Sunday, March 28, 2010

Skiing the Gletscher: Kitzsteinhorn

As I am sure I have whined about this before, "winter" here runs from October through April, so finding something to do here other than skiing can be somewhat of a challenge.

Considering how slushy the snow has been on home mountain Schmittenhöhe, I suggested to Jason we go do some glacier skiing. The Kitzsteinhorn is less than 10 KM away and it gets fresh powder every night!

Jason and I get the "we live here" discount too, so it is not too terribly expensive.

Before hitting the slopes, we went to the top observatory deck. Here is a different view of Zell am See, framed by clouds.


The skiing was OK. Yes, there was fresh powder, but there were also a whole lot of tourists. The past few days on the Schmittenhöhe had been relatively tourist-free, which surprised me because Zell am See seems to be alive with guests. Evidentially they were all just coming to the Kitzsteinhorn. Sometimes when it is too crowded it is hard to enjoy yourselves because you have to be such a defensive skier/boarder.

The slopes are all above the tree line so you can see everything. I got a little excited by all the challenging rodeos (ungroomed marked trails, for more advanced riders), but not sure Jason enjoyed them as much... the quality of snow and the terrain made for some challenging riding. Here Jason is coming out of the bowl in the background (that nearly killed us).

What is interesting is that the actual slopes are very high up, higher then the top of the Schmittenhöhe, so between 2000-3200 meters.

There is also no way down to the parking lot, which means the slopes all start closing as early 3:45 so that people can get shuttled down to the parking lot via one of the 3 main lifts before 4:30. Since everyone feels like they need to make that last lift, it can get kinda sciencefairriffic.

Also, there is only one slope down to catch the final lift that takes you to the parking lot. No matter how good/bad people are, EVERYONE starts stampede-skiing it at 4:00. By this point of the season the run is literally a sheet of ice. Now add a million inexperienced, over confident and unaware skiers and you have challenge.

Still, it was a nice change of scenery and a good break from the snow-cone spring conditions I have been putting up with. It was really fun to shred some new territory and get a final taste of real snow before summer hits!

Hot Pastry of the Day: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls!

So as I mentioned before desserts are just not as sweet as they are in the US. This is fine, and actually Jason prefers it this way, but I on the other hand get obnoxious cravings for desserts that are entirely too sweet for me.

I have been experimenting with yeast. I have never been very talented at baking. I had a go with this cinnamon roll II recipe from allrecipes.com and paid special attention to some of the comments, in particular I let the initial dough mixture rest for 10 minutes before kneading it (a French method known as autolyse).



Voila! Beautiful, disgustingly gooey and way too sweet for you cinnamon rolls that were better then any I have ever had!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

SCHIFOAN!

Everywhere I have lived I have really tried to find that one something that is from that particular place, or culture, to which I can really, truly relate. Something that really translates, not just in words, but also feelings. I have struggled enough with the Austrian dialect - especially here in Pinzgau and it did not help that I actually spent more time in Tyrol the first year - so I often did not get much further beyond the literal meaning of things.

So one day I was on the Schmittenhöhe and happened to hear this song being played at the obnoxious-yet-I-can-see-how-it-can-be-fun-PS.-your-liver-will-hate-you-the-next-AM bar at the tippy top and I understood it. Not only the words, but I totally relate to this song. I feel exactly the way this song describes going skiing.

If you are interested, Wolfgang Ambros, the artist, is known for starting the genre of music called "Austropop".

Last night Wolfgang Ambros gave a free concert here in Zell am See. I was there and I sang along with the locals, because this is my anthem when it comes to how I feel about skiing....

...speaking of which, I am still on the slopes!! Let's hope the snow holds out until April 18!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Unser Osterbaum

In our almost 8 years of marriage we have never had a Christmas tree, not to mention an Easter tree.
This year felt sort of different. So we hiked up to the Ebenbergalm to where Jason had seen some branches of Weidenkätzchen. There were enough on the ground from where the forest service had trimmed that we did not even have to hurt a tree. We admired the view, had a drink, and then rode home on a sled through slushy snow, with our Weidenkätzchen.
Frohe Ostern!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Alpinzoo

What a better way to spend a Saturday then watching Jason interact with animals! A visit to the Alpinzoo in Innsbruck was a perfect way to enjoy the spring-like weather on a Saturday.
Braunbär

Steinbock

Actually, we were really impressed with the conditions in which the animals were being kept. Alright, it is still a "cage" and it is not the wild, but we felt the zoo did an excellent job in creating the habitats and the animals for the most part (according to Jason the animal whisperer, the animals seemed "happy").
Steinadler

Most of the animals were visible, except for the Murmeltier, a wild cat and deer. I had really wanted to see a Murmeltier after seeing all the signs in the Alps pointing to where Murmeltier were supposed to be visible.
Luchs

All of the animals were from Austria; they either continue to live in Austria, are part of a project to revive an endangered species in Austria, and there were a few that had lived in Austria in the past (like Moose) and no longer. It was neat to be able to realistically place them in the areas that we have become so familiar with. Actually, I had just seen Gämse on the Schmittenhöhe this past week!
Gämse
Now we at least know what the Austrian Osterhase looks like....
Schneehase

The Alpinzoo is easy to get to from Innsbruck, because it is practically in the city center! Innsbruck is one of those amazing cities that has the Alps dramatically and practically growing from the center of town. From the city center you can walk or drive there, or take a very short train ride from the Congress Center located in the city center.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Zell am See has competition: Hallstadt


This weekend we went to Hallstadt, a UNESCO World Heritage site here in Austria, about 2 hours away from Zell am See.

What else better do we have to do then visit other cute Austrian towns with lakes? Or towns like Zell am See without the lake? Yes, we live in tourist central and sometimes we find amusement in comparing the tacky tourist attractions we have in Zell am See with other tourist towns.

Actually this town had some cute little touches.
They also had a waterfall that practically dropped into the town. Bonus points.

I am glad we decided to visit it in the dead of winter because by the looks of the gates that appeared to be there to prevent traffic from driving through, and the many signs available in Asian languages, this is a tourist science fair in the summer.

Thanks to a huge prehistoric cemetery that was discovered near Hallstadt, Hallstadt gave it's name to the "Hallstatt culture", which was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC (European Early Iron Age). It extends from 1200 BC to 500 BC.

We toured the freezing city museum to see some of the artifacts that were found in the cemetery. It was worth it.

As a child, I had visited the salt mines there, one of the many things this little town is famous for. It is supposedly the first known salt mine. It was a fun time and still recommend it no matter how "touristy" you might think it is.

Yay! YAY! Yay! YAY! Yay! yay! YAH!!!!!!!!!!


While everyone is wishing for spring I want winter to stay forever. I am working on putting 1000KM on my snowboard this season and I cannot do it without the snow!