Another powder day on Schildenstein

After how busy it was yesterday, it was another early start for me. Adam and I were at the car park at 7am again, to find it significantly quieter than the car park from the previous day, but at least the weather was better in the morning.

After a straightforward skin up a track we were soon above the main forrest line where we were, and we were greeted with a spectacular descent, less than 30degrees, untracked and deep with powder. Something to look forward to on the descent.

After a quick pause at the Königsalm for some water we continued heading up. This involved crossing a narrow bridge, which felt exposed with skins on, it seemed even narrower on the way back with some speed! The ascent then took us up a ridge line in the trees, this was fairly uneventful but there were a few tricky corners due to being fairly steep in places. We soon emerged at the plateau below the summit, but it was clear that without crampons it would not have been safe to go to the actual summit. So we made do with our “winter summit” and headed back to the start of the descent.

After a quick change in layers, some food and the usual ski touring faff, we tentatively started the descent. The start was probably the most difficult part, and I was soon enjoying winding my way down the ridge, but the skiing definitely did not flow. The snow was fantastic, which was what made it enjoyable, with less good snow it would have been horrible! We soon emerged at the top of the snow slope, and it was as good as it looked, descending untracked powder, with a view of the mountains, on easy terrain, what is not to like!

All too soon we were back below the alm, so after soon food we put our skins back on and made the ascent back up to the forrest descent. This descent was fairly easy, the hardest part was avoiding all the walkers and ski tourers who were now ascending.

As we drove out of the car park the weather really started to deteriorate, so it was great to have made the best of the morning.