This is the photo diary of Dave Butcher for a 6 day ski mountaineering trip in the Otztal Alps of Austria, starting from Solden and finishing in Vent.
I flew from Manchester to Munich and caught the fast train to Innsbruck and then the local stopping train to Haiming at the end of the Otztal valley.
After a couple of days of skiing solo at Solden I met fellow client Bob Cheesewright (a University lecturer from London) before our guide Jon and his wife Hilary arrived. I had met Jon the year before with Brian Hall, they were the guides on the Haute Route. We were all staying at the Hotel Fohrenhof (now called Haiminger Hof) in Haiming nr Otztal, a very comfortable hotel. The landlady kindly gave me a lift to the next village of Otztal a couple of mornings to catch the bus to Solden, this saved a 2.5 mile walk. I still had the 2.5 mile walk back after skiing in Solden though.
Guide
Jon de Montjoye
Hilary Sharp, Jon’s wife