THE town of Zell am See in Austria was the destination for my trip and with the ski websites predicting great snow coverage and plenty more on the way, it seemed as though my timing or location couldn't be better
The traditional town, with its hotels and shops hugging the sides of Lake Zeller and the Schmittenhöhe Mountain rising up from the base, is everything you expect from a skiing destination.
Snow coats everything in sight, and the views from every a
ngle are picture perfect. To be honest, I would have been very happy to simply travel up the mountain every day by cable car, find a quiet spot in one of the many cafes and bars and read a book while drinking hot chocolate, occasionally gazing out at the views and the mad eejits travelling at speeds on skis that really should be illegal!
But that was not my purpose. Beginner ski school was booked for five days and with the cost, although reasonable, playing on my mind, I knew that I had no choice but to get onto the slopes and make the most of it. The first job on the first morning was hiring ski equipment and with the school due to start at 10am, it was an early start.
But the process couldn’t have been easier. With ski veterans warning me of huge queues at the hire shop I imagined a hellish hour spent in the freakish heat that plagues every indoor space but in fact it was a two-minute walk from our hotel’s front door and the fitting of our boots took just two more.
So, with boots in hand and skis slung over my shoulder it was with trepidation that I ventured up the mountain. I should also mention at this stage, that my skiing partner for the week was my mum. She first skiied back in her school days – some 30 years ago – and hadn’t been back since. So while I had the look of a terrified kitten about me, she was raring to go!
Our instructor for the week was a young man from Holland called Dirk, he was younger than my youngest brother and looked as though he should still be in school himself, never mind teaching me how to ski! But he was an enthusiastic chap and there was no doubt that I needed a touch of encouragement along the way.
The first lesson was spent, naturally, upon the nursery slopes and most of the time I was so busy concentrating on holding myself upright that I missed half of what I should have been learning. But nevertheless, as I made my way down the hill on the very convenient bus service (free if you’re holding your skis and which left us just 100 yards from our hotel’s front door) I was quite looking forward to the next day.
Falls
The sun shone brightly on most of our days on the slopes and on day two I even found myself losing a few layers as the rays and exercise warmed me through. I also mastered the somewhat precarious drag lift. Well, I mastered it most of the time. On one trip up, I was concentrating so hard on the death-defying action of the snowboarders on the adjacent black run that I found myself flung unceremoniously onto the snow.
