Tony and Dex arrive...

So, I took the nachtbus home from Sylv’s last night. St. Anton being St. Anton, the ‘nightbus’ is actually more like a luxury minibus, rather than a decrepit double-decker with vomit running down the aisle and a Czech au pair sitting, huddled in the corner. This drives through all the outlying villages before depositing you back at the main lift all for the princely sum of three francs, fifty. Apparently, the buses between 1am and 3am are full of drunkards, but I missed all this, being a lightweight and heading home at midnight. The bus drops off in the centre, so I then had a ten minute hike up the hill to home. Y’know, the lift passes here are pretty expensive, but the sight of five or six piste-bashers working high up the mountain at midnight suggests my money is certainly going in the right direction.

It would appear my lie-ins are getting longer. Since we’re here for a while, there’s no point in dashing up the mountain at the crack of dawn. Since there’s no fresh snow, the stuff that’s there benefits from a spot of sunshine on it. My legs are really beginning to suffer, but I’m too stupid to take a day off, so we shall see how long this lasts. Today’s session was mainly about finding as many rocks as possible and hammering my board into them. It turns out I have a bit of a talent for this, and found a number of boulders in record time. My board is currently in for an overnight service. Actually, we sneaked it into the service centre where Sylv works. I leant it against the wall while Tony negotiated on getting his ‘irreparable’ board repaired (whereupon, no doubt, he’ll sell it on eBay for a huge profit). Magically, when I went back the next day, it had been repaired (thanks, Sylv; beers on the way for the boys).

Ah yes, Tony and Dex have arrived. The welcome street parade we'd planned was a bit of a damp squib, to be honest, and in retrospect, it was silly of us to organise it on the same day as the start of the European Powder 8 Championships. Anyway, after hugs and kisses at the station –

Dex: 'Have you been ‘boarding today, then?'

Me: (Glancing down at my snowboard boots, jacket, gloves, rucksack and goggles.) 'No, but the walk from the apartment is pretty rugged.'

– we split to get them settled in to their various accommodations (Dex is living with Sylv in St. Jakob, Tony’s along the corridor from me.). Dex and Slyv grabbed a taxi, while I headed to the bus-stop – which proved to be very much the wrong option. Thirty minutes later (you can walk it in ten), we reached Haus Kohlerech, whereupon we roused Heinrich from his snooze (he denied this, although when he appeared, he was rubbing his eyes, and wearing a very fetching green and white tracksuit/pyjamas and slippers).

We all met up in the ‘Anton’ café later (which will, henceforth, be known as ‘the place with the cute waitress’), and spent some time discussing my facial hair, before heading to Scotty’s for more beer, pizza, then home. It was actually so cold that I nearly died. It was just incredible. Clear sky and, for the first time since Banff, my head was cold even with a hat. Made it home somehow, though.