This weekend things have started to move on the Andes Moto Extreme website development. Walter Colebatch got in touch about his latest project and through mutual support of each others projects I am now following on from my work on Sibirsky Extreme to now focus my efforts on the new website.

Sherri Jo Wilkins has also joined the team and will be the base camp manager, photographer and videographer. Other members of the team include:

Walter Colebatch – Team Captain
Lukas Matzinger – Technical Director
Barton Churchill – The Mountain Man

The plan is to take a troika of Husaberg FE 570s to South America and make a world motorcycle altitude record attempt of 20,500′ 6,250m!

You can follow the prep here (www.andesmotoextreme.com) ready for a kick off in March 2012.

It is that time of year again when the snow starts to fall and thoughts of the next winter season enter the mind. The video below shows a few highlights from a ski trip to Lech Zürs am Arlberg in 2011. Find out why this resort in Vorarlberg has earned its well deserved reputation.

Lech Zürs am Arlberg 2011 from everywherevirtually on Vimeo.

This video was filmed right at the end of the 2011 season in April 2011. By sheer good fortune it snowed the week before our arrival and then the sun shone for the duration.

It was a perfect combination of fresh snow and blue skies. Coupled with the beauty of Lech Zürs am Arlberg and the extensive nature of the ski area you could not have asked for more.

A truly spectacular place to ski.

A few days after hiking up the Traunstein and with aching muscles there is no better therapy than relaxing in the warm waters of the lake that sits at the foot of the mountain.

Normally the lake can be cold due to the Alpine water flowing into it from the catchment area around but with a week long heatwave with temperatures as high has 38 degrees celsius the water was unusually warm at 24c.

I didn’t take much footage last Sunday on the climb up the Traunstein but I did have a handful of clips that capture the good weather and easy going mood of the whole day.

On Sunday I finally got to climb the Traunstein. It is a significant mountain in Upper Austria because of its location as the last highest mountain before the Danube flood plain. It is also visually prominent from as far away as Linz and because of it’s shape in comparison to its neighbours.

I have no connection to the video below other than it highlights some of the key points along the route and does it in a dramatic style which I naturally approve of

Some friends who are keen sportspeople and used to hiking invited me along. They said we could reach the summit in 3 hours. Now knowing my unfit self and how long it takes to scale Ben Nevis or Snowdon I knew this was overly optimistic. It was also busy. Sunday was going to be a hot (34c) and sunny day. Sure enough we arrived at 7am and the car park was full.

The route we would take would be the Naturfreunsteig which was slated as “Difficult”. That to me means steep with some scrambling involved. So we reach the beginning of the trail and Michael who is the husband of my girfriend’s friend said his goodbyes and took the easier trail. I then posed for a photo beside our trail and was ready for the off. Right from the beginning you climb up metal rungs. Within 5 or 6 steps I’m already at the height of an average house. I look back and think “woah!”. This really focuses the mind. I think this is a deliberate trick to weed out the scared, people with vertigo or poor fitness. You could in theory turn around at this point but I suppressed my urge to just back out and thought I would go with the flow.

A few metres on it turned into regular trail and all was well with the world. The views were continually stunning and just got better as we ascended. Two things about this route you have to be aware of. It is made of limestone. It is of a harder consistency than lets say the white cliffs of Dover, nevertheless it is crumbly and there are stones everywhere. It is also sharp (think coral reef). It was the seabed at one point in time and so this makes it hard on the hands. A pair for fingerless gloves will really save the palms.

So onwards we went making steady progress in the shade. Temperature was probably around the mid 20′s. I was really getting into the ascent and was chilled out now and comfortable with the height. I thought of all the people I know who would be frozen rigid to the spot if they were standing where I was. It is not arrogance on my part I just wondered why it didn’t phase me as much. I still had a healthy respect of where I was at and always had 3 points of contact with Terra Firma.

Then came the interesting middle bit. Bear in mind I had no clue what was in store for me on this route. All I knew is the weather would be good and I had the right equipment. So first up was the long ladder. I have no problem with ladders but this one had an 800m drop beside it. So my strategy was to focus on the rungs and placement of my feet and make sure each move was sure and steady. That said I still posed for the camera. Next up was the “interesting” bit.

Imagine a sheer rock face with a 900m drop below. Then imagine little metal steps sticking out of it and a steel rope to hang onto. I didn’t give it too much thought. I just looked at the steps and rope and made steady upward progress. This was not the time for too many photos. This was serious business right here and I had 100% attention on the task in hand.

A guy in his 60′s or 70′s was coming the other way and as is the tradition in Austria nobody waits for anything. He just carried on past me. With both of us hanging onto the same steel cable he traversed around me with his feet flat against the rock face as you would whilst absailing.

As we pressed on the sun was moving around to our side of the mountain and what was a pleasant 25c rose to the low 30′s. This made it a bit harder. As you climb the air is also getting ever so slightly thinner. The trees thinned out to nothing and there was nothing but bare rock and scree. We now had a clear line of sight to the next objective which was affectionately known as the “bad corner”. I’d done the bad steps and the bad ladder, how bad could a corner be? We climbed through a rock arch which made for great photos. From here on we climbed up a few more vertical faces and over some ridges before arriving at the corner.

Some German hikers were sitting on a scree slope as some small rocks tumbled down from above. An Austrian said to them in English (don’t know why) that it probably wasn’t the safest place to sit. We started the ascent into the corner and it soon became steep, in fact vertical is the word. By this point I was loving the whole experience. I was well hydrated, there were amazing views and the top was not far away. Once we got past this point we it was just a formality of walking through the pine scrub, peaty grass and nettles to the top.

Michi’s husband was waiting at the Naturfruendsteig Hutte with a beer. It is amazing how good food and drink tastes after a hike like this.

We stayed up there for an hour before making our way down the “easier” Mairalmsteig. I say easier in that there were no sheer rock faces or ladders but it was hard for me. My legs were objecting at this point and in the blazing sunshine it was energy sapping.

Michi and her Husband were the perfect hosts but I would have been annoyed at my slow pace. Baby steps would be an understatement. My thighs were fluctuating between “jelly legs” & lactic acid freeze. A skinny girl zipped passed me which only reinforced my state of unfitness. She did slip on the next log step and nearly went for a burton down the slope. She took it all in her stride though and jetted off down the trail and out of sight.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity the end was nigh. The trail leading back to the car park was now visible even if by some quirk of perspective it appeared to take an eternity to reach it. One nice surprise that cropped up was the sighting of two Chamois (Goat-Antelope). They were moderately curious of us but at the same time not that interested that they wanted to interrupt dinner time. We spotted another that was creating it’s own personal rock fall.

from this point on we had an hour to walk. My legs were dead now and I had adopted this funny walk that alleviated the discomfort I had in my thighs. Sort of power walker cum stroppy teenager gait. The river bed beside us was bone dry and we were thirsty. Then in the far off distance I could hear running water. A few minutes later we spotted a waterfall and Michi generously scrambled down a rocky embankment to go and fill the water bottles up. Now that really was Alpine water bottled at source. Divine!

Finally we made it back to the car and we all took a swim in the lake to cool off. That was indeed something quite magical.

Is this the start of World War 3?

Nope, just an average Saturday lunchtime at 12pm. Personally I think it is a bit unnecessary and it scares the crap out of older folks who remember the air raids as children.

A note to despotic nations with nuclear arsenals. If you ever want to attack Austria without them readying the troops, scrambling their jets and launching counter measures do it at 12pm on a Saturday. Nobody will bat an eyelid and will continue to sip their Verlängerter’s.

For the last 3 years I’ve done without a car. Spending my time riding bikes exclusively come rain or shine, snow or ice. This has been fine for me but there comes a time when even the most ardent rider needs 4 wheels. For me that time is now. I need to move some household items to Austria. I have moved stuff on my old 800 in the past, but if the act of overloading the bike with ski boots, DVD’s, cutlery, a copy of Marie Claire and ladies toiletries were not enough of a challenge I decided to ride the bike around the Arc de Triumphe just for shits and giggles.

After such smile inducing folly I realised that shifting a futon, books, crockery, ladies clothes and another copy of Marie Claire would be easier this time in the Red Baron. No not the Bi-plane but my old 250D Merc. I did a bit of a job on it so that I would have the same standard of gadgets and luxury as I’ve had on the bikes.

Crucially it has a tow hook. This is pivotal to my bike plans

Body work is in alright nick for a 17 year old motor

So this will be my office over the next few weeks.

Naturally there will be gremlins ready to raise their ugly heads. There always are with older cars. Always.

I decided to leave Lindsay and Delilah to do their own thing today as I’m sure they wanted to plan the next leg of the route, blog a little, have some rest etc. I had a chat with my friend Greg who is currently playing doctor to his girlfriend who has just come out of hospital after a gall bladder operation.

We met at the “shed”. Not in the British sense of a wooden structure at the end of a garden but a workshop full of manly, sharp and dangerous tools . Without burdening him too much I needed some of his skills in order to bash a few things into place after yesterdays spill. He also kindly made my muffler a bit more legal after initially making it sound very illegal LOL

With some flat black paint he also restored the bike back to it’s stealthy origins. So I have a lot to thank Greg for. He’s a good guy.

After some bashing, spraying and welding we got down to the important stuff of helping Lindsay and Delilah decide on where would be a good next stop before nightfall. Naturally all this planning was done on the saddle of an original XT500.

I rode with them out of town and had intended to ride with them to the lakes but my recent ailments and the increasingly persistent rain were telling me to save it for another day and head home. So with a wave and a thumbs up I bid farewell to these intrepid adventurers as they traversed Austria en route to Italy and ultimately Africa.

Tomorrow or should I say today some friends of mine arrive from the Czech Republic. They are a 3 strong team but only two of them have set off in advance of the third who is sorting out visas back in the UK.

They are part of the 2010 London to Cape Town team. Riding two F800GS’s and one F650GS the length of Europe and Africa. When I heard they were in Berlin and in no real hurry to reach the port in Italy I thought it would be good to arrange a meeting. Berlin and Prague are almost exactly due North of my current location, so plans were made at the beginning of the week for a rendezvous.

They took this photo in Český Krumlov which is a very beautiful Bohemian town just a few clicks north of the Czech/Austrian border.

Český Krumlov is a UNESCO world heritage site and really worth a visit if you are in the area.

The last time I met Lindsay,  Delilah and Andre was back in April when I had to give my 800 back. Back then I got to see the plans for their trip which were inspiring. They are also doing the trip in aid of charity. Links to follow after the jump.

The planned route through Africa

doppelgänger’s

When in London they laid on a fantastic South African Brai (BBQ)

These are good guys.

You can follow them on:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/uk2za

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/uk2za

Blog: http://uk2za2010.blogspot.com

I’ll post some new photos tomorrow. Not sure of the plans as yet if I will join them for a ride or they will stay put. They only have an hours ride tomorrow which is not enough in anyones book.