Winter notes

It has been a good winter for skiers. Skiable snow “line” descended to much lower elevations than in the two preceding seasons which allowed me to ski in places like Stiavnicke Vrchy, Krupinska Planina and Zvolenska kotlina. I also made a 33 km long trip in Male Karpaty. That was probably the highlight of the season so far (I am still planning to “do” the Velka Fatra ridge trip I attempted twice last season). Below are couple of pics from my escapades.

Na Kolovratku
This one is a self-portrait I made in Male Karpaty while taking a break at place called Kolovratok (spinning wheel). It is a site of former ranger house that has been unfortunately razed down long ago. All that is left is a beautiful meadow with couple of old plum trees and a dilapidated cellar. It was snowing the whole day.

Krupinska planina Krupinska planina
These are pictures I snapped on my way from Pliesovce to Krupina on Krupinska planina – a plateau created from volcanic deposits spewed out by neogene volcanoes to the west (Stiavnicke vrchy) and north (Javorie and Polana) of here. It is gently sloping from north to south – a direction of my trip – which resulted in effortless 8 km long slide.

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I found this funky house at the end of my ski trip from Sliac to Banska Bystrica. The picture quality is pretty bad, but hopefully conveys the spirit of the house.

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Driving on snow-covered roads in Slovakia often results in salt being deposited on the cars as the snow is commonly removed by sprinkling roads with salt. This picture I took through the front door of my house. It shows one of the does that live in the vicinity, licking salt off my car’s bumper.

On March 14 my cousins Peter and Dusan and I made a ski trip in Kremnicke vrchy. It was snowing the day before which made skying quite challenging as the snow was sticking to skis. The weather was beautiful though which made up for the not so ideal snow conditions.

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Peter and I are preparing for departure in the Kordiky village

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Trailblazing the fresh snow

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Vistas of slovak mountains from the highest point of our trip – Svrcinik (1313 meters high – about 4300 feet).

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Peter and Dusan blazing the trail as we descend Svrcinik through a beautiful spruce tree natural preserve.

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