Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.
On the lift headed up
Things did not go as expected this morning. During breakfast we found out that all of the ski areas in Mayrhofen were closed today due to high winds. We went to our room and prepared for a day in town. We were disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to ski but we’ll have a nice day in town.
We stop at the ski shop to talk to the rental guys who have become our clearing house for local info. We ask if they think the ski areas will open later today. They tell us they doubt it and inform us that the ski area down the valley at Zell am Ziller is open and we should go there! We hustle back to where we are staying and put on our ski clothes. 
The snow line is high on the mountain, but weather is moving in.
We have a ski lift practically outside of our guest house, but it is closed. So we head ten miles down the valley to a ski area we know nothing about in a town we didn’t study. We’re really flying by the seat of our pants. We take our direction from the Marines. “Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.”
We take the train down the valley, get off at Zell am Ziller, and board a bus to the ski area. We finally get there, put our boots on, and head up the mountain. We see lots of grass and open ground on the way up. It’s in the 50’s in the valley and it’s just not snowing. Any skiing is up on top of the mountains. We finally get above the snow line and disembark from the lift. The snow is not terrible, but is not great. 
Bill surveys things
I decide to stay on the easy slopes and spend the day working with Laurie to improve her skills a little. She’s a good skier and does well but would like to do even better. We work on carving better turns and work on how to cut a cleaner and smoother line. By the end of the afternoon she’s turning much better and is much more comfortable.
We had a nice lunch on the mountain, ran a few more runs to reinforce what she learned, then headed down. We change out of our ski boots, take the bus back to the train, and the train back to Mayrhofen. We wound up skiing about half a day, which is okay. It didn’t wear us out or beat us up, allowed us to ease into it, and allowed me to take some time with Laurie to help her improve her skiing. 
Laurie on the ride down
We arrive back to our place, change clothes and head out to Mayrhofen Advent. This is the local Christmas festival and everyone turns out, both locals and visitors. Local children perform a Christmas play, stalls sell food and handmade Christmas gifts. It surrounds an amphitheater which is in a forest.
There are fires to warm by and music by a brass band. It is very “Austrian” and quite festive. We had a wonderful time enjoying local foods and drinks. One booth was even selling one euro shots of schnapps! We may have had a couple. From there, we have a wonderful dinner and head back to where we are staying. 
The crowd at the Advent Festival
Hopefully we will be able to ski tomorrow….but that’s up to the weather. We’ll see what it does and decide if we ski or not. Be sure to take a look at the slide show below. If you click on each photo it comes up larger and you can read the caption on it.
We hope you enjoy following along. Goodnight everyone! |
|
