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Any old AFRC dudes out there?

#31
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11/5/09 at 2:42pm
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 Hi Bill.  Welcome to Epic.  I was in Garmisch 1977-79 as a member of the Army race team, so it appears we could have crossed paths at one time or another.  We would come to B'gaden to race on occasion.  You're name sounds familiar.  Are you involved with the AFRC internet group?  I attended the reunion they had in Keystone 2 seasons ago.   

Rick Schnellmann
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#32
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11/5/09 at 5:27pm
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I was a teenager in Germany 60 -64, living in Garmish 1963-64, an American Army dependent. Skied and worked at Eibsee; caught the train to ski tunnelfenster whenever I could. What an experience tunnelfenster was for a kid!  Anyone ski that run, from the Zugspitz train? Guys like Franny MG, Bobby H, Thor Co, and Brad Fr were ski buds there. You guys out there?
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#33
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11/5/09 at 7:48pm
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I might have skied that, davluri.  We ran a GS race in which they took us up the Zugspitz train and dropped us off somewhere in the middle of nowhere it seemed.  The starting gate was right there by the tracks where they dropped us off.  I don't remember the name of the run, but it was the longest GS I ever did in my life.  Over 2.5 minutes.   

The best source for trying to hook up with old friends is probably here:
www.afrcski.com/default.aspx
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#34
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11/7/09 at 3:12am
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Bunch of old guys in here.

;)

I spent a weekend at the Garmisch AFRC and Chiemsee AFRC when I was a kid back in the early 90's....some of the best memories I had as a kid.

I again went to AFRC Garmisch when I was stationed in Germany back in 05/06.  A lot had changed there since the early 90's, much smaller and all civilians and not the same friendly atmosphere.

I'll be heading back for another 3 year tour next summer.

:)
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#35
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11/7/09 at 10:44am
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Wow, after trolling around here for some time, this post made me join Epic.
 
I’m one of those old dudes that got drafted and had to ski every day from October to June, then give bicycle tours and hiking tours to fellow GIs the remaining part of the year.  I was TDY in GAP 72-73. I thank my lucky stars I had this experience.
 
Rick, the name of the trail the GS was on, is called the Riffelriss, What a ride that train was, and skiing down after the antics on the train was even more fun.
God bless the GI’s today.
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#36
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11/7/09 at 11:45am
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tunnelfenster is what the name says. The train stops in the middle of the tunnel on the way to Zugspitze peak. You walk down a small pedestrian side tunnel from the major train tunnel. All you see at the end of the tunnel is sky. When you pop out of the tunnel, there is a small shelf, about big enough for a dozen people to stand and put on skis. Then they shuffle to the edge of the snow shelf and drop in. You get nervous waiting your turn, as all you see of people in front of you is them dropping vertically out of site. Like the hat drops down like an elevator. One part of the trail you cross a large gully. You have to carry speed or walk up the other side. If you really hit it, you kangaroo jump out of the gully. cool trail. Is that the one you raced?. It is a long trail, about 10 minutes skiing I guess, but that was 45 years ago. edit: fenster means window.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick View Post

I might have skied that, davluri.  We ran a GS race in which they took us up the Zugspitz train and dropped us off somewhere in the middle of nowhere it seemed.  The starting gate was right there by the tracks where they dropped us off.  I don't remember the name of the run, but it was the longest GS I ever did in my life.  Over 2.5 minutes.   

The best source for trying to hook up with old friends is probably here:
www.afrcski.com/default.aspx
 



Edited by davluri - 11/7/09 at 6:35pm
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#37
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11/7/09 at 7:49pm
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 heat, welcome to Epic, and thanks for filling in the blank in my memory.  What job were you doing on skis there?  

FastGO, I agree on how the place has changed.  I went back a couple years before you did and had the very same impression.  We were privy to a wondrous window in time that has since closed.  

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#38
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11/8/09 at 3:02pm
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So is the Riffelriss (no s'cette on my computer) the trail that starts on that shelf outside the tunnel window? If you read accounts of climbing the Eiger, you hear about a tunnel there that also pops out in the middle of a giant face.

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Originally Posted by heat View Post

..... 
Rick, the name of the trail the GS was on, is called the Riffelriss, What a ride that train was, and skiing down after the antics on the train was even more fun.
God bless the GI’s today.


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#39
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11/9/09 at 3:40pm
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Rick, I was assigned to the C team for AFRC doing ski patrol, the job entailed skiing at each of the local areas, one week on the Zugspitze, one week on the Hausberg, and then a week on a small area in Grainau. No uniforms, civilian clothes and a National Ski Patrol jacket. If any GI’s got hurt we had patch ‘em up and send them on their way.  It was a boat load of fun and memories for a lifetime.
 
Davluri, Sorry I don’t remember any exit once the tunnel started… Riffelriss started on the left side of the tracks coming down as soon as you exit the tunnel. It was only open when conditions were good, so it wasn’t an everyday thing, but when it was open it was a hoot.
 
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#40
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11/9/09 at 10:26pm
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So Riffelriss goes down about a kilometer fairly steep to a large open area, kind of a large shallow bowl, the line starting left of the track at the end of the tunnel, therefore the peak of the Zugspitze.? If you don't ski it you  download a gondola of some sort, correct?

I'm interested because I skied there a lot and it's jogging some memories.
Quote:
Originally Posted by heat View Post

… Riffelriss started on the left side of the tracks coming down as soon as you exit the tunnel. It was only open when conditions were good, so it wasn’t an everyday thing, but when it was open it was a hoot.
 


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#41
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11/10/09 at 8:33pm
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I learned to ski at B-Gaden, Chiemsee, and Garmisch! As a family we did a 3 yr tour in Nuremburg, and then another 3 yrs in Munich... So when in Europe, do as the Euro's do- SKI! So our whole family got season passes, and season rentals (including clothing) for about $150 total! That was for 7 people! We skied every weekend, and each winter, my parents would take us out of school for an entire week... It was about a 2 hr drive each way from Munich to B-gaden, and only a part of it was autobahn. Now the whole trip is!

We went to B-Gaden mostly, and while in Europe last, I went and visited the Skytop Lodge etc... I could clearly locate within about a 5M circle, the spot where I put on skis for the very first time! I could remember it as if it had been the previous week, only more than 6000 days on snow later...
It has been turned back over to the locals, but still run for AFRC. $5 for a day ticket, $5 for a 2 hr group lesson, $5 for a day rental... Virtually nothing had changed since I had last left there in '70.

As my dad was the US Military tennis champion, we spent a lot of time at the tennis center in Garmisch. The AFRC ski area was at Lake Ibsee, and the Ibsee Hotel (which burned down and then rebuilt). Remember the Green Arrow Inn?

Chiemsee went through about a $14M USD upgrade back in the 80's, and the Germans wanted to assume control of it. But AFRC said sure, pay us back the $$$ and it's yours. The AFRC still owns/operates it!

One of our former managers here at Vail (and RM examiner) Booie Alward, was SSD at Garmisch for a few yrs, during the 70's.
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#42
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11/10/09 at 10:14pm
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 My dad learned to ski in St. Moritz thanks to Uncle Sam and his mandatory 2 year service requirement back in the '50s...
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#43
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11/15/09 at 10:40am
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 VSP, cool story, thanks for sharing it.  Must have been really fun times for you.  A bit of payoff for the challenges of growing up a military brat?  I didn't spend much time in B-Gaden, the team only went over for races on occasion.  We did use the tennis center a few times as part of our pre season conditioning program.  And I got my first taste of teaching with the AFRC-Garmisch ski school.  They kept us around after the race season to teach.  It planted the seed, and when I got out of the Army I went right into coaching.  That was 30 years ago (1979), and I'm still doing it, but I remember back to those days in Garmisch as though it was yesterday.  
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#44
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11/15/09 at 11:57am
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So what years were you skiing around Garmish? Did you know the Hower's or Thor C.? from the mid-60s?
Quote:
Originally Posted by vail snopro View Post

I learned to ski at B-Gaden, Chiemsee, and Garmisch! As a family we did a 3 yr tour in Nuremburg, and then another 3 yrs in Munich... So when in Europe, do as the Euro's do- SKI! .....
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