Stubai

Well, we just returned early Monday morning from our ski trip to the Stubai Glacier. This trip was taken with the Bavarian American Ski Club, including our dear friends Jeff and Abby.

The trip was, well, interesting in many ways. We got an e-mail from the trip coordinator a few days before. This e-mail was full of things to pack, things we would be doing on the trip, etc. This threw me into a frenzy... a toga party? Really? We don't have togas!!! I got nervous about the trip and ended up packing two huge bags full of clothes (you just never know!). This is not normal for me, by the way... usually I pack a small bag and never have enough clothes.

So we arrived at base and went into the big bus we were taking to Austria. We met several members of the ski club, some which seemed quite cool. However, as we started rolling along it became apparent that some of the club just wanted to party (and maybe do a little skiing). I won't go into details, but there was a fight on the bus ride there. And someone vomited, which made for a lovely smell in the last few hours of the trip.

BUT, we finally got to the lovely Stubaier Hof and ended up being assigned to rooms outside the hotel. The hotel was full, so they gave us rooms in a nearby little hotel that the management also owned. The rooms were huge and the place was nearly empty. Perfect!

I won't go into the details of each day, but they all pretty much went like this. Get up early, shower, go eat a delicious breakfast at the hotel (included in the trip price), take bus up to ski hill, ski until legs feel like dropping off, take bus back to hotel, trip to the sauna, shower, eat scrumptious dinner with the rest of the ski club (also included in price), go back to hotel, play Texas Hold 'Em Poker with Jeff and Abby and anyone else who wanted to join, go to sleep, wake up and do it again.

The ski conditions were decent for the first two days, but on the very last day the conditions were PERFECT. The ski was blue, sun was shining, and the snow was the perfect consistency. I've never skied so much or so well in my life. Although from looking at videos of myself I have concluded that I am the worst skier in the world.

I should also mention that one day the mountain was closed due to high winds. We went into the nearby town, Innsbruck, for some sight-seeing. It wasn't the most exciting of days, but it was nice to get out and see some more of Bavaria. Germany truely is a beautiful country.

[Sidenote: I have realized that posting all of my pictures to the website means that my Christmas card each year won't be a surprise to most of you. But oh well, you'll have to deal with seeing the same old picture on the card. Too bad! That said, I have pictures from the trip up in the Photo Gallery.]