The Town: Kitzbuhel, Tyrol Austria

Kitzbuhel is a good size town in the state of Tyrol, Austria.  The buildings all share the same style forced by the local building codes.

The Snow

Locals made it clear that they had an unusual amount of snow.  They don't ski in the January temps, too cold they say.  They prefer February skiing that is similiar to spring skiing in the US.

The Hill

Views at the top.  That shot of run 23 shows how signage is done at Kitzbuhel.   It also shows the snow stuck to the side of the pole. 

I included a shot of the lift gates to show how the European's operate lifts, no punching holes in tickets, just wave your ticket and the turn style opens.

The two shots of the restaurant were taken at 12:30 on Tuesday, the place was empty.  The food is very good.  Many of the hillside restaurants are run by local families, so you are getting home cooked meals.

The shot of Tom standing on the left was taken at the "Schnee Bar", its a bar made of ice.  I got my Vodka Figer fix there.

Streif

Steif is the run used for the World Cup racing event that ended the Saturday we arrived.  The run is prepped with salt to change the snow to ice for higher speeds. These shots were taken the following Friday.  It is very steep.

The Players

There were a total of 48 Snowdrifters on this trip.

Travel

Travelling was awful.  The bus to take us to the airport was late.  O'Hare was getting buried with snow when we finally made it to the airport. The plane to take us to Copenhagen as late, instead of taking off at 10 PM, we were wheels up at 1 AM.  We were scheduled for an overnight at Munich, we never made it out of Copenhagen.  Instead we stayed at Copenhagen and flew to Munich in the morning.  The shot of diners was taken in the Radisson in Copehagen.

The Hotel: Maria Theresia

Dinner at the hotel

Dinner was included in the price of the trip.  The hotel offered choice of three entres.  Salad bar was available every night.

Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle is the image now used by Disney.  The mustard colored castle is Maxmillian II's castle, Max was Ludwig's daddy.  Ludwig built Neuschwanstein in honor of composer Richard Wagner.

The group of soldiers are in the midst of some ceremony.

Oberammergau

Oberammergau is a town nearby to Neuschwanstein.  Every ten years they have the Passion Play to celebrate the end of the plague.

Salzberg: Mozart's Birthplace

We toured Salzberg the day before Mozart's 250th birthday.  Sadly, McDonald's corporation was allowed to open a restaurant there, but they were not permitted their cheesy golden arches.  Instead they had to design a classy logo to fit Salzberg's architecture.

The shot of the boxes on the pole and butts are noisy boxes to help the blind cross a busy street.