Hike in the Oetztal Alps

"Team Alaska"

About half of the way through the course, the students and professors travelled up to the head of the valley and took a cable car into the mountains. We hiked down a small glacier, or ice patch, that is also used as a small ski field in the summer. As I watched several young racers run gates under the morning sun, I began looking forward to the coming ski season.

At the top of the cable car, there is a hotel and restaurant, and an exhibit on "Oetzi", the 5300 yr old man found in the ice about ten years ago.

We ate lunch at the mountain hut, Bellavista, ran by the owners of the Golden Rose hotel (our residence in Karthaus). The food, as usual, was delicious and plentiful. Then the more adventurous students (and professors) went on a hike along a ridge above the Hintereis Glacier and back down to the base of the cable car (~500 m descent).

Climbing in "Messner"land

On our one free afternoon, a dutch, a german, an austrian, and an american travelled down the valley to Naturns to another local climbing spot. The area is located just a short hike below Reinhold Messner's castle. We felt almost obligated to climb a nice two-pitch route suitably named Messner Schneider.

We also found the local climber's playground, which must be a busy place on rainy days. The town near the climbing area is much more reminiscent of what one would expect to see in Northern Italy.

Karthaus

Karthaus is a beautiful village in northern Italy in a region called the Sud Tirol. The village is situated in a steep valley at the foot of the Oetztal Alps. The language (german dialect) and the architecture are both a reflection of the village's history. Around the turn of the century it was still a part of Austria.

I was there to attend a summer course in glaciology. The lectures were a comfortable mix of review and new material. The instructors were from Austria, Great Britain, Holland, and Sweden and brought with them a wealth of knowledge. I met many students from all over Europe and made a number of good friends. It was a wonderful place to network and to gain a better foundation for my research. I stayed in an apartment with two other girls, one from Russia and one from Majorca (Spain). We formed a great trio, having late night conversations and trips to the sauna.

The hotel served us an unbelievable amount of food with five course dinners every evening. On several occasions, we were treated to musical entertainment by several of the students and professors playing violin, guitar, piano, tin whistle, and trumpet. A few times after class and before dinner, several of us ventured to the local climbing area (klettergarten). We were greeted with both friendly rock and friendly cows. I also found a climb that made me think of a certain grandmother.

European Efficiency

Everything from the cars, to the trains, to the toilets, are efficient in Europe. Especially in Italy, everyone is crazy about new cars...so they are all very nice and very gas efficient. Pictured below is a Smart car. The size is very practical for an urban commuter, but maybe not so well suited for one who travels often to the mountains.

Verona at last

I made it to Verona a few hours ago and have now been awake for over 30 hours. When I finish here, I'm off to dinner and then bed. Tomorrow will be the day that I see Verona. Maybe some italian clothing shopping is in order. There's no place like Europe to make you feel completely out of fashion. My travels from Anchorage to Italy were relatively uneventful. There were a number of humorous moments that kept me going. On the flight from Anchorage to Verona, I got stuck in a "window seat" with no window and had to sit next to a cantankerous older german man. When I wondered out loud why there was no window, he replied "I do not wonder". Something must have been lost in translation. So, I had a nine hour flight with no window and no company. Luckily, I was pretty tired. I was bummed that I missed out on views of the sea ice that I saw glimpses of through another passenger's window. Although my seat location was unfortunate, my experience with the Condor airline was great. They have real meals with good food that they don't charge for, and lovely little feather pillows for snoozing. They also had a great assortment of beverages. After arriving in Frankfurt, I took an hour and a half bus ride through the german countryside to the smaller town of Frankfurt Hahn. Here I caught my flight to Verona. It's refreshing to be back in Europe again and remember how smoothly everything runs here. If time is spent inefficiently it certainly cannot be blamed on the transportation system. Tomorrow I meet up with a few girls from the glaciology course and we will drive to Karthaus. It's quite warm in Verona and I'm looking forward to getting back into the hill country and cooler weather.

The trip to Europe begins...

My trip started off on an interesting note when the TSA security person asked if I was old enough to be travelling alone. Now, I've been told that I could pass for 16, but I think that anyone over twelve can travel without an adult. I guess that I should take this as a compliment just weeks before my 29th birthday. If you promise to show me some powder stashes, I'll tell you where to find the fountain of youth. The flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage was relatively uneventful (and on time!). We were in the air a little longer than normal due to 150 mph winds. Apparently, we were flying directly into the jet stream. There was a surprising lack of turbulence, but the cloud formations were really cool. It was if we were flying through a river. The clouds, better described as streams of water vapor, displayed waves and laminar flow. I've never seen anything like that before. It reminds a person that similar principles apply to fluid motion, regardless of the medium (air, water, ice).