Day 76 - First Day Skiing in Austria as a Family

We were all up early again. Another one of those good-but-not-great sleeps. I think the bodies are still catching up from the time change, or maybe this is just our new normal for a bit. Either way, I woke up tired. Knowing we were skiing, I skipped the run and Kia didn’t head out for a walk. We just cruised into the day.

I jumped on the laptop for a bit and knocked over some emails while breakfast was happening. We thought we’d be heading to the slopes closer to eleven, but around nine the call went out that everyone was getting ready to go. That kicked things into gear quickly. Kia started prepping food. I ran down to our host’s place to grab the skis, snowboards, and all the extra bits, loaded the car, then came back to get everyone rugged up. Thermals on, jumpers on, jackets sorted.

Emmett put his boots on way too early. Lesson learned. Ski and snowboard boots are not designed for hanging around or climbing in and out of cars. Tomorrow we’ll definitely wear normal shoes to the slopes and change there.

Once we were ready, we convoyed to the ski area because we had no idea where we were going. The ski slopes were called Almtal Bergbahnen (Kasberg). It’s a very local ski area tucked above Grünau im Almtal in Upper Austria. From what our hosts told us, it is the perfect place for us all to learn how to ski/ snowboard.

We parked, finished getting our gear on, then walked up the hill to the gondola. It wasn’t too bad for Emmett and me in snowboard boots, but Kia and Maddie really struggled in ski boots. They’re heavy and don’t flex at all. Another lesson for tomorrow.

At the counter our host helped us collect our lift passes that we organised a few months back. We got the little card passes that sit in your sleeve pocket so you just wave yourself through the gates. Easy once you know how it works. We piled into the gondolas and headed up. It was a proper climb. Way longer and steeper than I expected. I had imagined a gentle beginner slope down the bottom. Instead, we were heading right up the mountain. The gondola ride took about ten minutes and gave us all plenty of time to think, oh wow, what are we doing.

At the top it was foggy and hazy. You couldn’t really see the mountains, just the slope around you. We made our way over to the beginner area. It was maybe fifty metres long, not very steep, with hard-packed snow from lots of use and no fresh snowfall lately.

Maddie went first. Our host gave her some pointers and helped her down. She had a few solid crashes early on, mostly from not angling her skis in enough to slow herself down. Kia stayed with her, helping and encouraging. I took Emmett. I watched the demo, then held his hands and helped him work his way down, forwards and backwards, getting a feel for balance and stopping.

Eventually Kia had her turn. She fell a few times early but picked it up pretty quickly. Then it was my go on the snowboard. I crashed a lot. The first few runs were pure survival. I was figuring out balance, edges, and how not to slam straight onto the snow. After a while I managed to skid down on my edge with my hands almost touching the ground the whole way, just trying to stay upright.

The best part of the beginner slope is the little rubber conveyor belt that takes you back up. No unclipping and hiking uphill. You ride the belt, step off at the top, and go again. Round and round and round.

Maddie and Emmett must have gone up and down more than ten times each. Maddie really clicked into it. By the end of the day she was skiing all the way down on her own without crashing, over and over again. She even started steering a bit. Huge win.

I eventually made it down on my own without stacking it, but only by going straight down, almost backwards, staying on my backside edge. No side-to-side turns yet. That’s tomorrow’s mission. Kia worked out her turns too and had it dialled by the end of the day. Emmett could get himself down backwards completely on his own. Confidence levels were climbing fast.

It was a big day of learning. I didn’t do that many runs myself, maybe ten in total. Snowboarding is more mentally draining than I expected, especially with all the clipping in and out. Skis definitely have the advantage there. You just keep moving.

We planned to buy lunch up the mountain but ended up surviving on snacks, hot chocolates, and water. It worked, but tomorrow we’ll take proper food and carry our bag with us instead of leaving it in the car. Another solid first-day lesson.

We packed up around 3.30 or 4 and headed home, stopping for groceries on the way. Dinner was simple. I was in bed by about quarter to seven. Kia and the kids weren’t far behind, finishing off some video stuff before crashing too.

First day of skiing done. New skills, sore bodies, tired brains, and a lot of laughs. Everyone did so well. It was so much fun learning something completely new together. Tomorrow we build on it and hopefully start feeling a bit more confident. Ready to do it all again.