Skiing!

We finally made it to the slopes.  This has been a matter of social pressure as much as personal enjoyment.  'Why would you go to Austria in the winter?' is a question we've gotten from all sides (well, 2 continents).  'Oh, it must be the skiing' is all anyone can think of.  Indeed, even our travel books talk about attractions only from April through October, and there are some things that aren't even open from November through March.  But one thing is for sure during these months: great snow on the mountains.

We went on a trip organized by a sporting goods store affiliated with a giant department store.  Each Saturday and Sunday, they offer a bus ride and lift ticket to 3 different ski resorts.  The bus leaves Graz at 7 or 7:30 am (painfully early for those of us who stay up really late communicating to California), and leaves the ski place at 4:30 in the afternoon.  The cost of the trip is exceedingly reasonable - lift ticket plus maybe about 10 Euros for the bus (clearly they get a discount on the lift tickets).  It's really convenient if you don't have a car, and if you don't even know where to start in choosing a place to ski.

Our destination was Riesneralm, a small mountain, relatively speaking, about 2 hours west of Graz. There are just 2 chair lifts, one that goes most of the way up the mountain, and the second that goes the rest of the way to the very top, at 1800 meters.  The chairlifts are those that go slow to get on and off, but in between are pretty fast.  There is also a plexiglass wind/snow shield that makes the ride very comfortable.  The slogan of this mountain is 'less time on the lift, more time on the slopes'.  Runs/trails are called 'Pistes'.  The powder was perfect - in fact, it was snowing lightly on and off all day.  And there was no wind to speak of, which really made things pleasant; I was worried about getting cold fingers and toes, but I stayed more than warm enough.  Another comfort factor: the mountain wasn't very crowded.  No line to get on the lift, not many people to worry about on the slopes.  Final comfort factor, which I just think is so fantastic - ski huts (i.e. restaurants) everywhere - one at the top of the first lift, one at the top of the second, and at least 4 at the bottom.  And the funny thing is, that was all that was there.

We drove up this long, steep winding valley, through a couple of villages, and then the ski place itself (it's not a 'resort' so I don't know what else to call it!) is just the 4 restaurants (2 of which are Guesthouses, and are like large houses), the ski rental and ticket booth buildings, and the lift.  And a big open space for a parking lot.  That's it!  I don't know what else I was expecting but it seemed like something was missing.  I guess everywhere I've been skiing, which is all in the US, has a lot more infrastructure, is a lot more resort-y.  Here, it was more like, just show up and ski!  Another thing that was strange was that from the bottom you couldn't see the slope or the skiers.  The lift went up and disappeared over a mass of forest, and coming over a small hill to the far side skiers would appear - apparently all the runs led to that segment to get back to the lift.

There were maybe about 10 buses in the parking lot - clearly these bus trips are the way to go skiing.  The buses have a box attached to the back for holding skis.

This was T's first real skiing experience (we can hear your shocked gasps - Berlin is flat, okay?), but second time skiing (ask T if you want that story), and I designated myself his ski instructor.  We had the idea of ski school in the back of our minds, but it turns out that ski school is closed on Saturdays at Riesneralm.  Strange!  So, T was stuck with me. :-) We spent the morning at the base of the mountain near the lift, getting comfortable with the feel of the snow and the snowplow/wedge technique of maintaining control and stopping.  After lunch, which was a super yummy Kaese Spaetzle (German mac n' cheese with crispy onions on top), salad, and Gulasch Suppe, we got the crazy idea of taking the lift to the top of the mountain.  I assured T that if he were in ski school he would be starting at the top of the mountain first thing. 

So we made it on, up, and off the lift with success (the tickets, by the way, are cards you keep in your pocket, and you go through a turnstyle with a sensor that senses the ticket and lets you through).  After a moment of loss of control that left T in a precarious and more than slightly dangerous position, we found the blue trail and commenced.  We had 4 hours to make it down before the bus left, and at first it seemed we might need all that time.  At least.  But before long, actually really quickly, T got the hang of it, and I was relieved when first a smile, and then "this is fun!" won the day, and we cruised down the 7 km Piste.

It was a narrow, winding run with a gentle slope, switchbacking across the mountain, with spectacular views of the valley below and mountains in the distance.  At this point it had stopped snowing, and big masses of foggy clouds were hovering around the valley making for some really dramatic landscape.  I don't think the photos here nearly do it justice, but click on them for the larger view. 

We got back down to the bottom in 2 or 2 1/2 hours, legs aching.  I couldn't believe how long the run was, it kept going and going - 7 km is really long!  Since we were both pretty exhausted and there wasn't much time left, we turned in our skis and enjoyed apres ski in one of the restaurants with a view onto part of the slope.  Nothing like a big glass of apricot juice with sparkling water, or a big glass of beer, after skiing one run.

So, all in all a wonderful ski day!