From March 19th - 23rd, a group of friends and I went away for a long weekend to Austria for some skiing / snowboarding. Lots of my friends go every year for a ski holiday (sometimes going twice because they love it so much!) so I decided that after missing out on 5 winters, it was time to see what it was all about. There are lots of popular resorts all throughout Europe, but we opted for Kitzbuhel in Austria because 1) there supposed to still have snow in late March, 2) the resort had a mixture of slopes for beginners to advanced and 3) it had a lively après-ski scene (French for 'after ski') which meant there were lots of bars and restaurants.
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| Drive to Kitzbuhel |
We flew to Muncih, and when we arrived we were worried about the ski conditions because it was hot at c. 22 Celsius (c. 72 F). As we drove along the route to Kitzbuhel, we didn't see any snow and actually laughed at ourselves for even being concerned about the road conditions (I think Michael asked at the rental store if we should bring tire chains...).
We arrived in Kitzbuhel and went to our separate hotels before meeting up for dinner. Kitzbuhel is a resort town, with lots of designer shops and quaint cobbled streets. We were pleasantly surprised to find that although it is a resort town, our meals tended to be very reasonably priced with very hearty Austrian portions.
Fahad and I were the only people in the group snowboarding and so we had a private lesson on Day 1. Our instructor took us to the bunny slope and we were happy to see that after two gondola rides up the mountain there was indeed plenty of snow! Fahad isn't a beginner but he took the course (which lasted until 2pm) with me as a refresher. At the end of the lesson I was exhausted from constantly falling and picking myself back up. However, we decided to stay a bit longer and then headed to the nearby mountain lodge for some much needed rest and 'hydration'!
It was a gorgeous day with clear blue skies and we were able to sit outside in t-shirts working on our tan at the same time! We eventually headed back down the mountain to the village to meet up with Caitlin, Michael, Bianca and Owen at one of the lodges in the village.
Day two was my birthday, and Caitlin had booked a restaurant for lunch just off the main ski slopes. The reservation was for 1pm, so Fahad and I set off around 10am expecting that would give us enough time at my pace. When got to the top, we found a totally different atmosphere in this part of the resort, with a lot more people and music playing from the nearby lodges.
We set off to the 'Blue' run, leading in the direction of the restaurant. Unfortunately, the run didn't look so easy, with a narrow path near a cliff, and I didn't trust my control enough to snowboard down. After consulting the map we decided to walk what looked like a short distance. It wasn't actually very short... It was an interesting journey and along the way we were passed by Bianca and Owen, I almost lost my board down the mountain and Fahad almost fell OFF the mountain. All in all, a great run. We learned later that this was the ONLY way to get up this part of the mountain and it was universally thought to be the worst run at the resort.
Needless to say my confidence in tackling any other run was zero, especially since the next run to the restaurant was about four times as long. We made the decision to skip lunch and make our way back down the mountain. Unfortunately there were only two ways down, one involving entirely gondolas /chair lifts but ending in a far away town. The second involved one additional Blue run and a gondola directly to our village. We asked some nearby skiers their thoughts on this run and were assured it was wide and easy (i.e. plenty of room for me to walk out of the way if needed!). It was also alongside a winter hiking/trekking path, so we could walk down the whole way if needed. By now, it was also lunchtime so the slopes were also a bit quieter so we decided to try one more run and snowboard down. It definitely wasn't easy (for me!), and I fell every 5 seconds but it was definitely faster than walking.
We made it eventually and settled at an outdoor restaurant to enjoy the sun and finally have our lunch (and some much deserved beers!). Caitlin and Michael joined us later for some pre-dinner drinks.
Fahad organised the evening dinner as a surprise for my birthday. I didn't know where we were going but it slipped out that it was one of the top restaurants in the area with a Michelin star. While we were busying après-skiing we didn't think ahead to when the rental shop closed (6pm).
We were just about to leave when we realised it was past 6pm and we would not be able to return our snowboarding boots, in exchange for our normal shoes... Our only pair of normal shoes. We quickly ran out to the boutique shops to see if anything was open to purchase, but it seems the town shuts down at 6pm. Fabulous. Below is the outfit I wore to the restaurant (with a very unhappy look on my face). I think you can only get away with this in a ski-resort town!
In the end, the dinner was amazing and lots of fun. Fahad had requested a birthday cake and ordered flowers for me, which I got to take away.
The final day we went back to the bunny slope, with Owen and Bianca joining us. It was an easier day practicing our lessons and doing some of the nearby jumps. We took a mystery lift over the top of the mountain which led to a secluded mountaintop restaurant with stunning views. We thought it was strange that you HAD to wear boards or skis in order to board the lift, but we soon found out why that was the case! When we arrived at the top of the lift, there was a step mountain down which you needed a board or skis to manoeuvre.
On the way back you could not take the lift but had to go down either one of two runs. How do I get myself into these situations... The lift person suggested I try the Red (harder) run and that it was actually shorter than the run which Fahad/Bianca/Owen went down. I made it down alive but not after going slightly off course into a ditch. The food was worth it though!
To end the day, Fahad was doing tricks on the jumps and when getting off the lift chair he managed to hit himself in the face with his own board... We came up with a slightly better war story to tell people in order to explain the cut on his face.
Overall it was a great trip and I will definitely be going again next year! I think I may consider skiing though so that I have more control over myself without having to dive into the snow to stop!
