Sunday, February 10, 2013

Snowboarding in Biberwier, Austria

I'm not bragging, but when the hardest decision on a Friday afternoon is whether or not to take a last minute snowboarding trip in the Alps of Austria, you feel spoiled as heck. Needless to say, I was up at 4am the next morning and running to catch the bus that would take me there. I joined Bart—an Army officer, helicopter pilot, and boyish jokester—and the two of us boarded the pre-dawn shuttle.

The journey was longer than expected, due to the fact the autobahn was slicked over in ice. Although we had to wait hours and hours in a stau (a traffic jam) I was happy to think that I may have been one of the only people to have ever danced in the middle of the German autobahn. Plus, inching through the Alps was sort of an adventure. Grandiose peaks loomed so high that they looked like the sky at first glance, and the snow that blew from the icy forest of firs looked like glitter in the stormy sun. Frosted lakes and sleepy villages set at the foot of monstrous mountains made me feel like I was in a fairy-tale land, so I would have felt like a brat to complain of the delay.  

The resort we arrived at looked as if it had come straight from a postcard, and is the epitome of what I always picture the Alps to look like. Striking mountains surrounded the cozy village, and the sky was blue with black and golden clouds that floated about like orbs. There were no lines on the lifts, and the snow was so clean and new and fluffy that even someone who didn't like winter sports would have become an enthusiast. I loved the view from the top of the lift, the feeling of soaring down the alps through sparkling snow, and seeing the picturesque peaks as I flew past them—I think I know what it feels like to be in heaven.

Bart is a little more advanced at snowboarding than I am, but that didn't prove to be a problem since he seemed to thoroughly enjoy going in circles around my teetering self and raking waves of powder into my face. After a while we stopped at a cozy lodge at the top of a peak for a warm drink. I ordered a sweet black tea with rum, which was delicious and helped to warm up my icicle body.

The day flew by and before I knew it we were climbing back onto the bus. We stopped in a German village for dinner, and hearty potato soup and a cheese sandwich on Brötchen was just the thing I needed to polish off another wonderful day. 




























1 comment:

  1. Your description brought me by your side vicariously as you vividly painted each scene. So happy for you and all your joyous experiences. Keep posting- we love it! mountainmama14x

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