Tag: Hiking

Winter Trip Part 3: Christmas in Kitzbühel

Published on by Mark Jahnke

This post is Part 3 of my series about my 2015-6 winter trip.  Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

14 years ago, while I was living in Europe, my parents and I took what I think we all agree was one of the best family vacations we’d ever taken.  We took the slow train from Geneva to Vienna, traversing the Austrian Alps in late December at sunset.  A year ago, when we began planning this trip, I suggested that we do the same.  And this is how I came to be in in Kitzbühel.

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Kitzbühel is a famous ski town in Tyrol, about halfway between Innsbruck and Salzburg.  Its famous Hahnenkahmm downhill run is one of the most celebrated and challenging races in skiing.  Its snow, most years, is some of the best in the world.  This time, I learned that its artificial snow is also some of the greatest.

My first stop, though, wasn’t the ski hill.  It was the ice rink. Continue reading “Winter Trip Part 3: Christmas in Kitzbühel” →

Hiking, Or The Time Two Angry Men Stalked Me To A Town Called Papan

Published on by Mark Jahnke

It’s Kyrgyzstan. The mountains are there, the trails are there, we have backpacks, jackets, sleeping bags, pads, and tents. Now all that remained was to climb one. Sounds pretty straightforward, right?

A little over a week ago, a bunch of us did a trek up a valley to an area called the Jiptik Pass, which is a spectacular valley that is great for first-time trekkers because there is a “road” that goes pretty much the entire way, so there’s not really any risk of becoming lost, and there’s plentiful water along the way. We set off midday after work on the Friday, and by about 7pm we had made a camp a few hours up the trail. Continue reading “Hiking, Or The Time Two Angry Men Stalked Me To A Town Called Papan” →