Journalism Fun!

Hello hello!  Sorry for lack of blog posts but we haven't had many outdoor adventures lately, SO I thought I would also share our 'other' adventures!

I am now a freelance journalist and my first assignment is 3 articles for the local American military newspaper about horseback riding in the area, an amazing town called Heidelberg and wine tasting... touch huh?!

Well, last weekend Jonny and my parents came with me to Heidelberg to interview Americans and take photos for my articles.  It was an awesome weekend.  At first I was really embarassed to just stop random people and ask for an interview.  Especially when they acted like they couldn't give me the time of day, BUT I found my groove and found some nicer Americans to talk to.

We finished my "work" with a picnic in the castle grounds.  The castle is set on top of a hill that overlooks the city, so the view was as picturesque as it gets!  We had a little liver pate', some cream cheese spread with fresh baked bread with grapes and apples and Apfleschorle (my favorite drink).

In the evening we wandered around town for a while and then stopped for a kebab and beer.  Why don't they have kebab shops in the US???? 

Then on Sunday we went to a wine festival (weinfest) in a little town off the weinstrasse called Edenkoben.  IT WAS A BLAST!!!  There were miles and miles of food and wine and jazz bands playing and parades.  Everyone was laughing and dancing and having a blast.  After a couple weinschorles everyone become your friend!  We even met some German people from a town near ours.

It was great! If you ever plan to come to Germany you MUST plan a trip to the weinstrasse. http://www.deutsche-weinstrasse.de/  

The website is also in English 

I'm a Wright!

I had to take a quick break from our adventure stories to tell everyone that I have officially changed my name to Morgen Edell Wright! Our stupid marriage license got lost in the mail before we left for Germany so we have had to wait until I came back to the states! I am here for Caden's first Birthday and decided to take the plunge!!!!

British Association of Snow Sports Instructors (BASI) Level 1 Course - Allgauer Alps, Germany. Part I

Between the 22 Mar and 03 Apr 09 I completed the final part of a qualification that started about 3 weeks prior in the Allgauer Alps in Germany/ Auatria. If you are not familiar with this area, as I wasn't, it is certainly worth a visit as some of the skiing, both alpine and alpine touring, is phenominal. To put it on the map for you, the most well known town in the area is Oberstdorf. Oberstdorf hosts major ski jump competitions and X-country skiing races. The 2009 season saw the most amount of snow for 10 years in the region so conditions were awesome.

I started with a week long Alpine Ski Touring leaders course, in the same region between 22 and 28 Feb 09. My previous experience with Touring was in Norway about 3 years earlier, a positive experience but world apart from what I was about to undertake. If you are not familiar with Alipne Ski Touring it is basically skiing up to the top of a mountain and then skiing back down again. Before I arrived at the course I managed to get an insight into the what to expect and it left me with the familiar feeling of excitement and anticipation that I experience prior to heading out on any expedition.  

SO MUCH SNOW!!! I'm not sure I have ever seen so much snow before and this was in the valley I could only imagine what we were going to see above 2300m at the summits. The touring ski's and equipment was of a high standard which inspired confidence in me. My memory was of heel cable bindings and leather boots that were ridiculously uncomfortable.  This time we were treated to freeride bindings that had 3 climbing settings and a fixed heel position for descending.

Day 1 -  Poor visibility and a relitively high avalanche risk kept us at low altitudes looking at basic skills and focusing on avalanche transiever training. We did have a short ski up but nothing too strenuous. I think we managed to get to about 1700m. The ski down however was interesting. I was doing my best impression of Bambi on ice. I was a biff in the deep snow!! Must try harder Jonny Boy.

The next couple of days were similar, digging snow shelters and looking at mountain skills and leadership. I saw some gradual improvement in my back country skiing ability. Still not ideal however.

Everything started to come together however on day 4. My favourite day of the course. The weather cleared and it was glourious. We climbed up a mountain called Grosser Damen. I think its about 2300m ish. The climb was long and hard and we certainly were at the mercy of the mountain.  I was breathing hard and the summit arrived at the perfect time. The ski off was incredible, fresh lines and the snow was perfect. I had a smile a mile wide on my face the highpoint of my week.

So exped time. We spent the final night of the course out on the mountain. The weather had closed in and visibility was poor. Navigating proved tricky and we arrived at the mountain hut later than we had planned. The climb was hard but slow because of the difficult naving conditions. I think I did about 600 kick turns to get up there, fantastic?!?!  One of the girls in the group was 'celebating' her birthday so we managed to sneak in some gluhwein into our bags. A suprisingly good nights sleep followed. The next morning the weather had cleared so we set off fairly early. We climbed about 150m further and assessed the avalanche risk, as we were in the process of digging our pit about 500m away a slab avalanche released. NOT IDEAL!! We finished the pit and assessed the risk. TIME TO LEAVE ME THINKS. We headed down the mountain and into slightly safer ground.  The cloud lowered again and slowed up the descent. However afer a few hours we were down safely. Course over and a succesful pass.

Bavaria trip- stay tuned!!!

This weekend we are headed down to Bavaria for another weekend on the slopes. This will be my second attempt at snowboarding since 1999!!! I tried it a few weeks ago at an indoor facility in Metz, France but I'm hoping the experience will be better in REAL snow. Stay tuned...

Blog #1

My first ever blog!!! And I'm supposed to be a marketing professional!

Well, almost 6 months later I thought it would be a nice idea to start blogging about Jonny and my adventurous life! It REALLY has been one big adventure!!!

So, I guess my first blog should catch everyone up on what we have been doing since we got married on October 10, 2008. We moved to Ramstein, Germany where Jonny is stationed with the Royal Air Force as the Adventure Training Instructor. Since moving here, we have been to Salzburg, Austria twice. The first was when Janel (my sister) came over for Christmas and we took her to do a little skiing at Obertaurn and to meet my Dad's side of the family. The second time was just last week when Lance and Chase (my brother and nephew) came over for Chase's Spring Break. We have been to Belgium and The Netherlands several times because my parents live right on the border of Germany and the Netherlands. We went to Metz, France for a day of indoor skiing and we have only been back to the UK once. We are both taking German language classes once a week (but its not helping so much :) aaaand... I'm STILL looking for a job :/

This past week, Jonny has been away earning his certificate as a ski instructor. So I came down for the weekend and had a couple days of skiing in Fellhorn. You can see the pictures on my facebook if you would like. This next weekend we are going with a group of friends down to Bavaria for another weekend of skiing/snowboarding. I have YET to make up my mind about skiing or snowboarding. I am trying to do both, but I'm not so sure that's going to work out so well! Stay tuned!!!

What's up next for us? Well, Jonny's parents will be here for a few days around Easter time and then I'm headed to the states for 2 weeks for my nephew's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! That should be fun!!! Then we want to make a trip to England to visit Jonny's family and friends.
Who knows what this summer will bring! Jonny and I want to buy a Volkswagon camper so we can do weekend road trips all over Europe. Jonny is big in to kayaking and mountain biking, so we will just have to see which sport dominates our summer. I am also hoping to get my horse Archie over here in June. So, we all know what I will be doing if that happens!

Well, I guess that's it for now! Stay tuned for more adventures!!!!