St Stephen's Day, known in Britain as Boxing Day, dawned bright but cold. The snow had stopped and the locals were busy shovelling it out of the way so that normal life could continue. For the first time in 3 days, we could see the mountains again.

My wife and I had heard about a gorge near Partenkirchen that was particularly beautiful. It is called the Partnachklamm and is open all year round.

We looked on the map and saw the entrance was just past the Olympic ski-jumping stadium. We stuffed ourselves with another monstrously large breakfast and set off. It is about 2 kilometres from the hotel in Ludwigstrasse down to the ski-jump which is at the bottom of the Kreuzeck mountain.  

It was time for elevenses so we called in for a drink at the Olympiahaus. This hotel looks directly out towards the 2 jumps and the terrace serves as a seating area for the stadium. No doubt, the bar does a roaring trade!

From the Olympiahaus, we went out into the stadium. The 70 metre jump looks suicidal enough but the 90 metre jump - let me just say that Japan has produced a large number of jumpers whilst we only ever had Michael Edwards also known as Eddie the Eagle.

We found the place where the horse drawn sleighs pick you up for a 2.5 kilometre ride up to the gorge (4.5km from our hotel and counting...) and got on board.

At the top of the sleigh ride, the path through the gorge gets steadily steeper, more icy and downright hazardous for about 2km. At this time of year, the warning sign tells you that there may be falling icicles. Neither of us thought we would be looking at icicles between 15 and 20 metres long (45 to 65 feet).

The Partnachklamm wends its way around the base of the Kreuzeck to where the stream runs between the Kreuzeck (2701 metres) and Alpspitze (2628 metres).

The water flows even at this low temperature because it has a lot of gravity behind it. Fast moving water doesn't freeze as readily and this was very fast running indeed. The water has already fallen 800 metres or more by the time it reaches the gorge.

We followed the increasingly dangerous path, awestruck and holding on to the guard rail. The ice formations are massive.

Suddenly the gorge opens up and most people turn around. We didn't. We just followed the path for another 3km, getting higher and higher. The snow was far deeper and an insidious cold started to affect the face.

When it is this chilly, smokers have a choice. Either they can take off one glove to smoke a cigarette, keep the glove on but burn a hole in it with the cigarette, give up smoking or take the 4th option. Yes folks, a pipe is really practical. I believe it is the only way to smoke if it is essential to keep a glove on.

Eventually we reached a gasthaus. From the terrace of the gasthaus, we could see that we must have curled around the Kreuzeck, climbing over 600 metres since entering the gorge below us. If we walked back 3km to the gorge, another 2km through it and 2.5km back to the Olympiahaus, the sun would set when we were only halfway back. Guard rail or not, I wouldn't want to walk through the Partnachklamm after dark. It is, after all, hairy enough in daylight!

On the other side of the gasthaus was our saviour. 1500 metres of cable car. €7 each or breaking a leg? No real choice.

€14 poorer, we got back down to the gorge entrance. The walk had made us thirsty and a bit peckish so we popped into the cafe.

Lowenbrau is my least favourite of the big 6 Munich breweries. All their beers are too sweet and watery to my palate. They beat most British lagers into a cocked hat but I do prefer the other 5. After that walk, Lowenbrau Dunkel tasted like sheer nectar.

For a snack, we both ordered cheesecake. When it arrived, we stuck our spoons in and bit greedily. Surprise! Bavarian cheesecake is served hot. It was nice, in a warm custard flavoured way.

We had, by this time, missed the last sleigh so we walked back to the ski-jump stadium and got a bus back to Ludwigstrasse.

The Werdenfelser Hof, a bar on Ludwigstrasse fitted us in for dinner. We were the only non-locals. It sold Augustinerbrau beer and really robust Bavarian food consisting of large chunks of various beasts. I had a massive slab of roast oxen (very different to beef) with a sauce. Other people were diving into whole legs of pork/lamb/other creature.

Live music and lederhosen-wearers really doing that dance where they slap their own legs added to a great atmosphere.

To end the meal, a unsolicited and free schnapps arrived. Yummy, even if dinner has been accompanied by 2 litres of strong beer. I felt a bit happier than normal.