KaiM's VirtualTourist Home Page

SOME PEOPLE COME INTO OUR LIVES AND QUICKLY GO...
SOME PEOPLE BECOME OUR FRIENDS AND STAY A WHILE...
LEAVING BEAUTIFUL FOOTPRINTS ON OUR HEART.
AND WE ARE NEVER QUITE THE SAME.
BECAUSE WE HAVE MADE GOOD FRIENDS.
YESTERDAY IS HISTORY.
TOMORROW IS MYSTERY.
TODAY IS A GIFT.
THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED THE PRESENT.

(Got this poem from a fellow student called Reza. He was born in Lebanon in the Middle East, grew up in Norway and went studying in Wyoming, USA - A real world traveler)

Travel and adventure goals for 2005:
1) snowboarding in Bavaria (Germany) (DONE)
2) trip to Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana in May/June
3) weekend trip to Mallorca, Spain in June
4) trip to a European destination of choice for using a free flight ticket I still have
5) vacation to the Mediterranean Sea in fall

My personal top 5:
1. Cologne, Germany
2. New York City, New York
3. San Francisco, California
4. Hamburg, Germany
5. Mallorca, Spain

My hidden secrets:
1. Centennial, Wyoming
2. Laramie, Wyoming
3. Weyhe, Germany
4. Bremen, Germany
5. Rhones-Alpes, France

On the tracks of Lance Armstrong... The mountains I climbed on my bike so far:
1. Col de Telegraphe - a traditional Tour de France mountain in the French Alps. 12 kilometers ascent to an elevation of 1566 meters. (Sep. 02)
2. Col de Galibier - about 2650 meters high. An 18 kilometers ascent from Valloire. I needed 2,5 hrs. A classical Tour de France mountain pass. Check out the travelogue on my Rhone-Alpes page. (Sep. 02)
3. Gr. Feldberg - highest mountain (879 meters) of the Taunus Mountains close to Frankfurt in Germany. 14.3 kilometers ascent if you start in the city of Bad Soden. Four passages with double-digit percentages uphill. I needed 1:12 hrs. (Sep. 03)
4. Kuerten - a short, but tough ascent through the village of Kuerten near Cologne. Just 4.8 kilometers long with a height difference of 90 meters. Partly double-digit climb. Usually part of the elite race "Rund um Koeln". (April 04)
5. Hoeffen - Part of the elite race "Koeln Bonn Airport Cup". Just 3 kilometers long. It winds of through many curves from 80 meters to 220 meters above sealevel. (May 04)
6. L´Alpe d´Huez - Lots of dramatic Tour de France stages ended here. 1130 meters height difference on 13 kilometers up to an elevation of 1860 meters. (July 04)
7. Col de la Madelaine - Grueling 19.5 kilometers ascent from La Chambre up to an elevation of 2000 meters. The climb averages 7.8 %.

1. Loveland Ski Area, Colorado, USA
great backcountry ("The Ridge"), awesome powder, lots of locals
2. Vail, Colorado, USA
largestest area I've been to, awesome backbowls, deep powder and steep tree runs especially at "Blue Sky Basin"
3. Soelden, Tirol, Austria
big area, fun people, great party place
4. Steamboat, Colorado, USA
take the Storm Peak Chair and then do some powder tree runs
5. Ski Zillertal 3000, Tirol, Austria
huge area at Mayrhofen, I had some great powder days there. Lots of Apres Ski partying, too.
6. Mt. Snow, Vermont, USA
the North Face on the backside of the mountain is
challenging, some fun black diamond trails, 12 tree
areas
7. Flums, Switzerland
wonderful scenary, challenging runs, great backcountry
8. Winter Park, Colorado, USA
beautiful area, fun runs
9. Breckenridge, Colorado, USA
wonderful town, great runs, but only a t-bar lift to
Mountain 8's backcountry
10. Keystone, Colorado, USA
try night skiing, lots of illuminated runs, fun
mountain
11. St. Johann im Pongau, Tirol, Austria
stretches over several mountains
12. Hintertux, Tirol, Austria
Ski area on a glacier in the high Alps. Almost 90 kilometers of slopes. Lots of backcountry runs.
13. Black Mountain Ski Area, Jackson, New Hampshire
cool place with about 40 trails, no lift lines
14.Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, Colorado, USA
crazy area, lots of good boarders and scary runs, small
15.Großer Arber, Bavaria, Germany
13 nice runs including a world cup run, sometimes too crowded
16.Butternut Basin, Massachusetts, USA
hidden secret, 22 fun runs, modern lifts
17.Skiliftkarussell Winterberg, Sauerland, Germany
largest German resort north of the Alps, friendly staff, but not very challenging
18. Allrounder Winter World, Neuss, Germany
Indoor Ski Area. Just one run, but lots of fun and good jumps. You can board all year round in a region with no natural mountains.
19.Happy Jack Road, Wyoming, USA
a former ski hill a little east of Laramie, you
have to climb up, no lifts, but great nature and no people, mark your own tracks and find your own runs
20.Snowy Range Ski Area, Wyoming, USA
lots of college students, small and windy place
21.Lost Valley Ski Area, Maine, USA
hidden in a small valley, short runs, fun people,
good snow (located on the mountain's north side)
22. Silberberg, Bavaria, Germany
small mountain, only two trails, but some great tree runs
22.St. Andreasberg, Harz, Germany
small, crowded on the weekends, long lift lines
23.Blue Hills Ski Area, Massachusetts, USA
just outside Boston, small hill with few trails,
rarely good snow

2002 stage of the Giro d'Italia (winner: Mario Cippolini)
2003 HEW Cyclassics World Cup Race (Paolo Bettini)
2003 stage of the Hessen Tour (Cedric Vasseur)
2004 Rund um Koeln (Erik Zabel)
2004 Koeln Bonn Airport Cup (Pascal Hungerbuehler)
2004 Prolog of the Tour de France (Fabian Cancellara)
2004 Tour de France Mtn. Time Trial at L´Alpe d´Huez (Lance Armstrong)
2004 Mtn. stage of the Tour de France (Lance Armstrong)