Close to Vipiteno is the village of Colles and the Racines ski area. We stayed at small, modern apartment for a couple of days. I skied for a day although the weather was far from brilliant. When it is overcast the light can become very even. The same amount of illumination from every direction. This tends to make the snow covered ground look completely flat. Then it is difficult to see just how the slope undulates and you end up feeling your way down the hillside because you can’t see the detail of the slope. I suspect that this is good practice and helps improve your balance, but it can get a bit tedious. By lunchtime I was getting quite cold and little bit bored of wandering around in the mist. I stumbled, almost literally, across a lovely little restaurant high on the slopes. Just a handful of more hardened skiers were in there having lunch. I ordered a dish of spinach dumplings in a gorgonzola cheese sauce. This proved to be fabulous. By the time I was ready to leave I was thoroughly warmed through and feeling much more stable, anchored by some typically substantial Tyrolean dumplings. The cloud lifted a little, I found a new and interesting place to ski, and all seemed good with the world again. I also managed a little reconnaissance of the Passo Giovo. We needed to cross back over the next day, and it had been snowing. I could see the road was still open, the snowploughs had been busy although now the road was covered in a layer of hard packed snow.
Next morning, we set off and I wondered, yet again, at the wisdom of driving over alpine passes in a car that screeched as if all four wheels were about to come off. I really hoped that the Merano mechanic’s assessment was correct. In the event, the pass was straightforward. I put the Range Rover in “snow mode” and it happily coped with the icy conditions. Once again, I felt pleased that we had swapped the Jaguar for a car more appropriate to the task of a winter alpine road trip. We enjoyed driving over the pass, but it was cold and windy, so we skipped stopping for a brew this time. Back in Merano, we dropped the car off to be repaired and explored the town a little more.
Good news met us back at the garage and I eventually discovered just what had been going on. Language had been proving a bit of a barrier. Round here they speak German with an Italian accent. I don’t speak either. However, when the mechanic showed me the damaged parts it all made sense. A Range Rover, like most Land Rovers, has a hand brake that is quite separate from the service brakes that act on the wheels. The hand brake uses a drum brake on the output shaft of the transfer box. This had the advantage is that it locks all four wheels. The two brake shoes in the drum assembly are held in place by a pin with a spring. One of these springs had broken and was rubbing on the flat surface of the brake drum. This was really not doing any harm at all, hence ‘safe to drive’. None the less, me, Diane and the car all seemed much happier when the noise was cured.
I snuck in another day of skiing. This time, now that the New Year holiday is over, the crowds had vanished. The cable car carpark was now half empty, so I set off from there and thoroughly enjoyed the ride up the mountainside. The day was gloriously sunny, the slopes were mostly empty, lift queues were non-existent and even in the restaurants there was no waiting. There is an awful lot to be said for waiting until the second week in January to got skiing. If you can manage this, you will often be rewarded with the perfect combination of good snow and uncrowded slopes.
Next day we left Merano for what we hoped would be the last time and set off for Austria. Our route took us over the Reisa pass. A route which we had previously done in Baloo. This time however, we had a small car rather than a 22-ton truck, so it was much easier to find somewhere to park by the reservoir. The walk around the lake proved to be delightful. Crisp snow, warm sunshine and many interesting sights including kite skiers, ducklings, wooden walkways, and rotating boxes. The box was a very clever idea for a seat. It could be moved to just the ideal position to catch the sun while sheltering from the wind. In the evening we stayed at a hotel very close to the border and had a fantastic pizza at a restaurant that was within a few feet of the border. Finally, we were ready to tackle Austria.
