Who Could Not Like Austria, Really (Country #10)

First of all, Austria is just amazing; jaw-droppingly beautiful, filled with very friendly/super-outdoorsy peeps, and efficient (the 8:45 ski-bus leaves at 8:45 regardless of whether your friend is off buying coffee or you forgot your kid’s glove in the room). I love how ALL ages ski here. The person sitting next to you was just as likely to be 66 as they were to be 26, none of that “mom and grandma are in the lodge reading a book at a table” you see so often in CA and Utah – EVERYONE skis. Plus Austria has two things that the U.S. does not: HEATED ski lift seats and bubble covers over the lift chairs to block the wind. Why have I never seen these amazing inventions before?!?! All that being said, we will definitely be going back to Austria to ski this winter - anyone want to join?

Yes, look how warm I look in the bubble - well better than nothing.

Ski-Drink-Eat-Sleep-Repeat

Dave and I started the trip in Innsbruck. We weren’t intending to ski there, but who can resist fresh snow and a free ski bus to the eight or nine resorts surrounding Innsbruck. Though conditions were not perfect, it was still a blast and there were ZERO lift lines and lots of free lunch tables at the ski lodges (this is a big deal for me since I hate the stressing out and stalking that comes with trying to get a lunch table at Heavenly or Snowbird). We stayed at the Hotel Innsbruck because it has a spa/sauna/pool area, though I prefer the Weiss Kreuz. Ottoberg for dinner was the highlight, though not a lick of English is spoken there. My sad German language skills was tested for sure.

Look how nice and mellow the lodge is, and NO sodas - just beers. Heaven!

Sickening.

J.V. and A.V. met us in Innsbruck two days later and we immediately drove their super-jet-lagged asses to St. Anton am Arlberg, specifically to Stuben and the Sporthotel Arlberg. This was my first experience with the ski-in ski-out concept. Not having to step foot into a car to ski at the several resorts in the area is just about the coolest thing ever. The atmosphere is so much more mellow and relaxed without the traffic/parking rat-race in the morning. Strangely, the crowd here did not include powder-hounds, these peeps stay on the groomers so it is very easy to find good off-piste, uncrowded action. Perhaps it is their Germanic rule-following sensibilities……. In any case, the snow was good and it snowed even more while we were there! I think we picked a good year to be in Europe since Tahoe really doesn’t have any snow yet this year it seems. And the line of the week, "If one more person ever tells me that Squaw looks like the Alps, I am going to punch them in the face". Well said Mr. A.V.

J.V. and A.V. - don't they look cute!

 

Redic view into St. Anton.

  

Our sweet little hotel in Stuben, Sporthotel Arlberg.

 The Dong Show (as I write this, we are passing through Doncaster, which sounds like "Dongcaster" when the train announcer says it, we are laughing like idiots)

Our hotel had a spa area with a Jacuzzi and various steam rooms and dry saunas. NICE after skiing for sure! We were told upon check-in that the areas are nude. Us being prudish Americans, wore our swimsuits the first day (better to be over-dressed than under-dressed, as Dave always says). Well we looked like douches because it was an all nude free for all. From then on, nudity reigned in the spa – it was The Dong Show for all of us! Which was completely fine with the inner hippie in me anyway, we ALL have boobs ya know.

We Are Lucky

After several days in St. Anton, we were off to our New Year celebration destination – Edinburgh. We had a noon flight from Innsbruck to Edinburgh. “No problem”, we thought the night before. We’ll have a leisurely breakfast and drive to the airport afterwards. Except, when I work up in the morning: OH CRAP was it snowing.…..hard……and sideways. I bet there was another foot of powder on the ground, and we had rented a two-wheel-drive Skoda (not exactly a snow-devouring Subaru). I was torn between, “we aren’t going to make it out of here” and “I hope we DON’T make it out of here” (more skiing ya’all). In any case, Dave’s master snow driving experience got us out of the driveway and safely on the road, despite the douches in the Volvo that blocked the exit as we were about to leave.

Luckily the Austrians are competent drivers, this snow would have crippled Tahoe.

  

We made it to the airport in Innsbruck where they started cancelling flights or rebooking people on BUSSES to Munich so they could fly out from there. Our flight was on the board and not cancelled, though it was clearly not boarding since there was no actual plane at the gate. Again, my thoughts vacillated between, “we aren’t going to make it out of here” and “I hope we DON’T make it out of here”. Well, our plane arrived at the gate and we safely departed. The pilot told us we were the last ones out and the Innsbruck airport was closed. Woooooosh what luck! Off to Edinburgh.

Plowing the runway at the airport, this had me a bit worried.