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WildSnow.com Goes Euro – Day 8 – Success on the Epic Cevedale

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I’m traveling out to the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow today (looking forward to the Maybell shortcut), over the next few days I’ll give you the unique WildSnow.com take on the latest and sometimes greatest gear. For today’s blog I continue retrospective trip reports from my European travels a few weeks ago. The story so far: we’re staying up at a mountain lodge/hut near Sulden, Italy hosted by Dynafit. We’ve been trying to get up over a lower peak called Suldenspitze and continue to a higher mountain called Cevedale. The terrain is moderate but involves quite a bit of glacier travel so we’re using a rope just in case. Weather has shut us down the last two times we tried, third time’s the charm.

Backcountry skiing in Italy.
Nothing like a long tour in the Alps to work up a good appetite. Luckily the food is good almost anywhere you go. That’s myself (on the right) and Beni Böhm of Dynafit (who skied Gasherbraum II last year). Today a bunch of us from the Dynafit event had done a moderately long tour over to Cevedale, made the summit, and finally got a chance for chow on the picnic tables outside the hut. The day was still cold and a bit windy, but bluebird sky made for a beautiful tour.

Backcountry skiing in Italy.
View of Cevedale from Suldenspitze.

Backcountry skiing in Italy.
We’re supposed to be testing gear so Fritz and I grab Dynafit skis from the selection. The ski room is a madhouse as the event converted last night from a sales meeting to a press event. A bunch of European ski journalists showed up and needed skis, so they’re all trying to get their bindings adjusted and get out the door. As a nod to Dynafit’s gracious hosting of the event, quite a few of us are wearing the brown Dynafit T-shirts given out as swag. Better swag was the ultra-light carbon fiber ski poles they handed out — those things are impressive.

Backcountry skiing in Italy.
On the way to the Suldenspitze, Konigspitze holds the moon.

Backcountry skiing in Italy.
Heading up the glacier to Cevedale, now we’re in the Alps I was expecting. Fritz and I are traveling efficiently as a roped pair. Not as ideal as three for safety, but the possibility of a crevasse fall is fairly remote.

Backcountry skiing in Italy.
Finally, the summit of a real alp! View is westerly, lots more peaks to climb and ski, wish I had a few more weeks — or years.

Backcountry skiing in Italy.
Your intrepid traveler on the way down. Jet lag is gone, the cold I was fighting is over, I’m feeling strong and happy. Tomorrow we’ll do some cultural traveling, then I’ll spend a layover rest day in Austria, then back to the states. Nearly every minute of today I was filled with this feeling of being surrounded by mountaineering heritage. After a lifetime of alpinism, getting back to such roots is a powerful experience that’s changed my view of our sport. If I ever had a smidge of doubt about how wonderful and exciting ski mountaineering is and how much value it brings to people’s lives, that doubt has been 100% erased by seeing a small part of the European alpine culture. Thanks goes to Dynafit and the Barthel family for making that happen! I’ll blog another report or two about the drive back to Austria, but that’s it for skiing in Europe (at least for now.)

Posted by Lou on January 25, 2007 | Filed Under Trip Reports Backcountry 

previous post: Ski Review – Trab Duo Free Rando
next post: Outdoor Retailer – Day One Continued – Dostie on Dynafit, Hang Stove, NTN, More

Comments

3 Responses to “WildSnow.com Goes Euro – Day 8 – Success on the Epic Cevedale”

  1. Jon January 25th, 2007 1:25 pm

    Now that’s a hearty schnitzel.

    Please, eat as much as humanly possible tomorrow – I miss the food over there all the time.

  2. Jon January 25th, 2007 1:31 pm

    erm, never mind. You’re not in europe anymore! *facepalm*

  3. Anthony January 25th, 2007 11:35 pm

    I came across your blog when researching sports blogs – just loved the photography, although I have given up skiing now – too painful.
    It would appear that sports blogs are dominated by the US scene but I am sure that Europe will catch up with you slowly.

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Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information opinion website and e magazine. Lou's passion for the past 45 years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country news and information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

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