Simply Too Talented

Oh my!

As pretty as the day was, I just couldn't haul my sore body up the mountain this morning.  Among my family, I seem to be the only one with achy muscles.  I'm not sure if it's because of my cold, or if it's just that I'm weak and out of shape.

Of course, I choose to blame my cold.

So instead, I sat back and enjoyed my breakfast this morning, which included a visit from the enormous Bär mascot, who came to meet the kids.  Given that it was at least a foot taller than any of the mascots our kids have seen in amusement parks or other hotels, and overstuffed to the point where it could barely lumber, Frankenstein-like, to our table, the kids were a little wary and reluctant to give hugs.

While Dennis and Ella had bundled up and headed to the top of the mountain, Ella for classes and Dennis for some practice runs, I had an early-morning nap before heading downstairs to watch the boys in the ski school in front of our hotel. By the time I got out there, the boys had their clothes on and were sliding on their bums down to their practice run.  The school had loaned them some sunglasses for the sunny day, adding that perfect finishing touch to their outfits.

The hill that they're learning on is tiny and barely sloped. There's a magic carpet to take the boys to the top, and then, spread out along the fifty or so feet of the slope, there are three instructors to help the boys back down.

I loved watching Joey up there following directions carefully, hands on his knees, carefully pointing his skis.  As awesome and professional as he may have looked looked, he was clearly at the mercy of his instructors, who didn't always catch him as he worked his way down the slope.  Regardless, he was having the time of his life.

Alex, of course, was a little beyond this class for three- and four-year-olds.  He can pizza and hot dog with the best of them.  So the instructors were clearly confused by our decision to put Alex in this class, and one took me aside, trying to set me straight: "Your son is just too talented for this class."

Talented. I couldn't have been more amused by her choice of words, clearly chosen to appeal to my sense of pride and my competitive spirit.

"Vielleicht," I shrugged, "aber er ist glücklich hier." He's happy here.  My competitive sprit is on vacation.

Really, all Alex wanted to do was play in the snow.  In one corner of the snow garden they had an excellent merry-go-round, with inner tubes for the kids to fly around on. He would have stayed there all morning if he could have, and for good reason.

Alex had been hard at work before ski class

Dennis joined me for the tail end of the boys lesson, and then the two of us left the boys to have their lunch with the other kids.

We grabbed our own quick meal in the hotel before I finally suited my sore body up and took the ski lift up the mountain.  Today, we decided to try the slopes that lead to the next town over, Fiss.  (Serfaus, where we're staying, is to the west of Fiss, and there's a third town to the east  called Ladis that's also accessible by the slopes. It kind of blows my mind that you can easily ski to three separate towns within these mountains.)

It's sunnier, and therefore slushier, over by Fiss, but it was really fun to see the mountains from a different angle.  We also got to watch some braver souls try the Fiss Skyswing and the Fisser Flieger, two simulated hand gliders that take their passengers soaring down the mountain. Brrr!

As well as being soggier, the slopes were also quite a bit more crowded, although I didn't mind sharing them with the kids of the ski schools.  To encourage the kids to keep their arms held out at their sides for balance, each kid was given a cape, attached to neck and wrists, so there were several little lines of superheros weaving their way down the mountains. Adorable.

We took a little time to pause at the lodge and have a coffee before going to the very top of the peaks above Fiss, the start of the trail that we planned to take home.  I'd eyed that peak nervously as I drank my mocha, but Dennis had patiently showed me on the map how there were a series of gentle blue runs that took you along the ridge and down the mountain.

Unfortunately, once we made it up to the top, we learned that our carefully plotted route had just been closed because of avalanche danger, leaving us with a steep, moguly slope as our only alternative.

So we sighed and carefully slid down, mostly on the sides of our skis, our collarbones intact but our pride slightly fractured.

As we made our precarious way down, I decided that I'm a confirmed member of the Alex Geels school of skiing.  I have a lot more fun enjoying the scenery from the practically flat traverse slopes.  All my talent, too, will just have to go to waste.

It's just incredible how long the slopes are at this resort.  It took us about an hour to get from the top of the mountain to the bottom, without much time wasted.  From there, we had to scurry to take a chair lift back the top of peak where Ella was waiting.  She looked triumphant, and she was excited to ski home with us once again.

The Jungle-Book-themed pool, which
somehow has escaped the notice of
litigious Disney Licensing.

Back at the hotel,we found that Joey was asleep again from a long day of playing.  We decided to let him enjoy his nap, and took just Ella and Alex to aprés ski cake and coffee (and sausage and cheese and sandwich and on and on!) hour that they have in the dining room each evening.  After a few hands of cards, Dennis took the big kids for a swim in the pool, while I went to wake up Joey, who snuggled up and played with legos with me until our 7:00 dinner.

Our meal tonight was unusual: Heißer Stein. We've had the same waiter for every breakfast and dinner, always dressed in a suit or a tuxedo, but tonight he had on lederhosen. He jovially handed us a  hot stone and a pile of raw vegetables and meat and told us to have fun.

I kind of prefer having someone do the cooking for me, and my pride leaves me room to say that the chefs are more than a little better at it than I, but it was fun for the kids to watch the food sizzle.

Dessert, too, was a spectacle.  Somehow they flooded the buffet area with dry ice smoke, and dramatic lighting, and they covered the bars with impressive desserts, of which we sampled many.

Since there weren't eight courses tonight, we made it back to the room with enough time to play a little before bed, and the kids pulled out their Christmas gifts of card games and legos.

Joey's been enjoying "Können Schweine Fliegen," in which you're given 17 different characteristics of animals (nocturnal, oviparous, four-legged, etc.), and you're supposed to decide which apply to a given animal (turtle, platypus, owl, and so forth.)  It's so cute, watching Joey study the pictures of the animals: "I think he's furry! Hey, I think it has a tail.  I think it's dangeredous." (His word for "endangered.")  And I loved hearing him try to wrap his mouth around the word "octopus."  Aw-tee-puss.

Dinner was probably brief tonight because, up on top of the mountain, they were shooting off fireworks performing some sort of ski exhibition.  But the show didn't start until 9:00, which was a little too late for our group.  If I had been feeling even slightly better, I would have gone up on my own, but it was too cold, so I decided to enjoy a hot shower instead.

But that didn't even work out as I'd planned.  Clearly Austrain hotels aren't built for indulgent steamy showers, because mine set off the smoke alarm for the room, and in moments a breathless and panicked  attendant showed up, having run up the five flights of stairs to rescue us.  Embarrassed, I decided maybe it was time to call it a night.