Ski Europe / Ski Austria

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Ski Europe Three club members, Debbie and Paul Hughes, and Karen O'Byrne, left these shores in early 1985 for some overseas experience including skiing in Europe. Debbie and Paul have recently returned, loaded with memories, slides, and these two short reports of European ski trips. Karen is still in Britain, and Marion Griffiths of the French trip, is the young Englishwoman who was a club member for several years until her return in 1985. Skifield accommodation, La Plagne Debbie Hughes

Ski From the midst of an English winter we three (Paul and Debbie Karen Austria Hughes, O'Byrne) set off from London on an Paul "overnight" bus trip. After 27 hours Hughes we finally arrived at the lovely quaint village of Neustift, in the driers to warm up our boots. At the Stubai Valley. The village had many end of the day we skied with the little cottages, an old church and instructor along a narrow track down many new old-style hotels and pensions. through the firs, back to the end of We were to stay in a small pension (B the road. & B) run by the Salchner family. There were none of the plague of Friday and the weather was grotty so English skiers here, just lots of we went to Innsbruck for the day. We Germans with a few Kiwis, Aussies and caught the bus and went over the South Africans. We got our skis and Europa Bridge, the largest in Europe, wandered off to a dinner of weiner and into town. Visited the Winter schnitzel and apfelstrudel, washed Olympics Museum (Innsbruck held the down with schnapps. first de facto Olympics way back), and the Hofburg Palace, Austria's version Sunday and we went to the Elfer field of Versailles. Caught the train back just across the valley. A chairlift up the valley; it turned out to be a ride led to three T-bars on the bushstreetcar that turned into a mountain line, with a hostel that served the train. best apfelstrudel we found. We had Monday and there was 20cm of fresh our ski lessons and generally found snow, so we hit the glacier for some our legs again, then lost them after a superb skiing. gluwhein to warm up. Tuesday and we bashed the glacier Monday and a very cold day. Karen again, although Karen had the flu by started to lose her voice. Went to now, due to the earlier cold. dinner where they had fresh trout swimming around in a tank by the door. Wednesday and the weather closed in a If you wanted trout the cook came out bit so we spent the afternoon gorging with a net and a club, fished out the in the cafe. Went to a Tyrolean poor thing and whacked it over the evening with the locals showing us how head. We had to call the cook back to dance, their way, and had a go at when the trout fell out of his net, the local mixed sauna with all the and slithered around on the floor; we plump Germans. don't eat trout any more. Thursday and the gondola decided to Tuesday and off on the bus to the stop while Deb was on her own halfway Stubaigletscher, which encompassed the down = "Achtung achtung" - I can't head of the valley and was made up of understand what they are saying! three glaciers serviced by two Friday and a brilliant day on the gondolas, many T-bars and a huge 200 glacier, skied from the top to the seat restaurant with panoramic windows. bottom nonstop = 6000 ft. Many of the T-bar pylons were stuck in the glacier and moved with the ice. Towards the end of our stay, all the The top lift was a chairlift that went other fields in the region lost their to 10,500 ft and provided access to snow and we were inundated with German the largest glacier-run, through a skiers. You feel a bit lost when tunnel in the rock that you skied they start prattling away in Deutsch through. This run was cruise control, and you have to tell them "Englisch". just tuck your head between your legs On one occasion I responded thus, and and go. The top T-bar ended at a he said, "Thank God someone here flat spot where there was a popular speaks English!" Poor Yank. garden shed that sold tinnies, etc. You sit back in the deck chair and On Saturday we packed up. Back on soak up the view of the Italian Alps. the overnight bus, we found that the It was a bit cold today, -20C with the loo and the wipers didn't work, and wind blowing. Despite this, the the coffee machine ran out of water! locals had a festival and were all We were heading back to England = dressed up in local costumes. auf wiedersehen! Wednesday and a bit warmer today, only It was a very sociable way of skiing, -10C. We had all the storm gear on, with hostels all over the fields, a and kept our feet warm by diving into friendly unspoilt town, and warm the loos to use the hot air hand people.

Lunch, French style Debbie Hughes