Since the depth of snow in the Beskydy Mountains is critical for alpine touring / freeride, we decided to go to Slovakia on Saturday January 23. The server laviny.sk shows Chopok (Nizke Tatry) 90cm, so there is no problem. That’s plan but we hope that the site is right, otherwise our skis the will be cut like chips. In the end everything turned out well.
Happy…
Všeťa takes his old Ford, and I can‘t protest against very early departure, the door-bell awakes me at four am. Route passes quite quickly, mainly due craps of staff, especially Chuckies ones. We’re uncertainty watching depth of snow along the road, the green grass in a fact … Slightly after seven get to Jasna and we can see that here is snow at least.
First touch of the Sun
Lounge was enough for the whole year, so we put on climbing skins and go uphill. Chuckie has a problem with nonstick skin, so he rented two belts and unpleasant situation is resolved. The weather is great for usual local conditions, blue sky, and only a few clouds. Only the temperature is around –12 C and the sun is behind the mountain range. We can see rolling inversion from the south to the north, however, successfully breaking it up.
Why I’m doing this, when the chairlift is just nearby?!
We take pictures during uphill, watching rough skiers under the chairlift- there is no sign of the powder and the surface is only ice plates, together with scrub and stones. Several people are in the Meteorological walleye and in Derese too. It looks like the powder layer and thus a pleasant downhill.
Local panoramas
In the last part of the hill is a lift without tourniquet, so we’re using it. We stay here for the rest of a day, because girls are little bit afraid of steep freeride downhills and in a fact, we too. It’s a training for bad conditions at least, snow is hard and crushed.
At the end of day we get some tea and food at local cottage. Then it’s great evening downhill through slope without people and then gets a car home.
Different view
Rushing inversions and freerider
Vysoke Tatry and Zapadni Tatry
Všeťa and Mill, www.mill.cz
