Whiteout

Things started slowly, everyone having a lie in.

Long good proper Bavarian breakfast, lots of coffee and looking out the window at the rain, sleet, snow and the 0°C displayed on the outdoor thermometer.

Angie had to go in to Ottobeuren, so J & I set about planning a trip to the mountains. Should we go to Austria? No, leave passports at home. Having packed the car with 4 weeks worth of clothing, 4 anoraks, 6 pairs of socks, 5 pairs of gloves, countless sweaters, shoes and overall trousers, we loaded his skiis and boots in the car and set off south at midday.

The further south we went and in to the foothills of the alps, the greener it got. Oh dear, have to head higher. Went to Oberstdorf, the village at 800m without a sign of snow but the slopes around it gradually got whiter as they got lost in the mist. Headed further up the valley and then took the decision to do an illegal immigrant break for Austrian territory. Got through safely and indeed the snow increased and very soon we could pull over for some action.

Despite the severe avalanche warnings thanks to the new heavy wet snow of the last few days, J wanted to go straight off on an unprepared slope where clearly no one had yet been. On with the skis and he was off and away in to the blue. Managed to get snaps and a video by the time he returned safely.

The snow was a bit heavy and deep and he complained I had prepared the skis with the wrong wax which was slowing him down. So back in the car and he was forced to use one of the "softies" prepared slopes. He did a few turns and jumps but tried to avoid all the amateurs around him, even foregoing using the lifts. He sprinted up the slopes faster than a nordic combination olympic gold medal winner.

Finally bored by it all and fed up with the mass of spectators gathering to see his stunts, we called it a day. He really didn't feel up to facing the barrage of autograph hunters.

We then headed in to town and while walking on the main street towards a cafe, were passed by a police SUV,, the occupants giving us very strange looks. As they did not stop, we assumed it was not because we looked like illegal immigrants but because J was half naked, being the only person far & wide not wearing an anorak - typical mad hardy Brit.
I was later to be told off my Tochterpleach that J wasn't wearing hat, goves, goggles, scarf, waterproof trousers.... He actually kept trying to discard layers as he got so hot and anyway as a recent single again, he does need to maintain a certain image on the slopes if an Easter Bunny happened to pass by.

So we sat in the cafe, reviewed the photos and videos and planned what to do better next time. We will try in future to start off somewhere better than the hill formed by the ploughs when clearing the car park. A six foot mountain of very heavy snow does make it difficult to even turn on let alone get above 2 km/h. The prepared slope should be one without quite so many kindergarten 2 year olds whizzing around like speed junkies frightening the hell out of us. Luckily they didn't have ski poles/sticks so the danger was somewhat reduced but neither of us had helmets or shin pads to avoid the sways of snow being thrown up as they carved their way past us. We should also find a slope with a lift designed to pull more than 20kg persons. Anyone who saw, I think the BBC TV series, on Brits learning to ski (end 80's?) will know how J performed!

Actually thats not quite true. We did start off only wanting to take a few photos to impress the gang back home in the UK and stopped on a place with no one around to see our antics. The snow was incredibly deep, it was almost impossible to walk on foot in normal shoes let alone with ski boots. We did the photo session and J tried to find a bit of a slope to get some movement and suddenly he quite enjoyed it. So we did move to the next available prepared slope and it happened to also be close to a very small lift and slope for very young (kindergarten age). Without minutes, J was actually turning and showing remarkable signs of having a degree of control. He was bitten and would love to return as soon as possible to have a proper go and helped by someone (Angie) competent in telling him what to do.


I did also discover that J hadn't been too keen on skiing apart from the "faked" photo. He has been suffering "nightmares" for around 23 years ever since last being on skis on a trip with his sister Kate, Angie & myself. He couldn't stop on skis then and feared nothing had changed! But he wasn't even 8 then

We had a fantastic laugh. I don't think I have giggled so much in 20 years. It is caught on video but I won''t be loading it to YouTube - Tochterpleach has seen it and can vouch for what I have written!

Left at 16:00 and back home. Evening went out for a meal at Ottobeuren's Hotel Hirsch which also has it's own brewery. Luckily Angie along to drive as I had two beers. As we drove home there was a police control. We watched the driver in front of us being breathalised but luckily they then didn't bother with us.

Fantastic day and several lucky escapes  from the law - as illegal immigrants in Austria and Angie not being in possesion of her driving licence (she left her purse at home so that she didn't have to pay!).

PS The bit of Austria we were in is called Kleinwalsertal. It is the top part of a dead end valley which includes Germany's Oberstdorf and as it's a dead end, can only be reached from Germany and has no road connections with Austria itself. The mountains are the highest in this part of the Bavarian Alps going up to a little over 2200m (6600 ft).