This Article first appeared in
AAC(UK) Newsletter 174
published Summer 2007
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Last updated 04 December 2007
Ski Allergy
Snowshoeing in Carinthia
by Fred Nind
Are you allergic to skis? Have you finally realised that sliding up and down the same hill all day with a plank on each foot is dangerous and boring? Then snowshoeing may be the way for you to rekindle your interest and enjoyment of the Alps in winter. The Snowshoe Meet of February 07, run by Globetrek(§) , introduced the delights of winter walking; snow clad winter forests and summit views that, without the summer dust, seem to go on for ever. Participants don’t even need to bring matching pairs of old tennis racquets with them! Instead they are given modern, lightweight, American equipment with jagged aluminium plates on the bottom which give grip going up or down the steepest slopes. Each is also given a Pieps avalanche beacon, probe and snow shovel and the opportunity to practise with them.
This year the trip was based at the Bonner Hütte in Carinthia under the solicitous care of Wilhelmina and Joop Lessacher. The Hütte has hot showers, bed-rooms like saunas and a curling rink on the pond below the balcony. Every day of the week dawned clear, cold and sunny, with so little wind that some hardy souls even walked in shirt sleeves. ‘Tall Hannes’ and ‘short Hannes’, our two guides, took us safely to the top of a new peak each day
As an alternative to skiing, snowshoeing has a lot to offer. The exercise is gentle, peaceful and sociable and you don’t even have to pay for a lift pass. The only other walker we met in a week in the mountains happily shared his superbly smooth home made schnapps with us. Interested? Give David Hoad a ring on 01635 47342 and get your name on the list for next year before it fills up with this year’s participants returning for more! .
(§ Globetrek is now Alpenverein-Bergsteigerschule)
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Last updated: 04 December 2007