today i outdid myself. when i got up in the morning i thought this was going to be a normal skiing day... but no! after my three mates picked me up we went to a ski resort near our town (westendorf) and went up, just to ignore all the normal slopes and dive right into the powder (which felt more like creme brulée today... but not bad!). after only 30 minutes i found myself in a chairlift which brought us up to, i guess, 1800 meters. then we started hiking to the top. 20 long, strenuous (i am a skier, my friends only had to carry their snowboards) minutes, the worst of the day for sure! but as we reached the top of the mountain (1957 meters!!) i was overwhelmed first by the sudden oxygen rush and then by the view. you could look for thousands of miles in every direction! the sun was shining, not a single cloud on the sky... that made the day the best of january.

my way down was less glorious. i basically fell down the first half of it (learning is pain, i know that now...) and managed the second half pretty good... but altogether it took me a long, long time until i finally reached a normal, hard slope again. as soon as my skis touched the slope i started to scream out my joy and my disbelief that i really just rode down a steep powder scarp - my first one! i got two bruises and a hurting nose out of it and i am sure that i am the worst freerider the world has ever seen, but anyway, i did it and i definitely will do it again.