Playing Outside
Adventures in the great outdoors
Pam’s Sense of Snow, Redux
“But that is so simple!” you say. “Why didn’t I think of that?” Because you, sir or madam, are not the winter sports prodigy that I have turned out to be. I say that not to imply that I have any kind of skill or promise as an athlete. No sir. Quite the opposite. Rather, …
Holiday on Ice
Now that we’re done roaming for a while, we’re back to our normal, sleeply life. Here are the Saturday highlights: 1. Ice skating for a few hours in the middle of the day. The ice is perfect, the best it’s been in years. The last two winters we had only a day or two of …
It means “snowshoe” in Italian
We got back from Italy last night. It took us about an hour to unload the car and find places to stow to the olives and biscotti and other treats we’d bought at a supermarket near the Austrian border. Even the drive home was amazing. We drove through Sudtirol, crossing the Dolomites. This part of …
Conquering the Alm
Austria is a land of high mountains. No, it’s true. And at this time of year, those high mountains tend to be covered with snow. That is also totally true, I am not making it up. In the summer, ordinary people like you and me can drive our cars up to high parking lots and …
Opening Day
Okay, really, yesterday was opening day, but that was on snowshoes. This is the first time since last March that I’ve been on skis, so today felt more like opening day. It was -8c in the sun when I headed back up to the Pyrnnpass. Yup, that’s a minus. The terrain up at Pyrnnpass is …