The Janssen Family World Travels: December 2011

November was a probably the most travel intensive portion of our year abroad. 4 days in Italy, 12 in Egypt, 4 in London, 3 in Luxembourg, 9 in Paris and the last in Switzerland and Austria. All were very enjoyable, yet it was intense period with dozens of transitions that left each of us a bit frazzled.

We opted for the train from Paris to St. Anton, Austria. Our family loves trains; stress free except when you have to unload 6 huge bags and at least as many handbags with kids wanting to help and having only a few moments to actually accomplish the feat . As I mentioned earlier, our kids love schlepping bags. One really cool thing that they fight over is who gets to pull the roller bags. While this might seem helpful, before said bags can be rolled they must be carried down the steps of the train and on to the almost always crowded platform. Since these two rollers are so heavy, I’m the only one who can lift them without causing personal injury and so there is always about 60 seconds of chaos when unloading. A fine balance requiring lots of shouting, lots of apologies to fellow passengers, and trying not to lose a kid in the river of people disembarking. It is quite a comical site as we make a small mountain of luggage and kids in the middle of the platform, blithely ignoring those people who scoff at our apparent rudeness whilst they swarm around us and carry on their way. I call it the “Moses effect” and it will undoubtedly be used effectively yet again. So the train doors shut on our tails as we landed in the cold alpine air of St. Anton. The stop was about one minute and I felt that the train disappearing in the distance must contain some critical belongings of ours that would be lost forever but alas we made it with all gear intact. Skiing here in the Alps for a winter had long been at the core of our travel plans, so it was a bit of a relief to have “arrived”.

St. Anton is the so called “cradle of skiing” in Austria. Skiing was first documented here in 1895 and the world’s first ski club started in 1901. In the 1920’s and early 1930’s a famous local named Hannes Schneider developed, documented and taught many of the techniques that are still in use today. The region is called the “Arlberg” and is a series of alpine villages in and around the main pass between Innsbruck to the east and Switzerland to the west. The bases of the mountains are around 4500 feet and the highest peak is over 9000’. The area is simply huge (120 lifts, 5000 feet vertical, infinite options for off piste. Here is a more detailed overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankt_Anton_am_Arlberg

Traci and I both skied here in the early 90’s and it is fairly similar to Whistler/Blackcomb in international flair and terrain yet different in that it has the real, Tyrolean charm that is hard to imitate. There is a nearby hotel that was built in 1490. Every restaurant is lined with wood and has a realistic charm. Locals speak enough English so that it is easy to be here, yet there is no doubt we’re in the world of Germania.

We’re renting a 3 bedroom daylight basement of a chalet that is ski-in/out. It is owned by a lovely British couple who have a 7 year old daughter and an 11 year old son. They live here from September through June and their kids attend the local school. We couldn’t have found nicer owners/landlords. They are incredibly generous and have made our transition into the town as seamless as possible. Their kids are great and it has been nice for ours to have some time with other kids.

When we arrived on Nov. 30^th there was absolutely no snow and the temperatures weren’t warm enough for consistent snow making. Last year they had a dismal season so I was guessing that La Nina has an inverse effect here. Despite the lack of early snow (and the availability of the best skiing of the year before the holiday crowds) it is fabulous to be living in a mountain town. We were able to focus on some neglected math and writing. Most importantly, we were able to go hiking up the ski hill. We forced the kids on about a 2000 vertical foot hike one afternoon. On the way down we came to a large fixed snow making gun. This thing was huge, the mother of all snow making guns. So I asked the kids to pray to it for snow and they (as always) dutifully replied.

On December 5^th, the locals celebrated what is known as the Krampalar. On this evening, St. Nicolas and these devilish looking creatures parade through the town and scare the kids and many parents silly. The tradition is something along the lines of St. Nicolas goes to the kids that have been nice while the Krampalar visit and whip the naughty ones with sticks. I can’t imagine this ceremony going over too well in uber politically correct and sensitive Seattle. It really is just a bunch of local guys who probably spend most of their day in the local pub then put on these amazing costumes and scare the crowds as they parade through the small town. Oh and as the parade started, it began to snow. Over the next few days we received about 18” of snow which along with colder weather allowed them to open for skiing as planned on the 8^th. We’ve been skiing each day since, and the kid’s prayers have been exceptionally effective. A few days ago we received about 30” in a huge storm. More snow is forecast before Christmas. We’ve skied some amazing light powder and the crowds haven’t been too bad. As much skiing as we’ve done I think the kids have enjoyed more time in the snow around our place, playing for hours each day with the owner’s kids.

We spent one day skiing at an adjoining area called Lech. Beautiful little village where the rich and famous and royal of Europe like to hang out over the holidays. I think Lech makes Aspen look like a shantytown. We had great snow and sunny weather. After a fun morning of skiing, we stopped for lunch at a mid-mountain restaurant. I should have walked away after seeing the furry chairs at the outside tables. The sun was shining and there were the ladies dressed to the 9’s waiting for their husbands to join them from skiing. There were other skiers and their outfits probably cost more than all of our gear for a family of 5. I felt like a bad parent for not having my kids dressed in fur-lined Bogner outfits and not having a nanny or two present to dote on their every need. After being seated for a few minutes, Traci and I came to the realization that our kids, and most of our family are loud, really loud. The scene went something like this:

Waiter brings menus. Kids ignore them. I gasp at the prices but then, as often throughout this trip, I’ll justify thinking we’re only here once.

Traci: Kids, what do you want to eat?

Halle (really loud): Do they have PB & J?

Hayden (over-talking Halle, way louder): Did you see how much air I caught on that jump? That was HUGE (really loud)!

Traci: Be quiet please you’re shouting. We’re in a fancy restaurant. Even though we’re outside you have to be quiet and respectful.

Sydney (calmly): I think I’ll have the Goulash Soup. Hayden and Halle you need to decide what you want to eat.

The waiter arrives to take our order and brings bread...we request a few more minutes.

Brian: Halle what would you like? Please don’t kneel in the chair with your ski boots on.

Halle: Do they have PB & J?

Brian: No honey just what is on the menu. How about Spaghetti Bolognaise?

Traci: Hayden please don’t eat your bread over your fancy fur chair. Keep it over the table and over your plate.

The waiter arrives to take our order and observes the bedlam. I like his bow tie….wait…he’s wearing a tie. I take a second look at the prices.

Hayden (really loud): Did you see how much air I caught on that jump? That was HUGE (really loud). I’m going to hike up and take that again? Order me a pizza please!

Brian: Great idea. May I have a beer please?

I catch looks from people at adjoining tables. Their brief amusement at Hayden’s jump effort is quickly outweighed by their remembering how quiet and peaceful it was before we arrived. Waiter seems to be providing exceptionally fast service to us as if sending us a message to move it along. Our food arrives incredibly quickly, as fast if not faster than any McDonalds drive-thru.

Brian (loudly): Halle please eat your spaghetti over your plate and not over your chair!

Hayden (loudly): Ah I didn’t hike up far enough and get enough speed. Can we take that run again?

Traci: Please be quiet and eat your food so we can ski some more.

Halle (loudly): Can I go to the bathroom?

After finishing with more chatter, the kids and their ski boots clomp through the inside of the restaurant (even fancier) to the bathrooms while I wait to pay the bill. Only $130. I try to mentally calculate how it could have been so much and then I take second note of the carnage that was our table and realize that there is greater than a 50% chance that the white fur chairs took a greater hit from hot chocolate, bolognaise sauce, pizza sauce, soup or a ski boot. I dare not look down to confirm my suspicions. Rather, chin high I quickly sign and walk as fast as safely possible in my ski boots to put on my skis….confident that when Traci and the kids arrive we can all ski off more quickly than our waiter or any of the other patrons that might give chase.

I’m proud to say that we have 3 great powder skiers. Barely 60 pounds with her ski equipment on, Halle is nonetheless determined to keep up and at her age has already acquired the insatiable desire for and joy of skiing light powder snow. Hayden and Sydney just rip and power through everything. We can barely keep up. I was hoping that we could have the kids participate in the local racing program but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be possible. Nonetheless, they’ll get more time on skis this winter than at any other of their young lives so I have to think that their overall skills will continue to improve. I’ve attached a video which is rather cute. It’s a strange black and white/sepia scheme as I somehow messed up the colors when first taking video and 5 months and a lot of free time haven’t been adequate for me to fix.

All for now. We are very much looking forward to having a few friends join us for a few days in January and February. We’ll miss being with family and friends for Christmas but are looking forward to enjoying this winter wonderland. Merry Christmas to all!

The key to a successful marriage. When your wife is buried with her head downhill in 3' of powder and completely stuck: 1: Take her picture. 2: Promise you won't put it on the blog. 3: Help her turn her skis down hill and get up.