Söll

Hooray, skiing!

We drove North from Venice. The satnav found it a little challenging - sometimes suggesting that our preferred route included unsealed roads, sometimes getting confused on hairpin bends, and telling us that we should "turn around when possible". The navigation was a combination of following signs and following the machine's directions. It meant that we didn't take the shortest route, but it was scenic. We came across a couple of Italian ski resorts, where people were skiing down to the road's edge. And the general mountain views were quite spectacular.

We drove through Kitzbühel, Kirchberg, Westendorg, Wörgl, and finally made it to Pension Klammerhof, a farmhouse on the outskirts of the village of Söll. The family was very friendly - only Mother spoke English.

The first activity was tobogganing. We headed off to the back paddock, and had an exhausting but fun time for nearly an hour. Then we decided to drive into Söll itself to see if any ski hire places were still open at 6pm, and also to find some dinner. We ended up in another guest house where they usually only serve their guests, but found space for us.

Thursday was a skiing day. Our hosts lent us a pants & parka set, which was very friendly. It seems that hiring clothes is not the done thing in Austria. So we purchased a couple of sets of ski pants, and hired skis, poles, and boots, bought lift tickets, and headed half way up the hill in the gondola. Caught a chairlift up, and found our way down an beginner/intermediate run. It was challenging for all of us - particularly holding Helen between my legs. Decided to take the gondola to the very top. But when all the runs from there turned out to be advanced, most of us sensibly took the gondola back down. The steep bumpy slope wasn't the best way to warm up or recollect all those tips from lessons past.

We decided that a lesson for the girls was definitely in order. It was the last day for any ski school in Söll, so there wouldn't be many further opportunities. This introduced a sudden requirement for cash, which could only be met by taking the lift to the bottom, clomping all the way to the car, driving to the ATM, driving back, and gondola-ing up again. I only just made it in time for the girls to join a lesson. Joanna and I managed to explore some nice runs in the two hours before collecting the girls at 3:30. We did some easy runs together, and then tried to ski home on an intermediate run. I'm sure it was excellent physical training (with plenty of "gain") getting us all down.

For dinner, we walked to the restaurant three houses away. There was schnitzel for the girls, and Kalbshaxe(?) (a pork joint) to share for the adults. Very filling. And banana splits for dessert.

Friday morning, we decided that Westendorf was an enticing place, with more chance of a ski-school than Söll. So after getting ready, we zoomed off, and made our way without maps or navigational aids to the ski lift there. Just as we started to put boots on, we realised that our boots were back in the drying room at Pension Klammerhof. I don't think we've ever had to drive ourselves to a ski lift before, so we'd never had to remember to pack the boots. After collecting them, making another 20 minute drive into the next valley to Westendorf didn't seem sensible, and as our hosts had suggested that Scheffau (the next village in the other direction) was a good base for child-friendly skiing, we went there. It was true - we had a lovely day, exploring many of the runs. By late morning, we had found the Helen Hill, labelled as an intermediate run, that we could all enjoy. We ventured to the next valley by interconnecting lifts and runs, and almost found ourselves in the village of Brixen im Thale. But the best snow was on the north-facing slopes of Helen Hill.

We had arranged to patronise the same restaurant as the previous night, this time for Fondue. We had a dish of molten cheese, and one of oil for cooking the meat (chicken, pork, beef, and mushroom). It was more of a novelty than a delicacy, but we had a good time. And we even managed to squeeze in a dessert. There was a certain lack of self control as far as diet was concerned. Lunch on the slopes had been almost unnecessary - but our selection of pancake soup, spaghetti bolognese, wiener schnitzel, and sausage & bread was quite tasty too.

On Saturday morning, we remembered the boots from the ski room, and headed off to Westendorf. Unsurprisingly, the lift system had changed. The gondolas allowed people in/out at a Mittelstation, which seemed like a fancy piece of engineering. We stayed in until the top, and then warmed up on a the Talkaser slope. (I can't see that name without thinking of Islay and Jim.) It was labelled intermediate too, and set a few nerves on edge initially, but soon became the day's favourite. We explored to the edges of the Skiwelt area, over towards Kirchberg and Kitzbuhel, but found that many of those intermediate slopes were beyond the level of confidence (although not competence) of the family as a whole. A couple of attempts to point skis in the direction of a gluhwein spot we'd seen from the chairlift were unsuccessful, so we ended up back at the top of the main Westendorf Alpenrosenbahn gondola for lunch. Again, there was a slight overindulgence, this time incorporating the longed-for gluhwein, as well as a Germknödel that had provoked some curiosity the previous day. After lunch, we explored the top half of the southern slope's Westendorf anschluss (home trail), but discovered that it was at the advanced end of the rather wide spectrum that could be called intermediate. The two youngest seemed to show very little sign of nerves. Perhaps they don't have the self-preservation instinct yet. Although challenging, the snow was rather sloshy, so we felt that we could reasonably avoid making any further adventures there. Most of the afternoon was spent around the Talkaser (not Talisker) slopes, and then we (like most others) resorted to taking the lift down at the end of the day, which was also the end of the skiing.

In future, if I had a car, I'd be happy to stay at any of the villages in the Skiwelt area. There's good variety, with inter-linking trails (all on one lift ticket). I still have memories of a long (8km?) but very scenic road/trail from Kitzbühel to some spot where one had to be rescued by bus. I didn't notice such a run here, so maybe we'd have to try going back to Kirchberg/Kitzbuhel sometime. Or maybe, by the time we get back, both Kitzbühel and Skiwelt will be accessible on the same lift ticket. Skiing in Tirol is certainly much more scenic than any Australian resort I've seen. The long stretches of valleys, the jagged alps, and the little villages add a lot to the experience.

We had a chat with our hosts about the best thing to do on Sunday. We had thought about exploring some parts of the German Alpinstrasse, including Füssen and Neuchwanstein/Hoheschwanstein, but it seems there would not be enough time for this, so we will explore some different Ludwig schloss-heritage, in the Chiemsee.