Learning Our Way Around
The Snow Gods delivered around 6-8 inches of fresh snow to Kitzbuhel over the weekend. On Sunday (1/19) we had a full first day of skiing in Kitzbuhel, starting from the Hahnenkamm Bahn Gondola at 9:30 a.m. and finishing via download around 3:00 p.m. Our hotel provides very good shuttle service right to/from the Hahnenkamm Bahn Gondola.
Most of our skiing was on trail-outs, learning our way around. It's a huge resort and it's a long way around. It didn't help that most of our skiing was in low-visibility conditions with fog and light snow. However, we did work our way out of it by riding a long transport tram (3S Bahn) which spans across a huge gorge. The ride took ten minutes and got us to our best skiing of the day. There we skied our first off-piste in Europe. By then we were getting tired and it took quite a while to ski out. Once back across the 3S Bahn, we enjoyed a good lunch and then worked our way back to Kitzbuhel. Our hotel shuttle service was there waiting for us to shuttle us back to the hotel. What great service!
Once back at the hotel, it was time to prepare for the AFC Championship game between our Tennessee Titans and the Kansas City Chiefs! The game began at 2:05 p.m. back in Nashville, but for us it started at 9:05 p.m. We found a German broadcast of the game on TV in our hotel room; the coverage was a hoot! Mostly we could understand what was going on. Every time a player got tackled hard, the commentators would exclaim "oomph"!
The game had a disappointing outcome; final score: Titans 24, Chiefs 35, so the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl. Despite the ending to the season, we are proud of how the Titans played and what a magical season they had. They defied all odds in beating the Patriots and Ravens in the playoffs and ended up one of the top 4 teams in the NFL, so not too shabby.
One thing is clear, we are among the Titans' most ardent fans!
Vertical feet skied on Sunday: 12,000.
On Monday (1/20) we got a late start, due to being up so late watching the football game. We arrived via shuttle to the gondola around 11:30 a.m. On the ride over we met a very nice and interesting couple from Austin, Texas: Joe and Christine Canterbury. They are one of few American couples at our hotel.
We rode up the gondola with them, then skied together the rest of the day. They had lived in many interesting places, including Singapore, Austria, and Germany, and they spoke fluent German. We were close in age, and Joe is friends with someone that Brock knows from Nashville.
Here is where we had lunch with Joe and Christine on the mountain:
Our skiing was easier and more enjoyable, with lots of sunshine. The views to distant peaks were gorgeous and awe-inspiring. We took some good photos of the views:
The visibility helped, and the views made it well worth the effort, but almost all of the skiing is beyond tracked and packed, with very icy patches, especially on the steeper headwalls. It's mostly a cruise and view experience, but a great one.
We took some photos in the Gondolas:
Here is a good view of the town of Kitzbuhel taken from the gondola:
We ended up joining Joe and Christine for dinner:
They are headed to Salzburg on Tuesday, then back home to Texas by Friday. We are glad that we met them, and we plan to stay in touch.
One of the best things about traveling is the wonderful people you meet along the way! We have met some of our best friends while traveling. What a blessing!
Vertical feet skied on Monday: 5,000.