Manfred Barthel has died, he was a pioneer of Austrian ski touring, both in his explorations and in gear development of ski bindings.
Manfred Barthel
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Grieskogel is a medium sized ski peak in the western Stubai Alps, in the Larstiger mountains between Sellrain and Hochstubai. You reach it for backcountry skiing via the usual network of roads you find in this area, in this case reminding me of spring skiing on Independence Pass back in Colorado. I’d hooked up for today’s trip with Manfred Barthel, the Austrian alpinist elder I’ve come to know over the past few years. Manfred continues to amaze me with his skill and endurance, not to mention his amazing knowledge of the Alps. He seems to have a sixth sense of where the snow is good, the avy danger lower, or the
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Is slogging up a ski area for five hours the way to start a classic ski tour in the Alps? No. So day one or our Silvretta adventure involved a few ski lifts, which then morphed to an easy short tour leading to the Heidelberger Hutte.
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Backcountry skiing in Austria, you’d better be fast and fit and ready for some really good skiers, fun stuff.
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Fritz, watching out for blueberry bushes and looking quite stylish. He paid me not to publish this, but I had to do it. The Dynafit jacket is too nice not to share. Contrary to rumor, it actually has been snowing…
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Guys, it is indeed a pilgrimage. I knew the ski touring roots here would blow me away, but the depth of the ski culture astounds me more than I ever imagined it would. As testimony to that, Dynafit bindings really…