clog blog: Ploughing, carving and stacking

There is one word to describe this week. Epic. Epic mountains, epic snow, epic skiing, epic speed, epic wipe outs, epic food, epic people and epic tiredness! All in all it was a good week and we really enjoyed ourselves. For what was supposed to be a relaxing week and a break from moving on every 3 days it was been pretty hard work and very tiring!

Austria and the Tirol region is a place of epic scenery. The mountains and countryside are just spectacular. Whether covered in snow or with the green grass peeking out, it is really awesome. There are real fir trees (think Christmas trees) everywhere and with a dusting of snow everything is transformed into a winter wonderland. From the top station, Hohe Salve 1829 m above sea level, you have a 360°C view over all the mountains and covered in snow it is just breath taking.

Austria has been warmer than we expected, definitely warmer than Prague or Germany, but up the mountain it is epically cold! Wednesday was -15°C at the top station and Thursday about -8°C. Once you start skiing and moving around you warm up but your face is in the wind and it is cold! Covering your nose and mouth is a must. After seeing us wrapped up in the pics on the blog people often ask us if it really is that cold and necessary to wear so many layers and the answer is YES!!

We stayed at the Contiki house, Haus Schöneck, in Hopfgarten and the skiing area is called Ski Welt. There are 280 km of groomed ski slopes and 70 refreshment stops, although we didn’t get through all 280 km! The refreshment stops create such a cool vibe on the mountain. There is always music playing, sometimes live, and people take a time out and just chill for a bit. It’s very vibey! We mostly hung out at the one at Middle Station (1178 m above sea level) and at Rundell’s in Hopfgarten. There are a lot of tourists here for the skiing; mostly English, Australians and the Dutch.

Our week of skiing started on Sunday with our first lesson. We learnt quite a lot but the lessons were really slow and I can see why Julian and Riley ditched them after day one! We tried the steeper beginner slope and felt comfortable so decided to try the mountain on day 2. We took a few tumbles but it went ok. On day 3 we joined up with another group with an instructor on the mountain but we were a bit slow for them and did our own thing after learning a few tricks. Our lessons ended on Day 3 but we were doing ok to go on our own after that. Both of us were moving well but Bron worked out that she doesn’t like skiing and doesn’t think it’s a sport she can get into. Our gear might be branded with ‘no fear’, but that is definitely not how she felt! It’s pretty scary standing at the top of a (steep!) slope and thinking the only I am going to get down here is to ski down. Justin on the other hand was very confident, has really enjoyed it and is aiming to be back next season!

Skiing is a totally different lifestyle. It looks very glamorous and good skiers make it look so easy. Even 5 year old children are on the slopes! It’s crazy. They are so confident and fearless. On the beginner slope are children who have just learnt to walk on ski’s and doing well. It’s definitely something that people grow up with here; it’s just a normal winter sport. We discovered why skiers look so laid back and swagger when they walk, it’s the ski boots! They are not very comfortable to walk in; you can’t help but swagger in them! Skiing is hard work though and really good exercise. We were so tired at the end of each day and stiff in lots of places!

Sunday morning was clear and warm during our first lesson but it clouded over and was snowing by the evening. It snowed for 2 days until Tuesday evening, epic! The snow wasn’t very deep, but for us Africans who haven’t seen so much snow before it was magic! A real winter wonderland with everything covered in snow. It hadn’t snowed here for 3 weeks and the slopes were very icy and not great for skiing. After fresh snow though it was totally different. We found it much easier on the fresh ‘powder’. The slopes are graded or groomed at the end of every day and become quite icy by the next day. If there is snow overnight the slopes are ok the next day but if not they stay pretty icy which didn’t do anything for Bron’s confidence.

Skiers also have their own language which we had to work out and learn. Snow ploughing is a skier’s best friend as this is how you stop and turn. Basically make a V with your ski’s, toes together in the front, and lean forward a little; sometimes easier said than done! Carving is making tracks in the fresh snow. Sometimes the snow is so badly carved you have to stick to the tracks and turn where everyone else has, not always good for a beginner. This is also when the ice under the thin layer of snow sticks through. Stacking is falling; we had some epic stacks! Snow is called powder, very odd. On piste is sticking to the groomed slopes and off piste is making your own way down the mountain. FYI: travel insurance does not cover off piste skiing! Gondola’s and chair lifts are a type of ski lift up the mountain. Generally you can go up and down with a gondola (ski’s off) but going down with a chair lift is more tricky (ski’s on and no proper place to get back on once you are off). It’s really pretty seeing the mountains close up and watching the snow twinkle in the morning sun while on your way up the ski lift. And of course blue, red and black runs. Blue runs are for beginners and black for the super confident! Think the difference is mainly in the steepness of the slope.

Justin and Bron learnt to ski while Michelle and Graham learnt to snow board. Along the way there were some epic wipe outs! Bron was wearing the epic wipe out badge for the first 3 days with 3 classic falls until Michelle took it over on Day 3. When it’s you falling you don’t remember much because it happens so fast but I, and the rest of the dining room, was told many times what it looked like. Bron’s first classic fall was characterised by going head first over a pile of snow into the orange barrier at the end of the steeper beginner slope while leaving her skis and poles behind! The second classic fall was on our first blue run where all Justin saw was Bron disappearing over a hill followed by a puff of snow. Bron’s head and shoulder were pretty sore after that one. No one saw Michelle’s classic stack but she landed hard on her tail bone (aka coccyx) which unfortunately resulted in her not being able to get back on her board after that. Fortunately, nothing was broken and the next day she was moving around much better and even joined us up at middle station to soak up the atmosphere.

If you have a need for epic speed, head down to the Olympic bob sled track in Innsbruck. This was one of the Contiki optional extra activities for the week and really good fun. Five people to a bob sled with a driver as the sixth person and you race through 1.2 km of track in 45 seconds reaching speeds of 120 km per hour!! Yeah man! (You have to say it with a Jamaican accent.)

Friday was our last full day in Hopfgarten and due to the icy conditions on the mountain and Bron and Shell being out of the action, we decided to jump onto the coach and head to Salzburg for the day. It was a beautiful clear sunny day but pretty cold with lots of snow still lying around. We only had 4 hours to explore Salzburg which isn’t a lot of time but we still managed to do a few things. The first stop was the fortress, Festung Hohensalzburg, on the hill. The fortress has a 900 year history and it was very interesting walking around. It must have been freezing cold living there! Next we wandered into the Dom or church where Mozart was baptised, very pretty inside. We wandered around the historical part of the city and saw the palace and gardens where scenes from The Sound of Music were filmed. And of course we tried Mozart Kugeln! Time for a quick coffee and famous Sacher Torte before jumping back on the coach for our last night at Haus Schöneck.

We enjoyed the Contiki accommodation and hospitality this past week. The food was epic! We really ate well but worked it off on the slopes ;~) Seems like you need an interesting nick name to work for Contiki. Ones we came across this week included Muffin, Milo and Speedy. We might be getting a bit old for hectic partying every night that people expect on a Contiki tour but it was a good option for a hassle-free first skiing trip. It was really convenient to have all our accommodation, ski passes, gear hire, lessons, food etc organised for us for the week, all we had to do was arrive. Special thanks to Muffin, Hugh, Julie and the cooks for a good week!

Saturday morning saw Michelle and Graham on the 4:30 am coach headed for London while Justin and Bron caught the 8:45 am train to Verona. Here we caught a connecting train to Bologna and then to Florence. What a long day! But as always the train rides were great. Passing through the Alps covered in snow was simply magic. Once in Italy, the slopes were covered in grape vines which must be so pretty in summer when they are in leaf. We will be in Florence for 4 nights before heading to Rome for 4 nights. Nothing booked after Rome but the plan is to head to Switzerland and then onto Spain so watch this space.

Hope you are all well and had a good week. Sterkte to those of you who are training for the Argus and Two Oceans! Have a good weekend!