First I thought moles, but as we got closer, I knew we finally discovered the secret breeding ground for Christmas Trees. I’ve never really tried geocaching, but I reckon fresh snow geocaches would be heaps of fun - except - when you want to hide a snow-cache you’d need to do some serious planning ahead - if you don’t want to give it away to easily.
“Whiteout is a weather condition in which visibility and contrast are severely reduced by snow and diffuse lighting from overcast clouds.” (from Wikipedia)
What a great day to explore untrodden ground and discover the Void. Chances of getting lost? Pretty good, if you are not familar with the area. Reference points? None! - Hmm, well… your partner. If you’re an expert with the altimeter and the compass - or if you have a GPS device, you can greatly increase your chances to find your way back - after snow and wind have taken care of your tracks. Otherwise, good luck and get ready for the bivvy!
Today, I am happy to introduce another new member of our growing Zipflbob family. We haven’t really found a new name for him yet. “Zipflellie” is up for the vote, but since he’s a boy, that may only make his life harder than necessary. Although the guys from Freakonomics have some interesting theories, which put all this naming philosophy into a new perspective. Anyway - “Dark Knight” was what first came to my mind when I found him in the woods. And it would only be logical to call him Zipflknight then. His new friends have already given him a nickname - They lovingly call him “Darth”. So while we are looking after the new fellow, he is actually not gonna stay with us for too much longer - his new family has been waiting for him for a while now, and I’m sure they are very much looking forward to meeting him soon - to take him out for some adventures themselves.
You may not think this will happen, but secret market research already indicates that by 2012, Zipflbobs sales will tip and by 2023, exceed the number of skis and snowboards sold worldwide. Reason enough for us to do some early research ourselves and explore the racing track of the Zipflbob Word Championships in 2025.
We thought it would be a good idea to inspect the whole race track, so we had an early start and climbed steadily towards the crux of the upcoming Zipflbob run.
When we got to the “Mausefalle”, which translates to mouse trap in English, there were already a large number of spectators and officials, preparing for the race. The “Mausefalle” is the crux of the course, as you take off for a long jump into a near vertical wall (slightly exaggerated) slope.
Anyway, about half an hour later, the race started and we watched closely, trying to identify the most optimal line racers chose on the course, just ahead of the “Mausefalle”. If you want to stand any chance of winning, it is crucial to reach speeds of 100 km/h and more, before you take off. At the present time, the “Mausefalle” jump it is yet too dangerous for Zipflbob riders as materials are not designed to tolerate the impact forces when landing. However, technology is moving fast and by 2016, the leading Zipflbob engineers are expected to have developed suspension technologies, which will reduce the landing impact and make it possible to do jumps of 50-70 m, without loosing control and any parts of your body.
One of the best lines was chosen by the “Herminator” - a legend in ski racing and an idol for many Zipflbob racing pioneers as well.
We were a bit disappointed that there were only few people watching the race. This is very different to Zipflbob races, where access roads to the Alps have to be closed 2 days before every race, as millions of spectators from all parts of the Worlds are heading for the slopes. Still, - in summary, we were satisfied with what we discovered. The course is tough enough for the Zipflbob World Championships, and we are very much looking forward to 2025.
Today we took our new family member, Zipflmax, out in the snow for the first time. Of course, he was already very excited when we got into the car, fastened the seat belts and started our drive to the big mountains. Zipflmax had heard about the big mountains a lot before, but this was the first time, he would actually go and see them for real.
After we got out of the car, Zipflbob, Zipfljo and Zipflmax lined up for their first family walk ever - they enjoyed the fresh air, the snow and the exercise outdoors.
Zipflmax was happy to come first and he followed the track without once asking how far it still was until the final destination. Good boy! We’ll take you out again.
Exploring has never been as much fun before…
http://www.pomegranatephone.com/
We’ve just launched some cool stuff at work. So anyone interested in individual hiking routes should check out the Outdoor-Routing-Planner - unfortunately, outdoor routing only works for Germany so far and you have to deal with a German UI, but if that is not stopping you, I highly recommend you check it out and have a go- good fun!
In order to not get lost, here are the key steps: