February 2023
We went skiing for a week. We stayed at the same hut in Austria that is used for the “Alpeninferno”. It’s up on a mountain. It’s quiet and it’s very beautiful in winter, too! We took Andre and Jenni along. And this was not only great company, it was also a good fit skill-wise: while Zoe was in ski school, Nicole and Andre had ski school, too, and then went skiing together, while I was exploring the wider ski area with Jenni.
The journey was a little too exciting for our liking, as we had to catch a connection train in Munich, which we only caught, because it had been waiting for the first train - and which was only communicated shortly before arrival. And then at the destination, we forgot Zoe’s suitcase in the train. But luckily there was very helpful and competent staff that managed to return the suitcase with the next train coming back the other direction.
So it started a little hectic, but everything turned out well, and we could start our winter escape.
Early morning start at Düsseldorf main station.
Train entertainment.
The connecting train was packed, so we could not occupy all our booked seats.
The mountains in sight.
The gondola up to the hut.
Arrival.
First thing, we had to do some snow shoveling.
The next day, we first had to do some shopping for the whole week, and organise all the rental skis. I wonder, if I overlooked a film, as I currently do not have more photos from that day. It was not that spectacular, though.
The next morning.
Putting the shoes on. Always a little bit of a challenge.
Loading cameras.
At ski school.
The moon in the evening.
The morning was always a good workout already, carrying all the gear up to the slopes.
Morning fog.
On the lift with Jenni.
As a snowboarder, you spend lots of time on your buttocks, fastening your feet to the board and then try to get up from the ground. And others then need to wait. But Jenni was always patient.
Lunch break.
Always ended here at the end of each day. Our hut is not far.
View! We were quite lucky that week. It had snowed before, but we then had mostly sunny weather. And towards the end of the week, snow began to melt more and more again.
The crew!
Afternoon (de)light.
Best accommodation!
We spent our evenings cooking and dining, listening to music, playing boardgames, or watching a movie. But we usually did not make it long, as everyone was pretty exhausted at the end of each day.
When you stay up on the mountain, you get to be the first on the slopes. Only Jenni in front of me.
Zoe had a little slalom race at the end of her ski school. I was mostly cheering her up, and only took this one blurry photo.
Anker-lifting.
Another lunch break.
Guardian satanic bear.
Last time in the gondola.
On my bum again.
On the afternoon of our last day, we decided to go sledging. Good decision. It was a really long curvy trail and we had lots of fun!
Catching the last sun rays in the evening. (This is - as most photos in this entry - from that little 22mm-lens plastic camera. Really can’t complain about its output.)
On the train back home. Zoe is usually pretty easy going when travelling.
That’s it from the ski holiday. If you want, you can check out two videos in my blog where I filmed Zoe skiing, and Zoe filmed me snowboarding.
The next day, Elfi invited the family to a restaurant for her birthday celebration.
New things for her garden.
Random full ashtray at the supermarket.
We also got snow at home later in the month.