Snowboarding in Austria

It was a last minute plan - how could the plan go wrong?

Well, there was a slight hiccup in the plans when on the first night there was too much of Step 2, which left me more than a little worse for wear for Step 2. So worse for wear, that I found myself in a lodge at 3000m uncontrollably vomitting whilst the snow dumped outside. Definitely a low point in my career as a Man when I had to retreat from the mountain for an afternoon recovery in the Hotel.

Fortunately that recovery was followed up with a bit more of Step 3, then a bit more Step 2 to get back on track. During this turbulent cycle, the skies above St Anton had managed to dump untold amounts of glorious powder. All of which was fresh when we woke up to blue skies on Sunday morning. With so few people on the mountain and waist deep powder fields greeting us, it was nothing short of unbelievable. Hiking across an exposed ridge on the top of the mountain opened up a ride of fairytale proportions - our off-piste jaunt resulting in a satisfyingly exhausting 30min hike out of the valley.

From there - really where do you go? Well, having done step 3, you go back to Step 2 for a few afternoon cocktails in the sun, then back to Step 2, then to Step 3 at the Moosevirt bar - a bar in the middle of the hill where everyone goes to celebrate the kind of smile you only get from the kind of day we'd had. There, you drink and make friends with massive German guys and start dancing on tables. Step 2 done again, then you have to snowboard down the mountain in the dark and - in my unsuccesful case - attempt to snowboard over the now bare roads in the village. (hint: it doesn't work and hurts when you hit the concrete at speed).

Repeat step 2.

Repeat step 2.

Then wake up for the last snowboard of the season, not quite as amazing as the previous day - until we go well off piste and find completely virgin territory where everything just keeps on getting better and better, off piste, through some trees on our way to the bottom. There was a slight issue with falling uncontrollably down an icy shute, then having to scale down vertical rock and hiking for a signifficant period of time and having a daunting feeling we'd have to hike back to the top or die - but that only makes the whole thing more fun. Step 3 again is amazing, unbelievably amazing.

Repeat step 2.

Only step 4 remained.... Make our way to Innsbruck, where BA are too scared to land because of a tiny snowfall, then a bus to munich, a flight to london, a 1 hour wait for our bags, and then the tortous journey from Gatwick at 1.30am to home. 10 hours overdue, we complete the plan, our smiles temporarily dented until looking at the photos again.