Alps, we want to go Alps. It’s green in the Czech Republic, so we wait for the forecast, which is coming out nicely for the weekend and decide if we’re going to explore Krippenstein or Val Senales. In the end, the choice to go only for the weekend was made, so we chose Krippenstein, only 490 km away from Liberec.

We had only studied Krippenstein from maps and even though most of us had skied in the area years ago, we didn’t know exactly what to expect. According to the map it looks pretty wild, there will be a lot of drops, the whole area looks full of deep holes and steep hills. Will there be enough snow? Will it even be possible? Isn’t there going to be crampons everywhere, as seen in the summer photos of the area? There should be places that will be rideable! What about wind direction? The south one doesn’t look like much to me and will it blow at all or will it not blow much there? Worst case we stomp skialps, over the mountain huts in the area and it will be fine too. The whole area is at an altitude of plus or minus 2000 m above sea level and Krippenstein itself is marked with the number 2168. Just below this peak we also then got off the cable car.

Forecast:

Saturday – azure sky, wind SE, force 1-6 m/s, temperature -7 °C

Sunday – partly cloudy, rather cloudy, wind blowing from the south-east at a speed of 2-12 km/h, temperature -8°C

Reality:

Saturday – azure sky, wind SE, gusting 2-3 m/s

Sunday – partly cloudy, rather clear at noon, wind SE, force 4-6 m/s

Snow height: 172 cm

Because of the delay in Prague we set off in the morning and at 4:30 we were already loaded and were heading through Prague to Budějky. At the stroke of nine we wake up in the town of Obertraun in the parking lot under the cable car (connecting the parking lot with the top of Krippenstein), where Zdenda and Tomas are already running around the car. We go into town to get some bread, pack our gear into our packs, and since we want to stay in the hut overnight, we take some extra food and clothes. And also 2 kites. So a small and a big one – AEROS Gyro 7qm and AEROS Alti 12qm – a great set for the mountains, a shovel, camera, food, thermos, t-shirt, shorts, fusekle, down jacket and other crumbs like Indiana JERKY meat and a pancake with a plum.

A little after ten we buy a 20 euro ticket up and after 15 minutes we get off at a fairy tale called Krippenstein at 2100 m above sea level at the Lodge hut, where we will stay overnight. It’s azure, 4 m/s, beautiful !

From the maps, we have identified the place we want to get to. It looks quite different here in real life than it does on the map. The hills are some higher than they looked, and they’re closer together. But it looks like we’re going to make it. We descend a bit below the lift, take the exit from the anchor (the small lift up here) and follow a groomed trail for skiers for a bit. There is little wind, much less than 80 m higher at the exit from the lift. The place we need to go is uphill and into the wind. The winds are max 3 m/s, but nevertheless Gray and I decide to unpack the kites, thinking we will ride it out. We climb up slowly. There are a couple of critical spots where there is hardly any wind, but with every meter the wind slightly increases. After about 40 minutes, sweaty, I cross the ridge and find myself on the windward side of the hill where we wanted to reach and kite. The wind picks up a little more and it looks like a good day.

At the end of the day we went down a little further and in the early evening the wind stopped completely and we had about an hour of skialp return to the top station of the cable car, to the Lodge. I try to ride the kite down the slope for the last rappel but I help myself to about 50 vertical metres and the wind has completely perfected my daily routine. It’s really only a short walk to the lodge.

We had no reservations at the Lodge and the cabin, which was only opened for sleeping before this season, is quite empty. We are taking half board and looking forward to dinner. They’re filming Pilsen and the Czechs are working here. For dinner, dumplings, very, pork, vegetable salad, compote and soup cause us not to finish the second Pilsner and I wake up at 6am on the bed dressed in ski clothes. 8 a.m. breakfast. The price for one night half board is 57 euros at the Lodge.

Sunday doesn’t look as nice as Saturday. In the morning it is completely cloudy and snowing, but it is visible and that is the main thing. By the time we finish breakfast the first rays peek through the clouds and by the time we unpack our broken bodies from the hut it is already partly cloudy and there is much more wind than yesterday. Great. We descend again and using the same procedure as on Saturday we reach a place that is suitable for this wind direction (i.e. SE). We unpack the 12s again and enjoy the great surface and perfectly playable area. After a few hours I choose to return with the kite to the hut, where I comfortably ride past the lifts and up the slope. This was made possible with the utmost care for the skiers, of which there were very few (more like almost none). In the early evening we ski down the 10 km long slope to the parking lot and pack our stuff into the car, completely exhausted and purely happy. Around 23.30 I get out of the car at home in Liberec.

Finally, about the Krippenstein site:

• we could see the spot in light winds, in strong winds it will be different (more turbulent and gusty)
• possible to ride on south wind directions, but probably more suitable for other directions (rather something from the north)
• ride only in good visibility, in poor visibility risk of falling into a hole
• do not drive in fog at all
• spot is more extreme and only for advanced kiters
• we recommend either skialps or snowshoes
• minimum snow height 170 cm (if less do not go)
• ideal date – spring, when there is much more snow than in January