The Final Itinerary

The Final Countdown ... has begun! With only 30 days left to the day we begin our first descent of the Everest Challenge, we can now detail our actual course. The ski season has started strong: lots of snow, with all the thrills (and, alas, spills) that that entails.

The first step to success is preparation, so with no further ado, here is more or less exactly what we will do when we get to Austria:

The Guides
Our team of guides is headed up by Patrick Meixner, a one time professional skier for the Province of Salzburg, who chased hard on the heels of Austria's world class national team. Now a ski instructor of ski instructors he runs his own ski school with equally fantastic guides. Having run this event for 10 years for us he knows what it means to people to achieve the challenge they have set for themselves no matter what their level of ability.

Itinerary

Day 1
Depart UK to resort airport (Munich if you're on the group flight. Salzburg is closer, but we thought it best to avoid the discount carriers that fly into that city).

Transfer to ski / board hire shop, then on to Bruck. Dinner, accommodation, meet the guides and full briefing at Hotel Lukashansl, Bruck near Zell am See.

Day 2
Departure for Leogang from hotel at 07.45am and take the first lifts up to the Leogang side of the resort. From there we will go up and ski down the other resorts that make up the famous "SkiCircus" area: Leogang, Saalbach and Hinterglemm. After a good 6 hours of caning though this region, we will descend to the Alpine town of Schönleitenbahn to take our transfer to Zell am See.

Leogang

The start at Leogang is punctuated by wider yet shorter, less challenging runs making the area appropriate to those for whom the Challenge is the first ski outing of the year. By mid morning, we will be upping the ante: Depending on your ability, either the blue Maisabfahrt run or the red Asterabfahrt route provides enjoyably lengthy paths down to Saalbach. Snowboarders will like this area for its lack of flats and many online pundits give particular props to the three Asitz descents.

Peak Number 1

Name: Berghaus Asitz (1758m)

Resort: Leogang

Peak Number 2

Name: Kleine Asitz (1870m)

Resort:
Leogang

Peak Number 3

Name: Grosse Asitz (1914m)

Resort:
Leogang

Peak Number 4 (1910m)

Name: Wildenkarkogel

Resort:
Leogang

Saalbach

We will start with some scenic and comfortable descents down the ancient Bründlkopf and Kohlmaiskopf peaks which are reputed to be enjoyable. There may be a chance to hit some black descents here, though more advanced skiers will find these runs slightly easier than black in other resorts.
Runs will start to get a bit more challenging as our legs warm up around midday. In the afternoon, we will be in the Hinterglemm end of the SkiCircus. For those not up for the Zwölferkogel-Nordabfahrt run, the Jausernabfahrt run from Schattberg to Vorderglemm represents the highlight of the ski area and culminate in the home run which all participants will take into the tiny town of Schönleitenbahn from where we will transfer to Zell am See.

Peak Number 5

Name: Bründlkopf (1879m)

Resort:
Saalbach

Peak Number 6

Name: Kohlmaiskopf (1794m)

Resort:
Saalbach

Peak Number 7

Name: Bernkogel (1740m)

Resort:
Saalbach

Hinterglemm

Peak Number 8

Name: Reiterkogel (1819m)

Resort:
Hinterglemm

Peak Number 9

Name: Hasenauer Köpfl (1791m)

Resort:
Hinterglemm

Peak Number 10

Name: Reichkendlkopf (1942m)

Resort:
Hinterglemm

Peak Number 11

Name: Spieleckkogel (1998m)

Resort:
Hinterglemm

Peak Number 12

Name: Zwölfer (1984m)

Resort:
Hinterglemm

Peak Number 13

Name: Schattberg West (2096m)

Resort:
Hinterglemm

Ski's and boards off! Our pick up will be patiently awaiting us at Schönleitenbahn at approx. 2pm. Now onto the peaks above the Zell am See including the mountain of Schmittenhöhe. Expect well groomed, but steeper and definitely more challenging runs. This year, 100% of the resort is already open and under thick powdery snow. The scenic descents overlooking the iconic lake at Zell am See, look amazing in photos. Can't wait to see them in real life.

Peak Number 14

Name: Sonnkogel(1850m)

Resort:
Zell am See

Peak Number 15

Name: Schmittenhöhe (2000m)

Resort:
Zell am See

Peak Number 16

Name: Hirschkogel (1720m)

Resort:
Zell am See
Return to hotel for dinner and accommodation.

Day 3
Depart hotel for Hinthertal at 8.00am.
Group ski / board Hochkönig area, coach pick up Mühlbach at 11am.

Hochkönig

Big, quiet and uncrowded, this area is a gem of powdery intermediate red and blues that is so far off the beaten path of ski tourism that it is almost impossible to find anything written about it in the Internet. I will be sure to make notes and ensure I have something to say about this area next year!

Peak Number 17

Name: Gabühel (1634m)

Resort: Hinterthal

Peak Number 18

Name: Bürglalm (1593m)

Resort: Dienten

Coach transfer to Stubnerkogel, Badgastein.

The Badgastein region and its adjoining areas slopes are impressively extensive, and mainly quite challenging – great for intermediates who are happy on real red runs and seriously mogully (remember its afternoon on a Saturday) black runs. It's also worth mentioning that these mountains offers a huge amount of off-piste action. So those of us who like the pow pow should be return here on Free Ski Sunday – pending of course what we see as we slip through during the Challenge. Expect long, relentless runs that challenge the intermediate and skiers/boarders of all levels will find the going rough with legs that already would have endured 15+ hours of skiing in the past 48 hours. Boarders need to be aware of drag lifts and possible flats that could wreak havoc with your finishing time (particularly if you have placed bets with skiers)!

(btw, if you are secretly wondering what the Austrians mean by "bad" – it means "spa" in German. A little for shadowing of the natural hot spas in which we will be soothing our sore muscles at the end of the day!).

Peak Number 22

Name: Stubnerkogel (2246m)

Resort: Bad Gastein

Peak Number 23

The Village of Urlaub

Name: Schlossalm (2050m)

Resort: Bad Hofgastein

Peak Number 24

Name: Hohe Scharte (2300m)

Resort: Bad Hofgastein

Group ski / board Badgastein to Bad Hofgastein.

Pick up in Badhofgastein approx. 17.30pm and onto Thermal Baths Bad Hofgastein. Depart approx. 19.15pm.

The Thermal Baths

A special characteristic of the Gastein Thermal Water is its elevated radon levels, a noble gas with soothing effects on the joints and respiratory passages.

The vapour bath, in its turn, utilises the radon rich air (radon!!!?) from the galleries in order to successfully combat numerous respiratory ailments and optimally regenerate the body.

Long story short, we will probably be looking forward to some r & r after all that skiing.

There is of course the obligatory beer and schnitzel, so we will have a celebratory finish dinner at Hotel Lukashansl.

Our hotel. Learn more about it at http://www.lukashansl.at/en/winter.htm

Day 4

Free skiing / boarding or free day. (yey!)

Depart hotel to airport for flights and go to work the next day (boo!)

The Piste Maps are in!

Last friday, our ski guides at Tall Stories sent us the general piste map links to the areas we will be skiing during the Challenge. The routes our guides will take us through will cover over 130km of piste and descend 24 Alpine peaks before we reach the finish line.

Here they are:

Day 1 of the Challenge
http://www.saalbach.com/Winter.2.0.html?&L=1

We start off the day by zooming down the peaks of the Saalbach area ...

http://se.snow-forecast.com/pistemaps/Zell-am-See_pistemap.jpg

... and finish up on the slopes over Zell-am-See where we will return to the village by nightfall.

Day 2 of the Challenge
http://www.elevationholidays.com/html/piste_map.html

On day two, we unleash our fury on the Hochkonig ski area. I have heard that this place is relatively unknown to non-locals, is packed with powder and has generally virgin pistes in late January!

Unfortunately, we won't have time to stop at any of the nice places on the map marked with descriptions like "coffee in the sun" or "great for lunch" ... we'll be zooming by to get to Gasteinertal in time to finish that area too by night fall.

http://www.myslopes.com/austria/snow-report-gasteinertal.php#top

Then we blast through the Gasteinteral regions (the name reminds me vaguely of something to do with the intestines for some reason ...). This area comprises of the slopes surrounding the villages of Bad Gastein, Bad Hofgastein and involves a winding network of red and black slopes connected by a few edgy cat runs that will require boarders to have gained momentum in advance. A real challenge on the quads and ankles for snowboarders as well as a tricep workout at times for our pole-using skiiers!

Keep in mind that since the Challenge is guided all the way there is no precise marked up route. Also, since weather and slope conditions may dictate which runs will be available at the time of the Challenge it is impossible to designate an exact route at this point.

In the end, every group will take a slightly different route depending on their skill levels and fitness. So far it looks like the 30-odd participants we have signed up will fit into 3 levels of skiier/boarder, so we are likely to have 3 groups.

FAQs

(in no particular order)

Do you have any offers for partners / friends / family who want to come along, but who are not doing the challenge? Yes. Our travel partner Tall Stories will arrange for any number of friends/family to accompany you on the trip for £485 each, all inclusive. This includes travel costs of £385 and a £100 donation to Snow-Camp. To book in one of these packages, please call Dan Charlish on 01273241383.

What about wintersport insurance? The event is covered by public liability insurance, but each participant is responsible for their travel and wintersport injury insurance coverage. So make sure that you arrange your own coverage prior to departure.

What if you haven't raised the £1,500 by 1 January 2010? Then you will be expected to top-up the difference on your JustGiving site by credit or debit card. In extenuating circumstances, an extension could be granted at the sole discretion of Snow-Camp. The best way to avoid this situation is to start early, be consistent, follow our Top 10 Fundraising Tips and make sure all of your friends, family and acquaintences know that you are relying on them for donations!

Can we enter a team for our organisation? Yes you can. In fact, entering a team is a great way to promote your organisation and raise a large sum for Snow-Camp. Teams can be any size from 1 - 8 people and raise a minimum of £8,000 total. To maximise fundraising potential, Snow-Camp will set up a team fundraising site, as well as individual sites of each team member. Corporates who raise more than the £8,000 through their teams may qualify as corporate sponsors (at varying levels) for the whole year following the Challenge. See the Challenge's terms and conditions for more details.

Can donations be made in £, $ or €'s? Yes. JustGiving.com uses Paypal to process foreign currencies. Gift Aid applies only to UK donors though and US tax payers cannot deduct their donation from their federal tax liability.

What about off-line donations? The best way to handle these is to receive the money offline in cash, then make a donation yourself on JustGiving.com.

What is not included in the £185? Souvenirs, beverages, ski passes for the "free-ski" day (Sunday 31 January) and equipment rental.

Are we doing any off-piste skiing? Not officially. Our guides will stay on the piste for the duration of the challenge and we'll be expected to follow them. There won't be much time to go off-piste, and due to insurance purposes we strongly advise you not to. Hardcore must-do-off-piste types are advised to avoid temptation during the Challenge. All are welcome to off-piste at their own risk during the free-ski day on Sunday 31 January.

How old do you have to be to participate in the challenge? At least 16 years old on 28 January, 2010!

If you have any other questions or would like to discuss any of the above. Please call Dan Charlish on 01273 241383 or Parker Lake on 07984427854.

Welcome to the Everest Challenge!

WELCOME to the 1st annual Everest Challenge ski-a-thon.


We’re excited to have you aboard. Now that you are all signed-up, all you need to do is raise money, join us on Facebook and get in shape. Below are your first info links to help you prepare for the challenge:



Fundraising …

If you're on the challenge, we would have set up a fundraising account just for you at www.justgiving.com/firstnamelastname

Password and username would have been sent to you by email. If you have forgotten it. Contact us from the email address you originally provided and we will resend.

Click here for our latest fundraising tips




Join us on Facebook …

If you’re on FB*, now is a good time to tell all your contacts that you are doing the Everest Challenge. Log in and show you are attending the event, then invite all your friends! The more the merrier …

Click here to sign up to the event on Facebook.

*If you are not yet on Facebook, congratulations for holding out this long! I'm impressed, but suggest you open an account pronto at http://www.facebook.com/ :p (For the record, there is no obligation to do this ...)




Getting Fit for the Challenge …

We are now some 5 months away from the event, so you have lots of time to get in shape. To help you along, we’ll be giving you periodic tips, work outs and nutrition advice on our fitness page.

In the meantime, take a look at my planned programme as described in the recent entries of my fitness blog.