Lech, Austria (Rollin' with the Royals)

For this year's ski trip, I was in charge. So I took the path of least resistance and copied/ pasted someone else's plans and voila! (Not exactly, but closer than you might imagine if you don't know me well.) We really wanted to go with some other families this time so that we would all have some people our own age to hang with. Thankfully, there was a large group of ISA families heading to Lech, Austria (just north of St. Anton am Arlberg) and they were nice enough to allow us to join the fun.

We started out from Amsterdam Central (the train station) on Friday night (Day -1). Despite getting there plenty early, getting our vast amount of baggage into the "Sneeuw Trein" before it left the station was pretty stressful. Once inside, we shuffled our way to our cabin. I don't really know what I was expecting, but we were only a party of five in a six person sleeper, so I guess I assumed that there would be plenty of room. As it turns out, it was about 6' x 6' - seemingly less room than the Uber van we took to the station! I was a little freaked out at that point since we had THREE large suitcases, a smaller "carryon" suitcase, and a snowboard bag in addition to the various backpacks and bags of food and "adult refreshments." Then we happened to notice that there was space above the hallway where we could store the big bags and space below the bottom bunk/ seat for the board bag and various other items. Ten minutes later, we were reasonably comfortable.

Close quarters, even with the "beds" put away.

We were all able to spend some time with the other families on the train, which made the ride pretty fun. The bar car was a highlight of sorts; not the "sit down at a table in a well-lit area and enjoy some drinks over a game of cards" atmosphere I was hoping for... more of a Euro-polka, music uncomfortably-loud, no seat much less tables kind of vibe.

We eventually got to sleep, and woke to the train making its first stop in Austria the next morning (Saturday, Day 0). We were maybe 10 more stops down the track - another hour or two to go - so a few of us walked down to the dining car (which was really the bar car, but they were serving instant coffee and a cold cheese sandwich). In retrospect, we shouldn't have been surprised about the scene.

You may have noticed that there was a line to get this terrible coffee. By the time we reached the bar, the line had diminished and no one was behind us. I didn't really think anything of it until we got our order and walked back to the door, which was locked. And barred. One of the other passengers walked back to us, saw the door, and freaked out - saying something in Dutch as he turned and ran to the other end of the car. We were a little perplexed, but the one student in our group (who has had 1.5 years of Dutch) recognized enough of what he said to realize that they were separating the train - and we were on the wrong side. Soon enough we were all also racing through the car, out onto the platform, and back into our side. We made it, barely avoiding a really great story.

I received a call from a strange Croatian number a little while later. It turns out that the transfer service that we ordered (and prepaid) for the 30 minute drive from the St. Anton station to the hotel in Lech is run from somewhere outside of Austria I guess. Anyway, they were calling to let me know that they were running late. After spending 90 minutes there, our guy finally arrived and we completed the trip - in not quite as good of a mood.

The hotel was great - we had three nice rooms, a kitchen, and plenty of space to spread out, which we needed after the confined train ride. The pool, sauna, and basement gameroom were very popular with the (20+) kids, and the adults took advantage of the bar/ lounge to some extent most every night.

Nice view from our balcony too!

Due to the delay, we had no chance of getting on the slopes on Saturday, but we were able to get skis rented, make a trip to the grocery, and get the general lay of the town. Lech is a great little place - everything is an easy walk, there are (free?) buses to the other towns in the area (all are connected by ski lifts as well), and there was plenty of shopping for those with that inclination.

We finally got to get in the snow Sunday morning. Eliza grudgingly went to ski school and Lilli and Lucy stayed with me and Holli. 

Poor Eliza...

The conditions were not bad but not the greatest either, so we took a nice lunch break on the mountain.
Due to the quality of the food, I think we had lunch at the same place every day we were there!

Eliza was adamant about going up the mountain with us at the end of the day, and since the sun had come out we gave it a shot. The first few minutes were pretty hairy as there was no "easy route" at the very top. But once we got her around the steeper face and onto an open field, she started gaining confidence and really did well.

After seeing the improvement she made just between the top and bottom of that run, we decided that we were essentially through with ski school as a family and that we'd stay together from here on out. So day 2 (Monday) we all headed out together for the first time. We stayed in a group for about one run before I took the two older girls to try and find Lucy's friend Ella, who came up for the day from St. Anton.  

Eliza got some quality Momma time!

Great weather conditions!

Ready to go at the top.

Eliza's improvement between day 1 and 2 on display here, as well as some crazy jumps from H.

Apres-ski

I promise that we try to make her eat. If only I had her metabolism...

Ella ended up staying with us that night - always a very nice addition! We caught this great scene walking home from dinner:

Day 3 (Tuesday) was snowy, so we didn't take any good pictures but we did get some good riding conditions! Wednesday was a Bluebird day, and although we didn't get an early start there was still plenty of good snow to go around when we did hit the slopes.

Holli and Eliza

Hard to get a group-lift-selfie with 5. Needed Clayton's arms (or a narcissistick).

Blue skies didn't last all day...

Literally or figuratively. On the next run, Eliza fell awkwardly and must have caught her ski in the snow at a bad angle. She started screaming and when I got to her to help I was sure that she had broken her leg or knee. We called for help and she got a very much unwanted sled ride down the mountain followed by a short ambulance ride to the clinic (the total trip from where she fell to the x-ray machine couldn't have been more than a half of a mile). After a thorough exam and a few pictures, there was no "serious" diagnosis left except for a torn meniscus, which could be ruled out if she was able to walk. When she took those first two steps without any noticeable pain, Holli and I were just about as happy as we have been since she was born. There's nothing like your child being at risk for surgery to bring things into perspective! The medical staff at the clinic probably sees 100 of these every day, and we really felt good about the care they provided - they absolutely could not have been better.

Some of our friends were kind enough to supervise the older two while Holli and I were off to the Dr.'s office, but the plan for the night was for "everyone" to stay at the top of the mountain for dinner. Eliza was obviously out of skiing for the rest of the trip with her swollen knee, so Holli took her back to the hotel and I tracked down the group. The journey back from the restaurant was after dark, which was quite interesting.

I would guess 15-20 adults and an equal number of kids skied back like this.

Hard to get a good picture, but it was quite pretty from up there!

Day 5 (Thursday) seemed like a good day to take off, all things considered, so we laid low for the most part.

We did get out for a walk to lunch during the day, amongst some monster snowflakes.

We decided to try out The Fux for dinner since it was right out our hotel window.

See the little foxes running around me here?
Fux is German for fox. Why? What did you think it meant?

She ate all of them - Lucy likes ribs. And fried potatoes.

Day 6 (Friday) Some of us slept in while Holli took Lilli out for a morning ride. They had some good snow to work with and were able to get to one of the areas that we had been considering all week.

Happy girls!

Holli and I switched, and Lucy and I joined Lucy for the afternoon. After a run or two, we decided to try to complete der Weiße Ring (the White Ring), which is a 20-25 km (~15 mile) course connecting the towns of Lech, Zürs, Zug and Oberlech via slopes, lifts, and ropes. It really wasn't all that fun on a snowboard as there are some uphill areas and a lot of lifts, but we got to see some amazing scenery since it was another beautiful day. We did complete the circuit - but to no-one's surprise, well over the record time (somewhere in the 40-45 minute range - we were closer to 2.5 hours).

We could have gotten another day in on Saturday (Day 7) since the train didn't leave until 18:30 or so, but we decided to take it easy - relax, take a walk and do a little last-minute some shopping.

The Church of St. Nicholas - dating to 1390...

Most of the interior is from 1791 - one of the more beautiful and authentic churches we've seen, perhaps all the more so because of its diminutive relative to Notre Dame and Saint Peter's.

Life is good.

You may have been wondering about the "Royals" reference... Unbeknownst to us prior to the trip, the Dutch royal family has been coming to Lech for the last ~80 years, and they happened to be there during this week. As we were hanging out in the sun (photo above), we watched a helicopter land on the slope above us near the place where Eliza fell. It was there for a long time and we were all a little worried that something really bad had happened. We later found out that Princess Alexia (10) had broken her thigh and had to spend several days in the hospital.

We ended our time in Lech by frantically re-boarding the Sneeuw Express - which moved their departure time up by 20 minutes without informing anyone (?!@$&*). Incredibly, the entire group made it on and we settled in for the relatively uneventful ride home.