Time to go home for the Xmas party with our families. To the right of the tall pine tree: the summit of Speer.

The weathermen forecasted persistent fog and sunny skies above. We made the right choice: Kathrin on Fuggboden.

From Weissenberge we reached Fuggfurggle (P.2283), where the impressive NW-ridge to Fuggstock (2371m) starts. It would be an adventurous challenge for a winter climb. Not this time, though, we had another goal.

Kathrin climbing at Fuggtäli, below Gulderturm (left, 2511m) and our goal, Gulderstock (right, 2502m).

The ride was a real pleasure: Gulderengand is a steep NW-flank and offered first class powder :-)

Basti had a sore throat and was quite happy for a break to take a picture here. That's the rest of the crew with myself tracing on beautiful virgin powder snow near Gafiersee, with our summit on the left edge of the picture.

Hmm, somehow, Manu's skis just didn't want to start the descent which made her dive into the powder. I really wonder about the skis's decision, because as you can see, the snow quality was excellent.

Ok, the skis gave up with their stuborness, and now Manu is happily cruising, following the first line laid by myself :-)

Loads of soft snow sometimes make you wanting to fly... myself in action, all pics from this tour were taken by Basti.

Next day, next trip: we took the very scenic and rather leisurely route from Melchsee-Frutt to Rotsandnollen. Here, Kathrin on the last few meters from the Skidepot to the summit.

The crew on top: the girls, king Basti and myself with the newly purchased "Doofkap". For the descent, we took the direct route to Stöckalp, which offered an awesome ride in perfect, untraced powder :-).

Very rarely done in winter, Gross Windgällen offers a fantastic challenge. The last 400m of elevation gain need to be done over the NE-face, pictured (by Reto) here. In summer, it is graded AD, IV and indeed we found some nasty mixed and rocky terrain that had to be negotiated with crampons and 2 ice axes.

Yikes, we made it safely up and down. The ride towards Windgällenhütte and Golzeren was a powder pleasure. First lines of course - here you see myself cruising.

Piz Curver is quite remote and rarely done in winter, but very worthwhile. We traversed it, climbing from Parsonz and skiing down to Zillis. Here's the massif with the main summit left - it is reached up the slopes to the dip in the ridge between the two summits.

Bright blue ski, virgin powder and Kathrin climbing in front of Piz Curver (2972m).

The last couple of meters to the summit for Kathrin along the ridge. They proved to be much easier than expected.

Kathrin laying the first trace into the north flank of Piz Curver, just a bit below the summit. And yes, it remained like this (virgin premium quality powder) for all the 2000 vertical meters down to Zillis :-).

Next day, next trip! This time we started at Arnisee and climbed to Wichelhorn via Leitschachtal. Pleasant and sunny in the lower part, mainly shaded in the upper half. Behind is the summit of Bristen, which I was going to climb just 5 days later.

Kathrin in the crux below Nidersee (P.2091), where a short portage was necessary.

And also the summit ridge was done on foot. It looks quite impressive in this picture, but wasn't too difficult. While the ambiance on top (which we enjoyed for ourselves) was first class, the ride wasn't. The snow quality was rather crap - not too bad, but in contrast to the days before and after, there's just no other way to describe it.

My preference would have been the near Gross Düssi (3256m), but Chris and Bertran (who took all the pics) opted for Bristen, which I had already climbed 11 months before. Since Bristen is an elusive goal and offers first class skitouring, I decided to give it a go again. Here you see Chris and me climbing, still a long way below the summit.

The last 400m of elevation gain need to be done on foot. It's an alpine, sometimes quite airy ascent, but nevertheless quite a bit easier than Gross Windgällen (which is just opposite in the same valley). Again, Chris in front and me following.

We made it to the top in about 5 hours. The crew: Marcel, Bertran and Chris (coincidentally all wearing Mammut Ultimate Windstopper jackets and Grivel crampons ;-))

Climbing Piz Mitgel in winter with skis was a long-term goal of mine. It includes a whopping 2600m of elevation gain and needs 100% safe snow conditions. I was glad that Kathrin was willing to take the challenge. However, I had to trace from the start to the summit, and we had some troubles with Kathrin's skins, that at some point didn't want to stick anymore. I gave her my skis and thus made a part of the way with only one skin, definitely a nightmare! So, it took us almost 7.5 hours to reach the summit, and the first picture I took was the one here, of the summit log.

We enjoyed the ambiance on top very much, but then had to speed up quite a bit, to make it back down to the valley before it got dark. That's the view from the Skidepot to the summit, just before I started the ride. It offered first class powder all the way down to Surava :-).

The last one, not for the entire winter, but in January 2009. Moreover, the weather pattern unfortunately changed in the week following this tour, ending the long period with safe avalanche conditions. But for a last time, we took advantage and climbed from Vals to Piz Serenastga. Once more in absolute solitude, tracing through virgin powder under a bright blue sky. Here's Kathrin, just above Fuorcla Serenastga (P.2634).