Learning to Ski

A little over a year ago Jenny and Ulf asked us if we would be interested in learning cross-country skiing, which they have been doing for several years now (although it was easier from Stuttgart than now from Berlin).  Jenny was so enthusiastic about the sport that she convinced us it was worth a try even though I had never in my entire (long) life stood on skis before.  Frank had at least taken a skiing course (Alpine) when the girls were young.  I was a little skeptical, especially after I read this in Wikipedia: "As a sport, cross-country skiing is one of the most difficult endurance sports, as its motions use every major muscle group and it (along with rowing and swimming) is one of the sports that burn the most calories per hour in execution."  However, true to my resolve to try new things, we agreed to join them in Austria for a trial week from January 14th to the 21st.

Our decision was made easier by their description of the hotel they liked to stay at.  Das Schiff  is a family owned and managed hotel with lovely rooms and an excellent kitchen (15 Gault Millau points).  Generally you can start skiing once you cross the street it's on.  (More on that in a minute.)  The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and we felt right at home immediately. 

                                                                              
                                                                              
We booked half board which meant a huge delicious buffet breakfast in the mornings and a five-course meal in the evenings.  The food was exceptionally good.  The only problem was that there was too much of it.  I didn't sleep well the first night, especially since we usually have our main meal in the middle of the day.  We tried several different methods of reducing the amount.  We left out some courses or asked for half portions.  We ate less at breakfast and lunch, but in the end I was almost relieved to leave and no longer be tempted to eat so much.  They served a lot of local specialties and on the last evening we had their "cheese menu", which was inspired by the local cheeses that the area is known for.  The only thing I didn't try (and no one else did either, not even Ulf who is usually the most adventuresome) was tripe.  Maybe if I hadn't known what it was.  But then I almost always ask.  I think I can live without having tried tripe in spite of my resolution to be open to new experiences.

When we booked our vacation last winter, we never for a minute thought we would have any problems with snow in the middle of January.  Unfortunately we managed to book the warmest January since 1969 and the snow that is usually a meter or two high at this time of year was hiding in other places.  The two pictures were taken the first and last day of our stay from our balcony and if you look closely you can see how much snow melted just in the few days we were there.  (Hittisau is almost 800 meters above sea level.)  Actually we had to drive back to Germany to take our skiing course, but the border and the little town Balderschwang was only 10 minutes down the road.  And there was just enough snow to learn the rudiments of cross-country skiing. 

                                                                              
                                                                              
Hubert was our ski instructor and we had him all to ourselves.  He was very friendly and seemed to know what he was doing so we followed his instructions as best we could.  It was a little scary at first, especially when he told us to stop using the poles.  We moved back and forth along a stretch of snow for about two hours until I thought my muscles were going to go on a general strike.  I fell twice, on icy patches, and discovered one of the hardest things for me is to get back up without taking off the skis.  Frank seemed to be a lot better at it.  After our time was up we met Jenny at the hotel across the street, aptly named "Hubertus", and heard about her adventures skiing alone and her several falls on ice, over a nice cup of cappuccino.  Ulf wasn't arriving until that evening because he had to attend an important meeting in Berlin on Monday morning. 

The snow wasn't very deep at all but it was okay to practice on.  The hardest part was getting over the icy areas, especially since we hadn't learned how to brake yet.

                                                                           
By the end of the morning we almost looked like we knew what we were doing and I felt fairly comfortable on my skis as long as there was not more than a decline of about 1%.

Jenny went to pick Ulf up from the nearest train station and we were a little worried because there was very thick fog rolling in.  The view from our window into the valley wasn't very comforting.  She reported later that it wasn't any fun driving in those conditions but she managed it in her sturdy Jeep and our little group was finally complete. 

                                                                              
The second day was another two hours of practicing what we had learned the day before.  For the first few minutes I felt like I had never been on skis before, especially since my muscles were sore and didn't really want to do any work.  The conditions were a little worse than the day before because it was pretty warm, but we found a stretch that we could use that went downhill a tiny bit because we had to learn how to brake.  It's a little scary because you have to ski on one foot, raise your other foot with the ski level, place it outside the track at an angle and then transfer your weight onto it.  It sounds much easier than it is, especially when you are sliding downhill faster than you really want to go.  Then there was the problem with the ice, because this method of braking doesn't work so well on ice.  At the end of the morning we were heading back and there was a huge area of ice.  I was already going faster than I wanted and I wasn't having much success at slowing down.  I fell sidewards and bumped my head but I didn't even feel like too much of an idiot.  Hubert had been muttering criminal under his breath all morning when assessing the conditions.  And he said if we could ski under these conditions, we should have no problems in real snow.

So we went back to the Hotel Hubertus and met Jenny and Ulf and it was so warm we sat outside for our aprés ski.

The third day was our reward for good behavior.  We met Hubert in Balderschwang and then we drove another 15 minutes to a place where we could ski along a stream.

                                                                        The first half of our journey was slightly and sometimes not so slightly downhill.  The snow was icy in patches and in other places twigs and roots made it difficult to ski.  Hubert helped us in the rough spots.

                                                                              
It was more fun than it sounds like because we were in a beautiful area with mountains around us and a stream flowing alongside us.  The sun even came out for a while and we got a taste of what it is like to really go skiing cross country.  When the course got really bad we turned around and skied back, uphill this time.  It was a lot easier and more fun, even if it was more work.  And by then we were into the rhythm of it all, which is essential for the enjoyment.

This was our last day of instruction and we thought we might be good enough to try some easy course somewhere on the next day.

                                                                              
Jenny wanted to drive to Davos in Switzerland on Thursday, but unfortunately there was a hurricane in Europe, Kyrill, one of the worst storms of the past decades and the weather forecast was NOT good.  At breakfast we convinced Jenny that it was not a good idea to drive an hour and a half through a hurricane to go skiing.  She wasn't really convinced but agreed to wait. 

In the morning Frank and I drove to Bregenz, which is the next larger town, to have a look around.  It's right on Lake Constance and we expected to find an attractive place, but we were disappointed.  The few nice buildings they had were ruined by the shops that had been put in on the ground floor.  We spent a little time in the book store and had a nice lunch in an Italian restaurant.  I had an excellent vegetarian pizza, which I managed to give about half of to Frank because I knew what was waiting for us that evening. 

                                                                           
                                                                           
After lunch we went to the art museum, which is the building on the left.  I'm not sure whether they have their own collection or not, but at this time the entire building was devoted to a retrospective of photography by a contemporary New York artist, Cindy Sherman.  We had never heard of her but that doesn't mean anything since we know little or nothing about contemporary art.  She has works in a great many of the top museums in the world.

Her photographs are always of herself in varying costumes with the help of make up and sometimes artificial face parts.  One series that I particularly liked was titled "Bus Riders" in which she portrayed all sorts of different people you can find on a public bus.  You really had to look twice and sometimes very closely to see that it was really always the same person in the picture.  Not all of her photos were very appealing to me, but it is an interesting body of work.  The exhibit will be in Berlin beginning in June in the Gropius-Bau.

After a coffee in the café in the black building next to the museum we returned to the hotel.  The weather had deteriorated and we wanted to be back before it got really nasty.  And we were all booked for massages in the late afternoon.  Frank and Ulf are massage freaks.  This was only the second massage I had ever had and it was fine but I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about them as Frank.  My muscles did feel looser afterward though. 

That night was a little scary.  The wind whistled through our room and we heard things thumping all through the night.  Everything was in one piece the next morning though and in general the area we were in didn't have a lot of damage.  Schools were closed in Bavaria - I thought that would make Max and Alex happy, but Max was home sick anyway and Alex was disappointed because normally he would have had two hours of sports.  They stopped the trains in ALL of Germany for the first time ever and if we hadn't been on vacation Frank would probably have been stranded somewhere overnight.

The next day, much to Jenny's disappointment, the weather was still bad and it was raining in Davos.  We didn't want to stay in the hotel all day so we drove to Dornbirn, a small town not too far away.  They had done the same things to their attractive buildings -  put in shops and large windows on the ground floor.  Such a shame.  The 17th century "red house" on the left got its color originally from ox blood.  I doubt they still use it now though.  I don't think it would smell very good.  There wasn't a lot to do in Dornbirn but there was a large sports shop where Jenny and Ulf bought a few things and enough shops to keep us busy for the morning.

That evening we had our "cheese menu" for dinner which had a lot of specialties from the region, for example "milk veal" from calves who had only had milk to drink.  Very tender and tasty.  It probably should have been called "dairy menu" because there was some form of milk used in each course, but I guess that doesn't sound as scrumptious.  This was our last evening since Frank and I had decided to leave on Saturday morning.  We spent the rest of the evening playing cards and digesting all the food we had eaten.

Jenny and Ulf made the trip to Davos on Saturday and reported that the skiing was fine there.  I'm glad they finally got the opportunity to do some serious skiing, even if it was on their last day.  We are talking about returning next year.  Let's hope for more snow - but not so much that we can't get there!