The Further Adventures of Britt & Lou: Austria Edition

Hello!

After 7 days in the Austrian Alps and 20 hours of driving through 3.5 countries (we accidentally wandered into Switzerland for like 8 minutes)we are back in beautiful Belgium. Before I get into a full recap of our stay, let me cut to the most important bit: contrary to what the videos I posted earlier might suggest, I survived a whole week at the [Alpine] peak without incident! And by "incident" I mean broken bones, trips to the hospital or any lasting physical damage. I do have a few good bruises and Lou may or may not have captured a video or two of me wiping out in truly spectacular ways, but, we are all in one piece. Which is 90% of the battle.

(I know, I was shocked by the lack of injuries too...)

So. Now that my skiing expertise has been shared, we can move on to the business of recapping the week.

Here are the pertinent details:

Timeframe: March 12- March 19, 2011

This would have been a fine time to go had there been more snow in January & February given that the average temp was 55 and there were blue skies most days. Unfortunately, the lack of precipitation prior to our visit meant that for 5/7 days we found ourselves with icy runs on the mountain and almost no fresh powder. Of course, on our 2nd to last day there was a proper storm and while we couldn't ski that day we did stay the full day on Saturday so that we could take advantage of the amazing conditions.

(Blue skies + Mountains + Snow = Happy Lou)

Where we Stayed: Haus Contento in Wald im Pinzgau, Austria

"Haus Contento" was a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath apartment nestled in the Wald im Pinzgau valley with gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains. Although on the basic side, it was perfect for our purposes and fit the six of us quite nicely. We were able to cook all but 2 nights, make breakfast every morning and watch more NCAA basketball than our poor Belgian friends ever desired thanks to the free internet. Our friend booked it for us via http://www.chaletsplus.com/en/

Where we Skied: Zillertal Arena

Zillertal Arena is composed of not just one but 5(ish) peaks connected via gondolas, chairlifts and tracks on the mountain as well as buses down in the valley. And how were all these peaks? Well. Considering that my only other ski experience was in Telluride, which, according to Lou, is one of the best resorts in the world, I'm not sure I'm really a good source for whether or not Zillertal is a good place to ski. I guess I'll just say that I was able to do all of the hardest routes by my 3rd day. Yes, me. I'm not saying I did all of them well, but, I did them without any major problems. So. I suppose that means Zillertal is great for novices like myself. More advanced skiers such as Lou had to really search "off-piste" for exciting tracks.

Where we Ate: Restaurant Zum Kirchenwirt in Wald im Pinzgau, ProllerAlm in the Zillertal Arena, our kitchen table and the rocks at the top of Koningsleitenspitz

I recommend the rocks:

Check back tomorrow for a recap of what I learned about socks, sprinkles, Salzburg and (apres-)skiing...