Catching up
My second lesson began with a larger group after once again there was a small sorting ceremony, and we were joined by a few other nationalities, ending up with a total of 9 of us, a bit disappointing given we only had 5 yesterday!
We headed up the mountain, definitely into the cloud line, with blustery conditions which necessitated snoods on, face masks and hoods up. Quite quickly one woman with skis that clearly were far too advanced for her decided the group wasn't for her and we headed back down.
We did some exercises, including some middle body positioning, but more of today was "follow the leader" at a slightly faster speed.
One guy in the group was keen on going "a lot quicker" until Michael, the instructor, said slowly on a thick German accent "this is a fools game, speed does not mean good technique and we are here to make your skiing less bad". The other guy didn't say much after that!
We went to a different restaurant for our lunch today, a first for my lessons here, usually we end up at Giriabli, but today we ended up down in St. Christoph, at a restaurant we've skied past a few times. One of the benefits of lessons is the instructors are able to get huge tables reserved easily to accommodate the group. We had a mixture of dietary requirements today so our Austrian waiter was replaced by an English-speaking one, and I enjoyed a Goulash Soup and Bread with much more enjoyment with a waiter who could check the ingredients!
After the lesson ended we met back at the house, and had a cup of tea before it was time for a drink back down at MooserWirt, and had a selection for Beers alongside some more Austrian and 80s music!
After the others enjoyed a Jaëger bomb, the bubble started, and this was a sign it was time for home and a Sauna!
We returned to the house and decided to checkout the Sauna - no photos here unfortunately as it's a traditional Austrian naked sauna, with a mixture of Saunas, Steam Rooms, Infra-red rooms and it has access to a veranda and the freezing snow!
Relaxed and warm, we headed down into town to Aquila to see if it lived up to last year's experience, and we're pleased to report it did!
Venison ragü, Thai and Chickpea Curry, and Halibut went down well!
Today was our first day skiing as a group, and we decided to head up to the other side of the valley. We skied down to the lift in the town, and then Pete realised that his Ski Pass was in his other jacket so I headed back up via a Red 29 Route to the house, which was a bit overkill for first thing in the morning and half skied half slid down the mountain back to Martin Tschol!
On the Rendl side, we were met with a cloudy morning, but very fresh air and quiet pistes, most people having been put off by some badly worded Austrian signs that implied most of the routes were closed until we clarified that it didn't mean that at all!
This region has a nice coffee shop and restaurant looking over the valley and we enjoyed some slopes punctuated by caffeine!
The afternoon took us to the very top of this mountain where we did a very narrow difficulty red route that was probably the limit of difficulty so far, but was a nice feeling having conquered it!
The mid afternoon took us down Red Route 1 which was and still is, my favourite route so far, down through the treeline with a mixture of steep and flat bits back down to St Anton!
We did one more blue route on the way back home, stopping for a pint in Taps at the top of the hill above the house in the last of the afternoon sun!
Back at the house, all tired after a busy few days, we had a relaxed afternoon, but more sauna and then Jon cooked a vegetable pasta dish before we finished off the evening playing a card game!
