Pictures: Alpine Meet 2016, Dolomites, Italy

lip

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Location
Switzerland
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Meet thread is here. We were three people last year. This year we were a group of four. - So it's clear what we do expect for 2017. ;)

Anyway, on to some pictures:

I started at Friday afternoon from my workplace. And with a sudden rattling noise on the Audi I couldn't locate, but went on my nerves very quickly. So I made a stop underway to get the car onto a lift:
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I was suspecting a loose heat shield, but all was ok on the underside, but the garage guys found a protective layer in a wheel well that had some movement. Fixed in 5 minutes for 10 Euros and off I went...

... trough Austria...
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... and Italy...
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... where the rattling came back. Ack - Turned out later on that it was just the numberplate holder. :rolleyes: :lol:

I did arrive at my Hotel in Moeno at about 0930 PM. - To the best thing in the world after a 5hrs drive:
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Next day, Saturday, meet the crew: Left to right: Mikko (DaBoom), Olex (leviathan), Max (eizbaer)
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Points for most stylish attire went to Olex...
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...while points for most drunken looks went to Mikko: :lol:
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Some skiing and boarding went on, and after that some pause was needed: Hello!
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During this pause I did manage to already loose my 3-day 150 Euro ski pass. After just two hours of skiing! Bravo! - But after some search I found it again. - I was in a small waste paper basket next to the ski hut's counter. - Don't ask.

Anway, back to skiing: One time in the afternoon we decided to head for a long one and go all the way down to the valley in one go. Little did we know the italian ways that the piste would end quite a bit away from the cable car station... cue the international "WTF?" signs: ;)
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... so a bit of walking in ski boots had to be done. - During this I heard no complaints and no moaning. - Well almost none. :lol:
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Ever seen a disclaimer sticker for "Dont put this electronic device close to your brain"? - Well, if you do, take it seriously. Because:
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Mikko in his element: :p
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Anyway, first day was great, weather was ok, doesn't matter if it snows, more important was the lack of wind. Which is always good.

The next day, Sunday, first a look out of my hotel room: Seems the engine in the Audi is triangle shaped. I never knew. ;)
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Today the Sellaronda was on the plan. It's quite a tour, but doable inside a day.

Usual sight:
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Unusual sight: (Only one valley was low enough that the south facing hillsides had some green patches)
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All in all the weather was on the gray side, but as mentioned before: As long as there is no wind even a grey ski day is a good ski day.
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Hey, a rock. So this needs to be done: ;)
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Btw, look at that smug snowboarders face. He and his light shoes...

... so let's make him walk a little in those shoes. :lol:
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Third day, Monday. Yeah, I'm a morning person:
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Good morning and all that, but where's the snow? :blink:
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To adjust to the overnight temperature rise we planned to go to a higher resort for this day in search of a lot of good snow. - But we clearly overdid that:
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Yep, we got badly stuck, in the middle of the road, just a few hundert meters before the higher lift station. No powerful AWD and good winter tires will help you if your forward momentum beaches your car on compacted wet snow. There were no worries that we might be in the way of other cars because who would be so nutty and drive a road like this? Apart from us I mean? Exactly. - But in fairness I have to disclaim that Max did voice his concerns about the road condition quite early on, and even the risk friendly Mikko fell quiet. The problem here was the driver. ;)

Even so after some shoveling we got the car free again, were able to turn it around and then went back the way we came... for about 20 meters: Yep, stuck again. Same problem again with the car sitting on top of compressed snow. We were snowed in. - Ok, time to make a call.
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But after a short time these guys came trough, pulled us out, and then immediately plowed the road infront of us back to low sitting Audi compatible status. How nice.
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After this little adventure we decided to stay at a lower part of the ski arena... ;)
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There the snow was wet and heavy and the exhausted faces clearly showcased that fact. :lol:
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We had planned to be there for only half a day anyway to give everbody enough time to do the drive home or for the location transfer during daylight. - Btw, Olex wasn't with us on the piste today, he took an outtime back in the lodging instead.

All that's good will end someday and it was time to pack up:
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Underway we got mocked by some sunshine: :lol:
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But the great scenery did some compensation for that:
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That's it. Looking back at my pictures I did notice that the main event the skiing is quite underrepresented. I hope the other guys have some on-the-piste videos to offset that.
I had a good time. See ya next year! :)
 
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Picture time! I have some pictures from my phone I can share...

View from our apartment on sunday morning:
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The weather in the dolomites wasn't all that great while we were there (with bonus shot of lip):
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Some nice views some times anyway... have a horrible instagram filter:
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Anyway, Mikko and I made it to S?lden (or Umhausen, to be correct) fine and have a lovely apartment that would have hosted six people no problem!
Today started out with crappy weather as well, lots of snow and fog and things... but it turned out very nice! Even some sunshine while still providing mostly excellent snow!
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A hint of sunshine...
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That's it for now... lip will probably tell the tale of our monday-adventure :D
 
That's it. Looking back at my pictures I did notice that the main event the skiing is quite underrepresented. I hope the other guys have some on-the-piste videos to offset that.
I had a good time. See ya next year! :)

There's a reason for that. Things are even more grey when you want to capture them with a camera. But I should have some (boring) video at least.
 
^ Doesn't matter. Post them anyway. Want to see if I really do look like a pengiun on skis, as Max's one pic suggests: :lol:

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Right, going up for some skiing. Hohehehahaaheeheeho.



"Speed'n'power doesn't work" (c) :clarkson:

No, seriously, i've been sitting in this shit on a Frontera (with 31x15" deep snow donuts), it's unbeliveable, but absolutely no vehicle has drive in it.

Also, Lip at the apline ski resort:

You guys are up there? Hangon, i'll be in a minute..
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Ok, I've pulled some pictures from my camera... cue the picdump! All pictures also accessible here: http://imgur.com/a/fKHbY

Day 1: Canazei / Val di Fassa
Spirits are high despite the limited visibility and not-so-perfect weather (good for the snow conditions at least):
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Some time during the day it cleared up a little... but only a little. Constantly snowing, really.
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Honestly, I have no idea when day 1 turned into day 2 and we went for the sellaronda...
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Doesn't matter though, spirits still high, enjoying the snow!
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... or not?
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ACTION SHOTS!
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After that, we took a rest and hid from the weather in the gondola
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I think all the following pictures are from S?lden...

Top of the mountain? Better take a selfie!
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MORE ACTION SHOTS!!!
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Obligatory: DaBoom climbing things...
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... sometimes taking a swim
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I was there also, I guess:
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Have some final random panorama shots!
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I'll be back with whatever my chinese gopro clone could come up with, maybe tomorrow!
 
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*Looks around in puddle of melting salt* Roight, you just HAD to post thoose, so i could finally die with jealousy. :mrgreen:


[edit] I still have no spare points, somebody cover eizbaer in reps, plz, for the nice footage.
 
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I'll add some unedited video as well. I'll try to edit the rest a bit. This is a full run from Hainbachjoch at 2727m to the village at 1350m following (avoiding) slopes 14, 19 & 22. A bit of off-piste exploring up to about halfway and then the final black slope, leading back to the parking lot & lift station.

 
Damn. That weather change. So unfair. I hate you two. :p
 
well, weather was only really good for the last two days. the two days before that were pretty similar to italy :p
 
well, weather was only really good for the last two days. the two days before that were pretty similar to italy :p

No kidding. It was rather bad every now and then, even on mostly clear days.
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Picture version of my view of the trip as well, the little I have. :)


Like with most Finalgear trips, very few hours was spent sleeping before the trip. Packing up in the evening before very early takeoff I spotted a stowaway. :p
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Played it nice and safe with the schedule. Drive to the airport is about 1h 40 minutes or so and I was at the terminal 10 minutes before baggage drop closed and about 15 minutes before boarding.. :mrgreen: After a lunch stop near Munich we were off towards the Alps. Always a welcome sight this, even if it got dark soon.
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After a long and boring, traffic ridden motorway drive we got a nice finale for the drive. Good thing that the weather was good.
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To the slope action then. The rather typical grey and foggy view for the trip.
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And some lovely snack for the afternoon break.
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Panorama view of the rare glimpse of visibility, with a bonus lip
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More of the same
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A bit of village decor
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From our Sellaronda tour. One of my favorite passes, the Passo Gardena there in the background
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More obscured views
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Coming out of the Val di Fassa area, the weather got a bit different
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The Alpine meet weekend ended in Innsbruck with a failed attempt to visit the great burger place I took Matt to couple years back. After that we continued towards S?lden with Eizbaer to very similar weather conditions that we had in Italy as well. Our place was only 22km away from the S?lden area. But that 20km was a difference of like 3cm of snow in our area during the night vs. 10-60cm of snow in S?lden, depending on height. It kept snowing for the whole morning as well, which made for nice visibility every now and then.. :p
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The upside was "enough" powder on the slopes as well
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Eizbaer, not pleased about the visibility
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Some shadow imagery, when the cloud cover got a bit thinner
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Aaand heading towards great visibility again :p
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On the way back to the apartment
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And as there are a total of two lifts, moving people to the main ski area from the village, things are a bit crowded in the morning...
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Lovely weather and slope conditions in the morning
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Even more lovely dinner at the local village restaurant
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And what we had for a view from the apartment balcony. And the lone sunny day
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Or from bedroom window, on the other side of the house
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Climbing places
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And the rather disappointing finale to our trip. A view we got to admire for over and hour, as the lift broke
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On the way back we got to drive in fair few queues, but this was the most perplexing.
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As this was the reason. I mean, surely that could be moved a bit to the side..?
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Unfortunately Thomas wasn't around, but on his recommendation we visited Tower 66 restaurant near Stuttgart for some good burgers. And apparently I'm a Kiwi now. :D
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Not much to report after that. Traffic cleared after Stuttgart and it was smooth sailing to Frankfurt airport, as was the flight and drive home. Great fun was had again, and I'm in one piece still this time, which is always nice. :p
 
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