hitting the ALPS...

Its Monday night as I type this…I’m sitting here on the EuroStar about to depart for London…second trip on it…the first time was to Paris…this time, we went to Brussels and then Brugge…however, this is the first time we are trying out first class…we get a three course dinner and champagne…and bigger seats and it definitely seems less noisy people-wise so far…the EuroStar is pretty sweet though, even in regular ol’ coach…the ride is so smooth and quiet despite traveling at extreme speeds…and its clean and comfortable…anyways, I have two hours to kill, so may as well pull out my laptop and type away…especially since watching M snore away with her mouth open catching flies in front of me is not my idea of a good way to pass the time…

First things first…i’ll write about Belgium later…I need to write about my trip to the Austrian (and Swiss) Alps a couple of weeks ago…I posted a quick picture about it a while back, but need to memorialize the trip on this blog…

Anyways, a group of ex and current co-workers, mainly European, went to the Alps (I think it was St. Anton) two years ago, and wanted to do the trip again…back then, it was one American (who can speak German after living there a couple of years on secondment), a German national, two Aussies (living in London but one from Adelaide and the other from Sydney), and an Irishman…

With me being here in London, I was able to go this time…for this trip, it was the same American and German and same two Aussies as mentioned above, but with the addition of myself and another Aussie from London (this lawyer is originally from Perth that I met for 30 minutes at a networking function and got along, so decided to invite him just for the hell of it…he is a hardcore boarder so that clinched it (squatted at Heavenly for one month a few years back)…so, it was a good mix of six dudes (ranging from 28 to 40+)…and two who can speak german…three skiers and three boarders…

The decision was to go to one of the most well known party resorts in Europe…Apres riding at its best…a resort named Ischgl, Austria (although half the runs were in Switzerland which was pretty cool going back and forth)…Ischgl is definitely a posh type of place…and prices showed it…but it is known for world class everything…and it sure lived up to its reputation…

We ended up staying a quick cab ride away from the main area, because prices were absolutely outrageous in central Ischgl (I can’t pronounce or let alone spell the name of the hotel) even for six guys that made decent money (I forgot to mention that the other American and German national are both Managing Partners at their respective firms so obviously a bit older…and with that said, they both got their own rooms as they are too old to share…hehehe)…

The three Aussies and I shared this two bedroom “apartment”…basically one king type bed in each room…so, we definitely had to be comfortable with each other…but Aussies are so laid back, so they aren’t really bothered by much…I was with the Perth dude…and that was tough…as he was a massive snorer…snore-a-thon 2009…i just kept telling him to turn over or something every time it got too loud…the second night, he finally disclosed that he has broken his nose twice…which clearly identified how he could snore so loud, but it didn’t really make sleeping easier…luckily, I had more beer in me the last two nights and was definitely exhausted from boarding and partying…

We were pretty ambitious in getting in as much riding as possible…we (the three aussies and I) left London on a Friday morning…arrived in Innsbruck around noon, then were on the slopes by 2pm…then we rode all day Saturday…all day Sunday…and then again on Monday morning before leaving for Innsbruck around lunchtime…all logistics went unbelievably well…flights were on time…we hit no traffic…no delays…it was sweet how it all worked out…

I believe I mentioned this on my previous blog…but the conditions were pretty amazing…probably the best snow trip (riding-wise) I’ve ever been on (outside of my first trip to Hood with T and Mel)…we definitely had more powder at Hood which was so much fun, but it was definitely challenging being in a blizzard most of the trip…but with this trip, we had good powder and visibility for the most part and on Saturday, parts of Sunday and Monday, it was blue skies…sun which you could easily get burnt on…so, riding through a field of powder with the sun beating down on you was pure pure heaven…

On top of that, Ischgl was top notch…the lifts and gondolas were the best of the best (tinted snow shields on most of the lifts which kept you in this warm bubble)…the food at every restaurant on and off the mountain was amzing…and the runs were so well groomed and well marked…so, we hit it pretty hard each day…and definitely did our fair share of off-piste riding as Ischgl was more open face like Squaw Valley in Tahoe…so anywhere on the mountain was fair game…obviously the best runs were off-piste cause of the better powder…the only negative was it wasn’t much of a tree-riding place, but the powder made up for it…plus, we were in the Alps…and it was beautiful, pointed mountain peaks everywhere you turned…

It was mainly me, Adelaide, and Perth who rode together most of the time because we were all boarders…the other three skiers were of varying levels and tried to stick together…Adelaide was a little passed a beginner rider and got better as the trip went along…while Perth was definitely at my level but a little crazier…he would just gun it down and just tried to hit everything at full speed…had some amazing wipe-outs (cart-wheel variety)…but in soft powder, we were at least able to laugh about it afterwards…

And lastly, the Apres riding…it was definitely nuts there…the minute we got off the runs, we would have a pint…then another…then another…we wisely went back to the hotel to shower and change, and then hit some amazing Austrian food (schnitzel anyone) and then hit it hard again…we definitely had our fair amount of Schnapps though…Austrians love their Schnapps…and that stuff is hardcore…strong enough to probably run your car…

The partying there was ridiculous…every place was packed…shoulder to shoulder…and the music is so Euro-beat…this fast paced, frantic music that everyone sings and dances to…there were obviously lots of American songs mixed in with the German songs, but they would mix in a fast Euro-beat to it…which made everything thump…it was fun, good time music at first…but after a while, I definitely got sick of it, and just wanted peace and quiet…listening to that frantic trance music non-stop gets you so tired…plus, since Ischgl is so posh and unaffordable to many youngins, there were your fair share of drunken cougars and dirty ol’ men running around…so, it was a mix of young and ol’ getting hammered singing and raising their beers to every single song…watching some ol’ fart and lady passed her prime partying next to you isn’t too appetizing at times (though comical)…even when you are drunk…nuts…

That is long enough for this post…definitely would recommend Ischgl to anyone…and hope to land over there again one day…

one last thing...I booked a trip for M and I to go to Zermatt, Switzerland in mid-March…have to take her up to the Alps too…Zermatt is apparently one of the top resorts in the World…if you know anything about riding in the Alps, then you would have heard about Zermatt…so, since M and I are only “young” once and living in Europe for a limited time, may as well go all out and visit the best of the best…it’ll definitely be the most expensive trip I’ll ever go on…but I can’t wait…we’ll definitely blog about it after the trip… Zermatt is absolute legend.