January

Duncan is very busy at work. The deregulation went well on New years eve at midnight, but there is still loads to do. The poor boy is exhausted come the weekend. Michelle made it back to St. Anton for a weeks skiing from the 5th of January, Duncan came for the weekend. Sonia, Kim, Gunnar and loads of familiar faces. Michelle partied hard in the Piccadilly, because there was not a lot of skiing. She skied with Alois, and met some nice new people. The off-piste was crusty or slushy so it was very strenuous. The wind has blown most of the snow off the tops of the mountains, an lower down it is a case of pick your way through the rocks and grass. They desperately need snow. Michelle headed directly off to Germany where she has begun a course in Manuel Therapy. Travelling through Basel she picked up Peter (Canadian) who was on his way to St. Anton. It was great to have him come and stay. We talked late into the night, and saw lots of Photos. We headed back to St. Anton on the 26th for our traditional week 5. After the reports from Peter about warm wet weather, we were pleasantly surprised with the great snow. WE had all sorts of weather with some great sunny days, some foggy days but Alois found mostly fantastic snow. We skied Langen 3 times, once we managed to get lost in the forest so that involved a very strenuous walk up. We had a very late lunch that day, but the group moral was great. We skied with lots of familiar faces, Jenny, Jürgen, Johny Per, Gunter Joko etc etc. St. Anton really like being a part of a huge family. Joko hasn't really changed she is still good for excitement, she was very lucky this time as she nearly fell of a 20 m cliff, thanks to Alois's amazing strength he was able to pull her back up with just one hand! Jenny is her amazing tough self. The week before we arrive she broke and dislocated her shoulder, she had 2 Titanium screws and was back skiing with Alois 4 days later. She decided to stop skiing early to prevent falling.