Skiing with Donna

We got Mom to go all the way to the top of the mountain!

Wednesday dawned bright and early, and Mom, Donna and I caught the train to Zell am See for a ski day.  I had hoped that we'd have a radiantly clear day like I did the last time I went to Zell am See, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate.  Still, it didn't sleet or anything, and it wasn't too hot or too cold, so I guess it was just about perfect.  

We got to Zell am See in the late morning, wandered in and out of a few shops, then rented our boots and skis.  Of course as this is happening, the hot South African guy who helped us out was telling us how we should have gotten there earlier to get the good snow.  What can you do.  He did, however, tell us that we could get a "walker's" lift ticket for Mom, which cost less than a normal ski pass.  Mom was incredibly brave.  Donna and I at least had skis on; Mom made it up the mountain in her little black boots and woolen jacket, all the way up the first gondola, followed by a chairlift, followed by another gondola.

At the top we stopped for photos, then Donna and I took off down the back side of the mountain, which was the only way to get to the summit.  The South African guy was right: the snow was a little mashed-potatoey, but the scenery couldn't be beat.  After making the mistake of going all the way down to the very bottom of the mountain, we grabbed a bite to eat and then decided to ski around the top where the better snow was.  We didn't even ski the whole way down the mountain at the very end.  Instead, we met some nice Belgians who assured us that taking the gondola down was the way to go, especially at the end of the day where the warm base of the mountain had the worst snow.

At the bottom we wandered around some more, sampling wild boar bacon and other strange things.  It was sometime around then that I started to feel woozy.  I thought I was just hungry, so we checked the train times and then stopped in a little lodge for some hot knödelsuppe (dumpling soup).  The next day I even made it to school, but that afternoon I crashed onto Mom's bed with a fever and a raging cold.  It made the rest of Mom and Donna's trip a little less fun, but I was actually quite relieved to have Mom there taking care of me.

View out the window on our way to Zell am See

Donna, halfway up the mountain

On the ski lift

Again, on the ski lifit

Sisters

View from the top

The skiers of the day

Aunt Donna and I stumbled upon this man in a lion suit at the very top

Paragliders

That's right, we skied here!

There is a man in this photo who has about 2 feet of toiled paper hanging out of his pants

Donna at the very top

And me at the very top

Zell am See

Mommy with the See (the lake) in Zell am See

This was right before I got really sick.