Valuable Lessons Learned in Garmisch...

* When a downhill mountain biking junior champion says a hill is steep, believe him. No idea why we still let the bike rental guy at the hotel talk us into riding up to the Eibsee, the lake above at 3,000 foot elevation. Turned out that the bike lane was covered with ice, so we ended up pushing the bikes alongside the road for 1.25 miles up a 13% grade (granted, Jimmy did most of the pushing) only to find out the trail around the beautiful lake was also covered in ice and I was too much of a wimp to try it. I did overcome my fears of downhills enough to ride my brakes all the down.

* Jimmy would fight a bear for me. While on our hike, we came across a set of large animal tracks in the snow that appeared out of nowhere. I thought they were a large dog, but Jimmy thought they were bear despite that bears usually hibernate during winter. He tried not to scare me, but secretly plotted how he’d distract the bear so I could get away. Turns out there are no bears in that part of the Alps, but it’s good to know that my man would defend me.

Made it to the Top!

It was easy to consider giving up on the hike as I was gasping for breath on the long uphills in the deep snow, but I managed to keep going and eventually the end was in sight. I was truly thrilled when I finally saw this ski lift (which both Veronica and Ashlynn had ridden several times that day). I was even happier when I had a big plate of spaghetti and a nice cold beer in front of me. Ironically, once I filled my belly, I would have actually considered hiking back down, but there wasn't enough time before we had to meet the girls. Veronica was very surprised to see us on the mountain and thrilled that we could ride the gondola down together.

Should Have Brought Snowshoes...

When we got the map for the gorge, we noticed that there was a trail across the mountain to the ski resort where the girls were. So, instead of a simple walk back, we set out for over 3 hours of trudging through the snow as we made about a 2,000 foot elevation gain. I may be smiling in these photos, but I was not a happy camper despite the gorgeous scenery.

Nature’s Beauty in Bavaria...

After dropping the girls off at ski school, we set out for a hike to the nearby Partnach Gorge, which is a natural monument. It was quite remarkable turning a corner and discovering the simple river transformed into a gallery of fantastic ice sculptures. The gorge is 2,300 feet long and rises to 260 feet high with a walkway near the river’s edge. While I’d seen the backside of a waterfall before, it was definitely cool walked behind a frozen one for the first time.

A Quick Trip to Austria...

While the family was off skiing, I did some sightseeing. I spent one day with a friend at the picturesque town of Oberammergau, which since 1634 has hosted a passion play every decade (in 2000 there were over 400,000 visitors who watched the 7-hour long play which was repeated over a 5-month period and starred 2,000 of the town’s residents). Another day, I took a bus trip down to Innsbruck, Austria for a tour of the royal summer palace and a few hours of exploring on my own (unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to really explore the way I like to which is why next time I’ll just take the train on my own instead of an organized tour). The historic city center was lovely, especially with the snow covered peaks of the Alps towering behind. I especially enjoyed the Hofkirche (Royal Church) which had the most amazing tomb memorial for Emperor Maximillan I. Completed in 1555, it included 28 larger than life bronze statues of relatives and role models placed around the immense sarcophagus.

Ski School US-Style...

A big advantage of going to Edelweiss is that they have their own American ski school. Not only do the instructors all speak English, but they charge in the new American peso which saves a considerable amount. The girls both loved their four days of ski school. Veronica was up the mountain on intermediate slopes most of the time. Ashlynn began at the bottom of the mountain, but spent the final two days up the mountain on the beginner and even some intermediate runs. I wimped out with the excuse that the conditions weren’t perfect. Jimmy attempted snowboarding, but found that his good sense of balance did nothing to stop him from landing repeatedly on his knees and wrists, body parts he needs for running and his job, respectively. If he’d only fallen on his head, he may have stuck it out. Instead he switched to snowblades for a day then hung out with me for two days. On Saturday, he took Veronica by cog train to ski the glacier at the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain at 9,700 feet (sorry, he didn’t bring the camera).

A Fairy Tale Castle...

We took the train to Garmisch- Partenkirchen, home of the 1936 Olympics. We stayed for a week at the Edelweiss Resort, a US Armed Forces lodge that reminded us of the Disney Wilderness Lodge in Orlando but set in the Bavarian Alps. We had an extra day before ski school started, so we went on a bus tour to the Neuschwanstein Castle. While I normally avoid bus tours because they put me to sleep, I really wanted the girls to see the castle that helped inspire Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland. As you can see, there was no snow around, which would have been beautiful to see, but the skies were a wonderful clear blue and it wasn’t too cold. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos inside of this magical palace. King Ludwig II’s obsession with building castles nearly bankrupted Bavaria. He only lived in this incomplete castle for 6 months in 1886 before mysteriously drowning two days after being declared unfit to be king.