It's your first time ski-touring - Alpinschule OASE-Alpin

We stood at 2540m before a slope covered with old snow, the Hintere Ackerlen. This was
where we were going to learn the art of kick-turns (or as they say “Spitzkehren”). This is
essential for climbing up a steep slope. Simon would tack from left to right, and at each
corner, he would firmly set the upper ski at 120 degrees to the lower ski, and then with the
full weight on this upper ski, he would kick the lower ski into the valley, which would then
automatically turn parallel to the upper ski, to be brought in above it. In order to support
the rhythm that I was slowly but surely beginning to acquire, I would triumphantly call the
number of kick-turns we had achieved with an “Amigos” at the end. On that first day, we
achieved a total of 28 Amigos!
We continued upwards through the Seelen Ferner in the direction of the Hintere Seelenkogel
and by about 2pm, we were right up there amongst the glaciers. Simon would call to us
when we should adjust our binding from Position 1 to a higher Position 2, allowing us to
tackle the steeper climbs with more ease.
The glacier was an absolute marvel and in
the distance we could see tracks from other
intrepid ski tourers following it’s edge.
Simon encouraged us to go further “Just another hour, and we’re at the summit”. It worked!
Skis off, rucksacks set down, eyes closed and I rested myself in the snow at 3430m. The
others trolled up the last 42m to the summit cross at 3472m and congratulated themselves
with a hearty Berg Heil!
The ski down was gorgeous…
virgin powder snow and 1000m
drop in front of us. Perfect! Long
swings and short gay swings
(Kurze Schwulenschwunge); we
were able to leave our tracks in
the snow and look back at them
with pride. This is what Ski
touring is all about!
We got back exhausted to the Karlsruher Hütte by 5pm and enjoyed a relaxing sun bath on
their terrace, once we had got our slippers back from 12 British Royal Navy and Royal
Marines on their annual ski tour adventure.
© 2004 :Recollections.doc by Miranda Bellchambers Page 4 of 10