Exodus

As predicted the second avalanche came down in the night across the railway and road in front of the Tirolerhof Hotel so there was expectation that the road out would be cleared sometime around 9.30 So the mad exodus started as those with flights both booked and also missed tried to escape! I pity the poor guy in the photo trying to find his car!! The railway was only running towards Bludenz and a shuttle trains were running to and from Bludenz, the railway station was manic but even worse was the road out towards the Arlberg road tunnel, I sat in the traffic jam for 30 minutes, getting just 300 metres before realising that the top road through St Jakob was also likely to be open, the problem was going to be getting there! In the end it was simple, just drive on the wrong side of the road past all the stationary traffic and then turn left up into Nasserein. The road was not only open, it was traffic free – 5 minutes later I was joining the road by the tunnel and on the way to Landeck to drop some guests at the station there. Getting back was harder, the queue for the tunnel was long but eventually I was back in St Anton and soon heading for the slopes to meet up with my friend Mike who is over from Australia. The slopes were not crowded and the snow was very nice – a shame that the same could not be said for the visibility!