No friends on powder day...

Destination: Kirchberg, Austria
Purpose: Snow, snow and plenty of skiing
Summary: It was a perfectly scripted week of conditions for avid skiers and boarders alike, with the chalet accommodation conveniently located at the base of the Kitzbuhel ski resort – a great base for the full week of adventure…

I had a bizarre journey to Austria and here is a quick overview … The extremely turbulent and delayed BA flight from Heathrow was diverted to Zurich in Switzerland after Munich airport was closed with hurricane winds. I ended up jumping in a hire car with two fellow passengers - a random Scotsman & Finnish lady. We ended up driving four hours through Switzerland and Austria to meet our connecting transfers at Munich airport. A few hours later I was picked up by Shevy, the Aussie hostel manager who coincidently grew up in a neighbouring suburb from me. After travelling along the German autobarn at speeds up to 250km/hr, I safely arrived at the chalet almost 24 hours after leaving my house in London.

For the eager skiers out there, the conditions were fantastic! The week started off with beautiful sunshine, with slightly icy & moggly runs. This was followed by 48 hours of snow dumps, with over a foot of fresh powder across the slopes and across town. The rest of the week of skiing was amazing with superb weather, great runs and plenty of fresh powder to enjoy!! [Photo: green one day... white the next!]

There were plenty of other snow bunnies staying at the chalet to enjoy my week with. My main skiing buddy pushed my limits on the slopes and helped me with my technical ability along the way. The hard thing will be to remember it all for next year! By the end of our 7 days of skiing, we had pretty much covered every run of the Kitzbuhel resort - magnificant! After a hard day’s work on the slope, we finished the day relaxing in picnic chairs with a mug of gluvine (mulled wine) at one of the many slope-side pubs along our final homeward run.

Another activity for the week included a night time toboggan ride along a poorly lit track winding through the forest, stopping for a traditional meal along the track. The run had the potential for absolute carnage with the speed you can gain and the lack of ability to control the toboggans, but we all managed to walk away with only a few bruises despite a few crashes. All good fun!