finally, after two years of effort, ski touring has entered my blood. I can ski well enough now that I hardly ever fall down in a tangle of arms and legs. I do my share of "kick turning," which means my descents aren't as joyful as those of a real skier. But I've found a sweet spot with it. There are just so many places to ski tour here, an endless supply of mountains. And I get to see so much more of the Winter Alps than I ever saw of the Winter Cascades. Adding up the ski tours (and occasional snowshoe tour, which I still like), I have been able to do considerably more "hiking" in the winter here than back in the U.S..

Ski touring is way, way more rewarding than going to a lift area. The few times I went this year were marred by snow-making machinery and icy slopes.

This is a picture I took from the Silvrettahorn, in the Rätikon Alps on the Swiss/Austrian border. I love the party of 5 people traveling on the ridge top. And I love the steep, pointy mountain across the valley.

Fun day at Starnberg

Kris, the boys and I had a great day at the Starnberg Lake. The weather was warm and sunny. The boys took their bikes, and we went to lay on the grass near the water. The boys had a great time running around. We pigged out on raisins and croissants too. There was some sadness because Rowan fell into a creek (he was jumping across it again and again), so he had to take his pants off and wander around in a diaper for a while. Then on the way back his bike tire deflated. We finished the 5 hour visit with apfelstruedel at a restaurant by the lake. The kids got a great workout, and we enjoyed the sun.

Looking forward to more days like that coming up!

People don't go outside...

A short essay on declining National Park visitation...

Overall, the number of people who visit national park sites has been on a steady decline for almost 20 years — with a handful of exceptions. For years, the complaint about parks was a variation of that old Yogi Berra line: nobody goes there anymore because they’re too crowded. But now the treasures of original and scenic America have the opposite problem.

The rest here.

Stephen King's take on ice tools

This was pretty funny:

What I really feel when I hold this in my hand isn't so much the possibility of murder as the gravity of mortal things. It speaks to me of the vulnerability of human flesh, but also of the resilience and determination of the human mind: Lying on my desk, it whispers, "If you need me, I'll be there. If you need to hang all 215 pounds of you off me, I won't let go--if, that is, you plant me deep."

The rest is here.

First day of spring

Sunday was the first day of spring. I went for a morning ski up the Pleisenspitze, almost 5000 feet of skiing up and down, and the views were great. In the afternoon, Kris went out with some knitting friends and I took the boys to Hauptbahnhof to get nacho supplies. We ate ice cream on the train platform and watched trains come and go. Then we went to the English Garden, sat on a hillside near the Monopteros and listened to the drummers down by the river. We ate a butterbrezen, and enjoyed running around in t-shirts with no jackets.

Something I really like here is that because it doesn't rain as much the grass is usually dry. In Seattle you can't lie down on the grass until June, it seems like! Anyway, this is one of my favorite things to do, I can really spend hours on a picnic out there. There was some kind of improvised swing on a tree, it looked like a set of aid climbing etriers (fabric step-ladders). We all climbed up on it.

Just a fun day...