Saint Anton

Day One
I got into Zurich airport in the morning and purchased a train ticket to St Anton Am Alberg. After the two plus hour train ride, I debarked and hailed a taxi to the apartment where my parents and brother were staying. I found a note on the door telling me where the key was and where I could find my mom’s cell phone in order to call my dad and get my family’s whereabouts. They were just finishing up lunch, so the guide called a taxi and had it sent to the apartment for me. Leaving me 10 minutes to get ready for an afternoon ski tour, I quickly emptied my luggage on the floor and assembled my gear.

As the taxi drove over a mountain pass, I marveled at how large the ski areas were. St Anton was host to a number of different ski areas, yet they were interconnected and one lift ticket worked at many different areas. I found my parents, brother and Tom (our guide) enjoying the sun and waiting for a bill. After the requisite hellos, we went down to the lift and Tom was able to convince the liftie to let me go up without a ticket, since we would be touring up a ridge from the top of the lift and everything would be closed once we came back down.

We got off the lift and skied down to another, at least allowing me to get a couple of turns in and shake the jetlag from my system. After riding up the second lift, we put on our skins and began the slow ascent up the ridge. My parents had recently purchased touring skis and I had to help them get the skins and become familiar with the gear. My brother had been touring a couple of times with me in Washington, but he also needed a quick reminder.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, we were treated with expansive views of the Alps and surrounding ski areas. We de-skinned, snapped a couple of pictures and began the descent. We headed away from the ski area and we were able to find some untracked powder, as it has snowed 3 days prior. Certain aspects were wind and sun affected, but overall the conditions were excellent and we were very happy with the offerings. I can’t recall how many vertical feet we descended, but it was a long and pleasant ski down. After navigating a narrow cat track at the bottom, we ended up at the road where a taxi was waiting to pick us up and there ended day one.

Day Two
We meet our guide at the base area, bought a ticket and took an old gondola up the mountain. After riding two more chairs, we were at the top of a series of peaks and Tom, our guide, indicated we would be skiing off the backside into an adjacent valley. The snow was tracked up, but definitely skiable. After a short descent, we traversed over, took off our skis and followed a couple of other groups up a short boot pack up to a saddle. After eating a quick snack, we put on our skis and began the descent.

The valley was large and magnificent, spanning for miles. The sun had backed a lot of the slope, but we were still able to occasionally find some nice spots. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, yet there had to be at least five other groups skiing the same valley. But the valley was so big, were able to spread out and enjoy the snow. Towards the valley floor, my father was caught in a small, slow moving slough. Nothing to be concerned about, but it heightened our awareness of the mountains and their inherent danger. We poled across the valley floor, getting some occasional turns in and finally ended up at the road, where again, our driver was waiting. We now were going back to our apartment for lunch and getting ready to head to a mountain hut and begin our three day ski tour!