Alpen Adventures

One definite advantage of this government work are these government holidays. As you may have read, we celebrated MLK holiday with a trip to Cinque Terre and this past Presidents’ Day weekend we spent with a trip to Austria. In previous years, we have had fantastic weekends with the Garrett family out at Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, and we certainly missed them this year. Since last year was the first time we put the kids on skis, we decided to try it again. Being where we are, it was time to have the kids ski the alps.

It was a full week leading up to the weekend and it was topped off with finally getting our car back from the shop (see Chris’ entry "just a little craziness") with a hefty bill and other complications that left Chris in a not-so-happy state and brought him home late on a night requiring a long drive. Luckily, the trip was smooth and we arrived in Innsbruck, Autria in about 3 1/2 hours. The next day, we headed out for a small, local ski mountain that is geared to beginners and families. The crowds were crazy as apparently this is also winter break for most school kids in Austria and Germany. The ski schools were full, so Chris and I decided to be ski instructors for the kids for the day.

Looking back at Innsbruck from the gondola at Mutteralm.

It was really a great day. The weather was perfect with warm sun and no wind. We found the bunny slope and the poma lift that takes you up and that is where we stayed all day. The kids did great and by the end Isabel could ride the poma lift up by herself. They didn't do a whole lot of skiing by themselves. We stuck together and skied down with them and tried teaching them the basics.

The day was so nice, we were able to eat lunch outside on the deck with the beautiful alps all around.



Weissbier and wurst for lunch.



By the end of the day, the kids fell asleep before the car got out of the parking lot. That night we had dinner in Innsbruck, and after that, we were definitely ready to leave German food behind. Chris has less tolerance than I do with the German food, and when his grilled sausage dinner arrived and was basically two hotdogs on a bed of french fries, I thought we were going to have to leave for Italy the next morning. He stuck it out and I shared my entre which was much better.

The next day, we decided to stick around town. We took a modern funicular from the city of Innsbruck up the mountain to the Alpen Zoo. It was a great outing for the kids. The zoo is small and simple, but had many interesting alpen animals, plus an area with farm animals the kids could feed. After the zoo, we took the funicular up one more spot and had lunch at the base of a small ski mountain and took in some great views of Innsbruck and the Inn River. When we were leaving the mountain, it started snowing and it really added to the alpen-scene.



Josh feeding the goats and sheep at the AlpenZoo.

Another alpen creature at the zoo.



Looking down on Innsbruck and the Inn River.





On planning the trip, I really wanted to try skiing the Stubai Glacier which I heard was a great spot. It's about an hour south of Innsbruck, but the traffic over the weekend would have made it much more. Since we were still there Monday, we decided to give it a try. It was a worthwhile adventure. We drove the 45 minutes down the Stubai Valley which was full of deep snow blanketing tall pine trees and small alpen villages (yes, alpen was my word for the weekend).

Riding the gondola up the Stubai Glacier.

At the end of the valley, there are parking lots and the two main gondolas that take you to the actual base of the Stubai Glacier. We joined the masses and up in the gondola we went. We found out the ski schools were already full, but the "Kindergarten" was open to all. It was the easiest child drop off I have ever encountered. You show up at the kindergarten window, say you have children to drop off, they give you a slip of paper where you write your name and the name of the kids and a contact number (not really sure if my cell phone was even going to work up there), and then you kiss them goodbye.

Chris and I had the chance to ski a fantastic place for the rest of the day. The weather started out cloudy and snowy, but cleared by mid-day. The whole mountain is above tree line, so it is full of wide open slopes that had the best snow one could want for skiing. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had my snowboard (we decided on renting skis for the weekend as that makes it easier for teaching the kids). There were groomed runs with soft snow and there were runs with untouched powder. There were powder runs with some tracks and a firm base and ones where you just sink into the snow. Many of the groomed runs were left so that one side had powder and you could ski in and out of it as you like.

By the end of the day, our legs were done. I think we only skied for 4-5 hours but I couldn't have done anymore. It was a great day and a great way to finish our Austrian Alpen Weekend.