Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Update from St Anton

13th February 2012, by Andy Butterworth

Snowy Arlberg - this is Lech on 13 February

Snowy Arlberg - this is Lech on 13 February

Blogger Andy Butterworth of Kaluma Travel updates us on the big freeze, with news from his base in St Anton ...

As St Anton, along with all the other ski resorts braces itself for the
onslaught of children and the “half term” week, most skiers are bracing
themselves against the cold. It is freezing, literally, freezing. -17 to -24
seems to have been the average temperature split at around 2000m for the
last 10 days or so. I’ve never skied in cold like it, not in my 11 years in
St Anton.

However, with this weather we get some excellent snow. Conditions
both on and off the pistes are fantastic. The pistes are hard, frozen and
fast, well prepared every night and great for piste bashing and clocking up
the miles…...if the brain freeze doesn’t stop you in your tracks!

Off piste the snow is staying pretty fresh and every time there is a dusting
of snow, it stays fresh for much longer.

I was lucky enough to go heliskiing the other week…..I say lucky….it
was -28 plus a bit windy so we reckon it was up in the -35’s at the top of
the heli drop (maybe colder!) One of our guests managed to get the early
onset of frostbite on her nose, luckily spotted by the guide. So, even
though we had perfect knee deep powder on a firm set base, a quiet, deserted
pitch and fresh tracks from top to bottom, it was sadly quite hard to enjoy
it as it was so cold. But enjoy it we did and the experience, if you’ve
never done it before, is a great one.

The resort has been quite busy, building up to the busiest two weeks of the
season. The UK Schools half term week, followed by the Austrian Carnival
week – or “Fasching” as it’s known over here. Unlike this time last year, where we had hardly any snow and warm warm weather, we have plentiful
amounts of snow and conditions to keep the snow set for the rest of the
season.

So if you’re sat back in the UK whinging that the 2 cm’s of snow and frozen
roads has brought the whole country to a standstill, spare a thought for us
in the Alps, skiing in - 28 degrees C…...but loving every minute of it.
It’s never too late to book a ski holiday; come and enjoy the best conditions most
locals here can remember for a long long time.

www.kalumatravel.co.uk

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