32 Story; Into the Alps on Skis to Find 2 Lost Blokes. Song: “Misty Blue”. Photo: “Friends”.
My friend, and fellow ski instructor from Brandywine, named Lucian (top left in photo above), decided to move back to Europe, and was teaching skiing in Austria, at at Mayrhofen Ski area, in Tyrol, Austria. After Lucian had been there a while, he contacted me in Ohio, and told me that he had worked it out so I could visit him, and teach skiing with him there. And, since it would only cost me the price of a plane ticket, I went off to Austria (photo below left) After my flight, I landed in Munich, Germany, my friend Lucian was there to pick me up, and we stopped at a Munich piano store where he took one photo of me on my first day in Germany, and one with me and my guitar on the day I left. I had looked forward to seeing the Italian and/or Swiss alps too, but I feel lucky to have gotten back to the USA alive, and with my guitar.
During the end of my 4th week at Mayrhofen, there was an English group who I had been skiing with during their few days on “holiday” (see the group photo above). They would all be flying back to Great Britain on the next day. While they were at Mayrhofen, they had been skiing, mostly, over the other side of the very top of the mountain, where there were only four short runs, but many skiers’ favorite choice of runs, and all great fun.
These 4 runs could only be accessed by… first, taking the gondola from the village half-way up the mountain, taking another gondola almost to the top, then choosing either to walk up a steep incline of stairs (which I always did) or, leave your skis on, and make your way up and around on a circular path (which took longer). Then, by taking a long chair-lift up to the very top of the mountain, you can continue by skiing down the other side of the mountain on any of those four short runs, which were just over on the other side, and only near the top. And, these four runs all ended on a service road, which ran parallel to the forest tree line. Once you reach the service road at the end of any of these four runs, you have to take the service road down and over to the only “J-bar” lift to get back up. The other side of the service road, went down a steep incline, and at the bottom of the embankment, was where the mountain’s forest line started. The forest was thick from there on, and also went down at the same steepness, into the Alps. At some point way below, it then went every which way, for miles. You wouldn’t want to ever even try skiing, snowmobiling, or even hiking down the mountain in that direction. Lucian told me that many people have died trying.
During my last week, there was record-breaking freezing temperatures, with 3 to 4 feet of snow. Just moments before all the lifts closed, the English group I was teaching all week wanted me to take a group shot of all of them skiing down the hill together. After they skied into the shot, (photo below), most of them stopped in the deep powder before reaching the service road, but two of them didn’t stop, and just kept going!
Unfortunately, and to everyone’s surprise, not only did two of them keep going straight, without turning, stopping, or even falling to either side, they both skied right over the brim “lip” of the service road. Hitting the lip on the service road, caused them to sit down on their skis, riding their skis in a sitting position, which took them, like sleds, clear across the service road, and straight down the dangerously steep service road embankment. Both of them kept going, and completely disappeared into the steep dense forest of the Alps below.
