Ski Touring the Untracked Path

It's been almost a year since I've been on skis the last time. For my first tour this season we went on a quick and easy one up in the Hochkönig Mountains of Salzburg, Austria. Even-though it hadn't snowed in a while, there was just enough to make the accent. It was one of the most beautiful paths I've been on so far - blue skies and sun shine made for the perfect day.

Hiking up to the lift station "Kings Cab" took us about 90 minutes at a slow pace. 60 minutes at a moderately fast pace would be my estimate for most people. The path took us through a lot of different terrains, out of the woods into steep fields and back. In total we climbed about 1,265 ft during the 1.3 miles up to the top.

The last few steps took us through a gate of trees and once we were out we got our reward looking at thrones made of wood. Those definitely make for a great summit picture! The slopes were packed that day with avid skiers but we still took a few moments at the top to enjoy the view and drink hot tea.

After changing out of my sweaty clothes and prepping the skis for the downhill I made the first few slow turns. Every year my adrenaline pump goes into overdrive on the first few glides down the slope and this time was no different.

We stayed on the slopes for the first mile and the second we skied down a trail back to the "Dientalm" cottage where we parked the car. All together it took us probably 2:30 hours, perfect for the first tour of the season.

15 minutes of rush and fun downhill is all we got and only because we stopped intermittently but it was totally worth it!