Trying to Reason With Ski Season

Temperatures are rising here in Bratislava. This is not only the signal of the end of Winter, but also the end of ski season. Having only learned to ski in December, I wanted to get one more ski trip in to get more practice. I've improved, but I still have a long way to go.

We decided on Innsbruck, site of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, because it is an hour flight away and surrounded by ski slopes. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Europa, which was very nice. Because of my work schedule, we actually stayed in Vienna Friday night and flew out early Saturday morning. So, within minutes of arriving at the hotel, we changed into our ski clothes, left our bags at the front desk, and hopped on the morning ski bus. 45 minutes later, we arrived at Axamer Lizum. There were several ski lifts, but the way up to reach the one long blue slope was by funicular. Jenn has skied much more than me and she said this was the first time she'd seen such a thing. Standing up with our skis, jammed in like sardines was not the most pleasant way to get up the mountain, but the fact that they have a track that runs up to the 7700 foot peak was really cool. At least, I thought so. I might be turning into my father.

The views were great from the peak. The way down was challenging, but not too bad. It wasn't overly crowded, which was nice. I worked on trying to keep my skis together in parallel. I was able to do it at times, but any time I picked up speed, I freaked out and moved back into plow, or forced myself to fall. It's all about confidence and I don't quite have it yet. The ending of the slope was fun because it was a steep straight downhill into a long flat stretch which let us build up a lot of speed and then coast into the finish. The highlight of the day was the apple strudel I had for dessert at the restaurant at the top of the mountain.

We hit up the sauna at the hotel, which we've become accustomed to doing after skiing, since that's how they roll in Austria. There was no one else in the sauna, so it was much less awkward for us than our previous sauna experience when we skied in December. After resting the remainder of the afternoon, we walked around the old town and checked out the Golden Roof, the biggest tourist attraction in the city. It's a three story structure that juts out from a larger building. It was built for Maximillian I to commemorate his marriage. It is strange. We had dinner at Cammerlander, a nice, but casual place on the river. The menu was bizarre featuring Austrian specialties, pizza, ramen noodles, and I can't remember what else. I had the Tyrolean style pancakes with cheese in a beef broth. Jenn had a ramen dish.

We missed the ski bus the next morning. It was daylight savings, but that's not why we missed it. We were moving at a leisurely pace. We ate breakfast and went back to the room to each use the bathroom before heading out for the day. When we came down, we realized we were a few minutes late. We regrouped quickly and hopped on a train to St Anton, which is a little over an hour from Innsbruck. Spontaneity is not one of our strong suits, but I was really proud of us on this one. This would end up being a fantastic decision, for which Jenn deserves the bulk of the credit.

The lifts in St Anton were a short walk from the train station, so by noon, we were sitting on the ski lift heading up. The lift system in St Anton is an engineering feat. I'm no engineer so I can't describe it in any great detail, but the main gondola from the base station to the top is a work of art. I tried to take pictures, but it doesn't quite capture it.

It was disheartening that a half day of ski rentals and lift tickets was more expensive than a full day in Innsbruck, but, I'll admit, it was worth every penny. The quality of skiing in St Anton was much better than what I'd experienced in my brief ski experience. The runs were long, challenging, and breathtakingly beautiful. I am not sure if they manufacture their own snow or not (I am guessing they do), but the snow quality was also much better than the previous day at Axamer Lizum. The fact that the slopes were filled with moguls was a new and totally unexpected challenge for me. I'm not good enough yet to control myself at that level where I could swerve around them consistently, but it was very good practice, and hard work.
We finished skiing right at 4pm when the lifts were closing. We walked the main street of the town, which was cute, had an apres ski beer, and hopped on the train back to Innsbruck. Dinner was at the hotel restaurant, which was very nice. The apple strudel for dessert was good, but I actually thought the one I had eaten at the top of Axamer Lizum was better.
I'm disappointed that the ski season is over, but we're happy we got in three ski trips. Now that we know the areas and I am somewhat competent on the slopes, we'll be well prepared when next winter comes around.

For now, spring is officially here. The restaurants in Bratislava are starting to put out their outdoor tables and the pedestrian zone is becoming a lot more crowded as people are starting to spend more time outside. The city takes on a whole new personality when the temperature gets above 15 celsius (around 60 farenheit).

Stay tuned, as there is a lot of spring and summer travel is coming. There is so much still that we want to do, see, and experience.

* For more pictures, click here