New Images - Kitzbuhel

Here are some new images of Kitzbuhel from our trip there in early February this year. There are a few variations on some of these on my gallery website.

Kitzbuhel Churches

Kitzbuhel at Night

Kitzbuhel Hahnenkamm Ski Trail

Kitzbuhel Horn Ski Tracks

Kitzbuhel Horn Tree

Westendorf Ski Welt Area from Kitzbuhel Pengelstein

Westendorf Ski Welt Area 

Crans-Montana Skiing Last Day

True to the forecast today was a fantastic day, albeit with no clouds at all.
We started skiing at the crack of 10am! I was carrying a Mamiya 7 camera, 43mm and 65mm lenses, 8 filters (just in case!), Gitzo Mountaineer 1028 tripod with Manfrotto quick release head, 7 rolls of 120 FP4 and 1 roll of 400 Delta 120 film. I used all but 2 rolls of FP4. Because it was blue sky and mostly above the tree line I used B+W light red filters all day.

I had just one shot on my list, Wildstrubel from the highest lift station of Plaine Morte. I skied to the summit in 2000 but in complete whiteout so I didn't see anything from the top. Unfortunately, the lift was shut because of strong winds, same as yesterday. Everything else was working though so we went off for a few hours finding a few photos along the way.

Patterns on the hillside

Skiing past the Violettes hut

By early afternoon we returned to the lift to the top just as they were starting to run it. What luck! It was jolly windy and very cold at the top, at just under 3000m. The view across the glacier to Wildstrubel was clear as a bell.

Wildstrubel (right) from Plaine Morte

A bit further down I could see a different angle on the shot so I skied a few hundred yards off-piste until I had a clearer view with some good wind blown snow shapes in the foreground.

Another objective was to test Ilford 400 Delta for handheld shots. I took a few handheld and some using my tripod. I also took similar photos on Ilford FP4, my usual film for the last 20 years or so. This would give me 2 stops extra speed = 2 stops faster shutter speed, 1/60 instead of 1/15, for example. This should be enough to ditch the tripod if my back was painful. At least I could then continue taking photos instead of leaving the camera at home. Now I just have to work out how to process it within my exposing and processing system.

Crans-Montana Skiing Day 3

Yesterday we had a full day skiing, but in mostly poor weather. Lots of low cloud and flat light. Today was bright but windy. Just 5 lifts were running in the Crans-Montana ski area and by 1pm it was down to 3. Wind speeds of 115 km/hour were measured at the Violettes mid-station at 2200m. At times it felt like we were back skiing in Scotland with the icy blasts of spindrift, then I noticed there was snow under both skis and knew it couldn't be Scotland!

We finished skiing by 2pm, caught a bus back to our hotel in Montana, dropped off the skis and went for a 4 mile walk around Crans-Montana. The GPS said we had travelled 17 miles while skiing, including lifts.

Here's a couple of phone shots from our walk. The mountain one shows the spindrift being blown off the mountain tops. I didn't carry my big Mamiya 7 camera the last 2 days so I left these as colour shots as there won't be a black and white version!

Montana Lake View

Montana Mountain View

The forecast is good for tomorrow so it's a proper photo day with my Mamiya 7 camera and tripod! Fingers crossed the lifts are open.

Crans-Montana Skiing Day 1

What a contrast to the rain and snow of yesterday. We had a lot of sunshine for our first day skiing at Crans-Montana in Switzerland. It was actually my second time skiing the Crans-Montana area as I had a 5 day ski mountaineering trip starting above Sion in 2000. We were blown off Arpelistock, then skied the Wildhorn, Wildstrubel and Schwarzhorn, all 3000m peaks in the Western Bernese Oberland north of Crans-Montana. Our descent from the Schwarzhorn took us down to Aminona, part of the Crans-Montana ski area.

However, today we started in Crans and worked our way over towards Aminona. The skies were a little cloudy at times but continually changing. I took a couple of rolls of Ilford FP4 120, that's 20 shots, during the day.

Here's one of the Violettes Hut. I took quite a few of this on my Mamiya 7 camera and red filter as the light and clouds changed. The shot here was taken on my phone and edited with Snapseed to give you an idea of what I took on the proper camera.

I'm planning to ski without the camera tomorrow as snow forecast on and off all day.

Last Day Skiing Kitzbuhel - Westendorf Photos

It was our sixth and final day of skiing from Kitzbuhel. We went back to Westendorf so that I could take some photos as I didn't carry my Mamiya 7 camera the last time.

There was low cloud for most of the day so I really only took photos when we managed to get above it. Just one roll of 120 Ilford FP4 film with 10 exposures for the day.

Very flat light for skiing too but we both stayed upright all day!

I forgot to take any pictures on my phone so that you could see roughly what I took on my Mamiya 7 camera. You'll just have to wait and see the final proper photographs!

Home tomorrow, hopefully.

Skiing the Outer Reaches of the Kitzbuhel Ski area

The forecast was a bit iffy for today, but we ignored it and went to the farthest part of the Kitzbuhel ski area anyway.

We started with the now familiar Hahnenkamm and other lifts to reach the gondola from Pengelstein to above Jochberg. From there we worked our way across to near Hollersbach, about as far as the Kitzbuhel ski area goes.

Despite the weather there were some good shots to be had. I didn't have my proper Mamiya 7 camera and my Samsung Galaxy S3 packed up at lunchtime so just this one for today. 

From there we made our way to Pass Thun, caught a bus to Jochberg and then ski lifts up the mountains behind Kitzbuhel.

Late finish today, we took our skis off at 5pm, gps measured 42 miles including lifts.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we return to the Ki-West side of Westendorf, with cameras!

Ski Safari Day to Westendorf

Today we decided to visit the neighbouring ski area of Ski-Welt. Mainly the areas above Westendorf and Brixen. It's not entirely linked with ski lifts and involved some vehicular assistance. 

We started by taking the Hahnenkamm lift at 10am followed by the Steinbergkogel lift. From there we could ski all the way to the valley floor at Pengelstein, a long run.

From here we needed a bus and were just checking the timetable when it turned up. Stroke of luck!

It was just 3 minutes up the valley to the Ki-West lift, pronounced Key West. This took us straight up into the Ski-Welt area.

Lots to go at but we just skied the Westendorf runs and the one down to Brixen. Found a nice little mountain restaurant for light refreshments sitting outside in the sunshine for a few minutes.

Here's a few phone photos. No proper photos as I didn't carry my Mamiya 7 camera today.

We made it to Brixen by 2.45pm and needed a ski bus back to Kitzbuhel. Unfortunately, the next one wasn't until 4.30pm. Linking neighbouring ski areas clearly isn't that important to them despite the marketing claims!

We are not that patient so we splashed a few Euros and took a taxi to the next village of Kirchberg which is part of the Kitzbuhel ski area. It was a long lift from Kirchberg but it took us right to the top so that we could ski down the other side to Kitzbuhel.

We took our skis off at 4.15pm just by the Hahnenkamm lift where we started. What a great day of skiing!

Gps showed that we had travelled 39 miles. Another easy day!

These sorts of ski days where you travel around several ski areas used to be called ski safaris, maybe they still are. It was a jolly good day though, whatever you call it.

Wall to wall sunshine in Kitzbuhel

We had sunshine all day and lots of fresh snow everywhere. Started the day taking photos in Kitzbuhel for an hour or two.

Samsung S3 photo but also taken on proper film camera, Mamiya 7 with Ilford FP4 120 film and light red filter. 

Then up the Kitzbuheler Horn for our ski day. So quiet. Took some photos of the snow covered trees, should be good for Christmas cards.

Found some with fresh untracked snow in the foreground, snow-covered trees, then mountains in the background. Took a few with the wide-angle lens and was just changing lens to take some more when 2 thoughtless skiers trashed my beautiful fresh snow. The whole mountain was covered in deep fresh snow and they had to ski through my photo.

From there we skied all the way down to Kitzbuhel. An hour or two later we were out again taking twilight and night shots. This included an 8 minute exposure of 2 poorly lit churches. Not sure why I bothered, it was perishing cold.

Easy day though, gps said we only covered 19 miles including lifts. Probably 1/3 is lift distance, rest is what we skied and walked.

More snow forecast tomorrow so may leave camera behind.

Snowy Day for Skiing at Kitzbuhel

We had steady snowfall from late afternoon yesterday. It was still snowing for this morning but eased off mid-afternoon.

I didn't carry my Mamiya 7 camera as I had some muscle spasms in my back yesterday. Thought we'd have an easy day. 

Put my gps in my pocket to measure the distance that we travelled, including lifts and skiing. Bit surprised to see we had travelled 35 miles. So much for an easy day. Jan not amused!

Tree View

Google auto panoramic from Samsung Galaxy S3 phone

Kitzbuhel Skiing and Photos

It was our first day of skiing in Kitzbuhel today. Sunny

start as we headed up the Hahnenkamm lift and over to Pengelstein.

Took a while to get used to my new Salomon boots and hire skis.

Surprised how quiet it was for a Sunday. Hopefully even fewer people tomorrow as it's a weekday!

Photos from several places. Decent light for much of the day.

View similar to what I took on my Mamiya 7 camera.

Android panoramic of several images

Kitzbuhel Shadows

Kitzbuhel hotel room view

More New Alpine Images of the Western Bernese Oberland and Matterhorn Areas

Here are a few newly scanned images from a ski mountaineering trip along the Western Bernese Oberland Traverse in Switzerland.

Arpelistock Sunrise Ascent

 Grossstrubel from Schwarzhorn

Schwarzhorn Summit View South 

Wildstrubel View 

Here's a couple from the Saas Fee and Zermatt areas. The Allalinhorn taken while on a ski mountaineering of the Tour of Monte Rosa and the spectacular Matterhorn Sunset was taken while piste skiing.

Allalinhorn Snow Chutes 

Matterhorn Summit Sunset 

New Alpine Images

I have added a lot of new photographs to my web gallery. These are from various trips over the years and include ski mountaineering and skiing.

Locations include:

• the Gran Paradiso area of northwest Italy near Aosta. 
• The Bernese Oberland around Murren. 
• Mountains around Saas Fee, Zermatt and Gressoney.
• Photos from the summit of the Aiguille du Tour near Chamonix.

There are also some aerial shots taken in the Alps from helicopters and in Colorado near Steamboat Springs from a light aircraft. I will do a separate post for these with a few tips as to what worked best.

Jungfrau Ski Tracks

Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau (left to right)

Breithorn and Sefinenfurke (on Alpine Pass Route)

Mont Blanc (right) from Aiguille du Tour

La Tsantaleina and Crevasse, Gran Paradiso

Ski Mountaineering Above the Rifugio Benevolo

Room With a View, Rifugio Guglielmina, Gressoney

Strahlhorn from the Allalingletscher

Weissmies from Schwarzberg Weisstor

Colorado Skiing

The last 3 days we have been skiing in Colorado. Tuesday at Arapahoe Basin, Wednesday and Thursday at Beaver Creek.

All days were cold with poor visibility so I did a lot of skiing and no photography. I didn't even carry the camera, luxury. Can't remember the last time I skied without my Mamiya 7 camera and tripod before this trip.

There was a bit of light around 4pm as we were skiing the last runs of the day so I took these on my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone.

Tomorrow we try and ski at Vail but more snow is forecast. Not expecting to take any photos but will check forecast in the morning before deciding on whether to carry the Mamiya 7.

Beaver Creek views

Colorado Skiing and Hiking

Another 3 days skiing and 2 days walking without my camera gear, but with visits to 3 breweries all in great weather, has helped look after my aching back!

After Keystone on Tuesday we skied Breckenridge on Wednesday and Thursday. Really nice snow on most of the slopes.

Friday we skied Arapahoe Basin but after a couple of runs it was obvious that the edges of my skis needed sharpening to cope with the icy conditions. $15 and a coffee later I had sharp skis and go faster waxing. Really enjoyed the rest of the day. I did see one shot I would have taken on my Mamiya 7 camera if I had been carrying it, a panorama of a mountain range with 2 layers of horizontal clouds above. Took it on my phone but not the same!

Saturday was a rest day as our hosts prepared for their Burns Night dinner party. That went jolly well and we enjoyed chatting with their friends, many of whom have become our friends too over the years.

Sunday we walked around the Boulder Foothills to the Southern Sun pub, part of the Mountain Sun Brewery. The Java Porter was on jolly good form as usual.

Today, Monday 27th, it snowed all day so we walked to the north of Boulder around Mount Sanitas to the Upslope Brewery and a good Stout. Passed a 4x4 car in a ditch beside a sign saying Dead End, seemed quite apt somehow.

Tomorrow is forecast to be a good blue sky day after the few inches of fresh know today. We are planning to snowshoe to Red Rock Lake to try and get a shot I have failed to get in 7 previous visits, because conditions weren't quite right. Our hosts, Rob and Annie, are very patient with me but are hoping tomorrow is the day!

Fingers crossed for a great day!

Here are a few phone photos from the last few days.

A-Basin Clouds

Montezuma Bowl A-Basin

Quiet Slopes at Breckenridge

Dead End Car, Boulder

Keystone Skiing

We skied Keystone in Colorado today. First time we had put skis on in 2 years but it soon came back.

I decided to have the day off from photography and left the camera behind. I already have shots of Keystone and the last fresh snow was 10 days ago and that often makes the difference. Suspect will do the same tomorrow when we ski Breckenridge but snow is forecast for Thursday.

Keystone way really quiet. Huge expanses of groomed slopes with no one on them.

I took a few shots on my Galaxy S3 phone, can't break the photography habit completely!

New Colorado Snowy Images

There are quite a few new images taken in late December and January now on the web. We did a trip around several ski areas and also snowshoed around Rocky Mountain National Park and Indian Peaks Wilderness. It had been very cold with fresh powder snow, then the wind blew! There were several areas of ice footprints formed by walkers, snowshoers and skiers compressing the powder snow before the wind blew the surrounding loose snow away. This left lines of tracks standing above the snow and ice that we were walking on.

Snow Footprints on Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

Ski Tracks on Lost Lake near Nederland in the Indian Peaks Wilderness

Old Tree Stump at Lost Lake near Nederland in the Indian Peaks Wilderness

View from Snowmass Ski Area near Aspen