No we have not gone into hibernation! Just been a bit busy and got out of the habit of updating this blog.
We had a bit of a quite patch after new year but this weekend is the Ice Climbing Festival here in Malta so the place is nearly full. The weather is perfect for such a crazy activity, that is bloody cold!
Today we had an unexpected invitation to go up to the Fredo Kordon Hutte (1700 m) and try the "taxi" service for tobogganing. We got a phone call early on an overcast afternoon-"the sun is shinning on Stubeck- do you want to try tobogganing?" Silly question, Ros would probably have preferred to stay in the warm but we had been invited and it would have been rude......
The drive up to the hutte was interesting, minus 4 in the valley, minus 10 when we got up there. Right from the start we were driving on compacted snow, if you haven't tried driving on winter tyres you wou
ld not imagine it possible. Almost takes the fun out of it The only " moment" was when we met people tobogganing down the road!
We had seen the "taxi" service advertised, seen the vehicle parked when we were last at the Hutte, but never seen it in action. A sort of giant tractor with the widest tracks I have ever seen. The deal is 3 Euros to hire a toboggan 5 Euros for the ride up, a bargain. All the toboggans are tied on behind the tractor, everybody climbs onto the back of the tractor and up the mountain you go. I should have got my camera out before we started as I needed both hands to hold on once we were underway.
For the first few minutes we were in cloud and then suddenly in bright sunshine. A sky of the deepest blue and one of the most amazing views I have ever been lucky enough to see. A 360 degree panorama of snow capped mountians floating above the clouds. For once the words "awe inspiring" meant something, it was hard to take in the scale of the scene before us. I could have stayed there for hours but we had guests to feed that evening so we had to get back. Ros took the tractor back down and was offered a seat in the (warm) cab. I regressed to childhood and tried a toboggan. I think the last time was 1963! well ,we don't get much chance in the UK.
Despite no obvious means of steering let alone braking it was gre
at fun. I only crashed twice before gaining some sort of control. To give you some idea of how long the run is it took me about 20 mins to get down and I nearly caught up with the tractor. Not wearing waterproof trousers was a mistake though, a wet behind and minus 10 is not a good combination. Next time I will be prepared and there will be a next time- soon.
John
We had a bit of a quite patch after new year but this weekend is the Ice Climbing Festival here in Malta so the place is nearly full. The weather is perfect for such a crazy activity, that is bloody cold!
Today we had an unexpected invitation to go up to the Fredo Kordon Hutte (1700 m) and try the "taxi" service for tobogganing. We got a phone call early on an overcast afternoon-"the sun is shinning on Stubeck- do you want to try tobogganing?" Silly question, Ros would probably have preferred to stay in the warm but we had been invited and it would have been rude......
The drive up to the hutte was interesting, minus 4 in the valley, minus 10 when we got up there. Right from the start we were driving on compacted snow, if you haven't tried driving on winter tyres you wou
ld not imagine it possible. Almost takes the fun out of it The only " moment" was when we met people tobogganing down the road!We had seen the "taxi" service advertised, seen the vehicle parked when we were last at the Hutte, but never seen it in action. A sort of giant tractor with the widest tracks I have ever seen. The deal is 3 Euros to hire a toboggan 5 Euros for the ride up, a bargain. All the toboggans are tied on behind the tractor, everybody climbs onto the back of the tractor and up the mountain you go. I should have got my camera out before we started as I needed both hands to hold on once we were underway.
For the first few minutes we were in cloud and then suddenly in bright sunshine. A sky of the deepest blue and one of the most amazing views I have ever been lucky enough to see. A 360 degree panorama of snow capped mountians floating above the clouds. For once the words "awe inspiring" meant something, it was hard to take in the scale of the scene before us. I could have stayed there for hours but we had guests to feed that evening so we had to get back. Ros took the tractor back down and was offered a seat in the (warm) cab. I regressed to childhood and tried a toboggan. I think the last time was 1963! well ,we don't get much chance in the UK.Despite no obvious means of steering let alone braking it was gre
at fun. I only crashed twice before gaining some sort of control. To give you some idea of how long the run is it took me about 20 mins to get down and I nearly caught up with the tractor. Not wearing waterproof trousers was a mistake though, a wet behind and minus 10 is not a good combination. Next time I will be prepared and there will be a next time- soon.John
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