Racing along to get a final circuit of the Stubai Glacier in, late this afternoon, we got that pause for reflection moment, that makes the mountains in winter such a dramatic setting. There, beneath a horizon dotted with Dolomites was the deep ice of the Stubai Glacier, propping-up the newly sculpted Stubai terrain park, illuminated in the last rays of sun for the day. With few remaining on the slopes so late on the afternoon, we had an almost private display of the moving sun as it illuminated the snow and ice. We missed the lift link and an epic off-piste route that we had just uncovered but that sacrifice was worth it, whilst gazing south toward Italy. Special moments like this are all too common in the Alps.
The puzzling aspect of the scene was how this sky was to accommodate the impending overnight snow. Checking and re-checking all local forecasts suggests snow overnight – not an epic blizzard but still puzzling to see how anything could be mustered form that sky. If only every day could follow the pattern of piercing blue skies, followed by overnight snow, followed by blue skies. And yet in one of the most visually amazing parts of the world, why not expect the impossible in the Alps?