Skiing For Beginners

Though we never went on ski trips as a family when I was growing up, I have had plenty of other opportunities to go, but it's just never worked out. When we were planning the move to Bratislava, we hit the winter clothing closeouts in Austin and stocked up on skiwear knowing that we would make a ski trip at some point. When it did come time to choose a destination, it was hard to decide as there are multiple options within vicinity of Bratislava. Ultimately, we chose the Gastein Valley, in Austria, south of Salzburg. An American colleague who worked in the Bratislava office for a while recommended a resort he and his family really liked, so rather than stress about trying to find the perfect spot, we went with it.

The Haus Hirt in Bad Gastein is a small family run boutique hotel. It's not in the center of town, so their shuttle came and picked us up at the train station. From the minute we checked in, the owner, Evelyn, and the rest of the staff really went out of their way to make sure our every need was met. The hotel sits on the side of a mountain and has beautiful sweeping views of the valley below. The two other big pluses were the hotel spa (run by Aveda) and the food.

The hotel was all inclusive, so all of our meals were there. Since it was a spa hotel, the food was on the lighter and healthier side, which was nice. It also was very good. Though I'm not a spa person as documented by my previous blog post about the Turkish bath, I kind of dismissed this amenity. This was until I realized how helpful and relaxing sitting in the sauna was after a day of skiing. I became a little addicted to it. The one thing that took some getting used to was that the sauna was co-ed. It was kind of like the gradual process of entering a cold pool, sticking a toe in at first and gradually easing in the rest of the body. The first day, Jenn and I both went in wearing our bathing suits, as a completely nude couple sat facing us. I stared at the floor the entire time. As we became more comfortable, we were able to go in with just our towels on, which wasn't complete assimilation, but good enough. I can appreciate the European easy going attitude toward nudity and sex, but it's very difficult to get past what we've been taught to think about in the U.S.

As for the skiing, I liked it for the most part. It's extremely frightening, especially when the slope is steep and/or the run is along the edge of the mountain. Being a beginner and having little control, it was impossible for me to get the thought out of my mind that any second I could fall, break a bone, or potentially kill myself. I watched very young kids all over the mountains during the week and it struck me that it must be so much easier for them because they don't think like adults. They don't worry about the consequences and aren't logically thinking about how dangerous this activity is. They just go.

My first day was a two hour private lesson in Dorfgastein, which was great. My instructor was really good and I felt really confident coming out of the lesson. I learned to plow, stop, turn, and that's about it. We stayed in the training area the whole time, which was perfect for me, even though I was the oldest one there easily by 25 years. Jenn sat out the first day with an ear infection and a cold. She went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and starting feeling much better the next day.

Jenn is an experienced skier, but it's been about 10 years since she last skied, so she thought one lesson would be good as a refresher. All the confidence I gained the first day was eliminated after the two hour lesson that Jenn and I had on day 2. We had a different instructor than the one I had the previous day and he wasn't good at all. I don't blame him too much as he obviously wasn't prepared to give a lesson that day. It seemed there was a miscommunication and they basically dragged him off of a group lesson with kids to teach us for the morning. At the end of the lesson, he escorted us up the lift to do my first real run. We went on a blue (beginner slope), which turned into a red (intermediate) halfway down the mountain. It was rough to begin with as I fell a few times, but I felt comfortable since the instructor was with us. Unfortunately, halfway down, he received a call from his boss telling him he was needed for something down at the ski school. So, he told Jenn the way to get down and then he left. I'd been skiing for a total of 4 hours in my life, and he left the two of us in the middle of an intermediate slope. It then took us about 45 minutes to get to the bottom and I fell literally about 15 times. It was awful. Jenn said later that on several of them, she wasn't sure whether I was going to get back up. I was sore at the end, but more pissed off that the guy left us than I was frustrated with the skiing. By the way, falling isn't so bad most of the time, but getting back up is a real bitch.

We expressed our dissatisfaction to the ski school when we returned, but they just didn't get it. One of the things that still drives me crazy in Europe is how they really are too easy-going at times. They often don't seem to care about anything.

The rest of the week was better. I became more comfortable as we went on several more blue slopes and a few reds. I still fell a lot, but by the end of the week, I was feeling much more comfortable and in control. There are plenty of things not to like about skiing, the main two being that it's incredibly expensive and the chances of injury or death are much higher than most would admit, but overall, I could see myself trying it again. For me, and this isn't to say this necessarily outweighs all the cons, the views are absolutely stunning and it is an amazing adrenaline rush. Once I really figure out complete control, I could see it being fun going on some of the more challenging slopes. I'm glad I tried it. I would guess many skiers won't tell you this, but I have a feeling part of them thinks like me in that they already spent so much money investing in the clothing and gear, they have to go back for more to get their money's worth.

I do hope we can ski again this winter. There are plenty of places within a couple of hours of Bratislava. I'd like some more practice and then I'll decide if its really for me or not.

For more pictures, click here