Date of Visit : 04 - 07 December 2011
This has been the trip that I've been waiting for the entire exchange, the skiing trip with my school's buddy network. To go on this trip, I had to give up taking a course because the time table clashes. But I am glad I did it as there is no way I'm going to give up this opportunity to have fun for a stupid course!
It cost me 270Euros for the trip, which includes a 3 night stay at a 3-Star Hotel, train tickets, 3 days ski pass and 3 nights of party with FOC alcohol. I had to rent the skiing gear for 15Euros a day and sign up for a 2 day skiing course for 35Euros. However, the total cost was still cheaper than if I were to go by myself, and the experience I had on this trip is just priceless.
We started the trip at 6am at Wien Westbahnhof for a 5 hours train ride to Zell am See. And already on the train the booze started flowing. The breakfast was served Austrian style, which was just beer!
But finally, after the long 5 hours ride, we arrived at Zell am See. I was quite disappointed to find out that there was no snow when I disembark from the train. Everything looked normal. The locals told us that this was the latest they ever had without snow in December. Well, this phenomenal seems to be appearing everywhere in Europe as winter is exceptionally late this year.
The mountain that we are supposed to ski on is called Kitzschenhorn. The highest peak is 3000meters and it takes 3 cable cars to go all the way to the top.
Anyway, all disappointment was soon forgotten the following day when we ascent the mountain. The mountain glacier managed to squeeze in a few centimeters of snow the previous night and thus we were all able to ski. And this was the first time I see real snow and actually have snow falling onto me. It's really amazing!
It is also the first time I see this weather information on my phone: Flurries
On this trip, skiing was only the day activity. There was a theme party every night. First night was Superheros and Cartoons, second night was Hawaiian, and the last night was Sexual Fantasy. It was all amazing as everyone tried to dress up, even if it was crappy, and all the parties had free flow drinks. I dressed as Fred Flintstone for the Cartoons party. I made the costume myself from a floor rag, total cost 3Eurs. For Hawaiian, I wore tee-shirt and shorts, and for Sexual Fantasy, I dress as a nerd.
We would party to 2-3am before going to bed and try to wake up at 8am the next day to go up the mountain. It was a funny sight every morning at breakfast as everyone would still be having hang over and feeling extremely tired. However, once we exit the hotel and the fresh icy cold air hit us, we would all be awake and ready to go!
This was really the most awesome trip that I've been on, and I would say that going on this trip was the best decision I've made during this exchange. I've had a blast of a time, made many new friends and I truly enjoyed every single moment of it. Who cares if I was not able to clear some courses because the dates clash? I could still take the courses in Singapore but I cannot ski on a snow mountain. I'm on exchange and having fun ALWAYS comes first!
This has been the trip that I've been waiting for the entire exchange, the skiing trip with my school's buddy network. To go on this trip, I had to give up taking a course because the time table clashes. But I am glad I did it as there is no way I'm going to give up this opportunity to have fun for a stupid course!
It cost me 270Euros for the trip, which includes a 3 night stay at a 3-Star Hotel, train tickets, 3 days ski pass and 3 nights of party with FOC alcohol. I had to rent the skiing gear for 15Euros a day and sign up for a 2 day skiing course for 35Euros. However, the total cost was still cheaper than if I were to go by myself, and the experience I had on this trip is just priceless.
We started the trip at 6am at Wien Westbahnhof for a 5 hours train ride to Zell am See. And already on the train the booze started flowing. The breakfast was served Austrian style, which was just beer!
But finally, after the long 5 hours ride, we arrived at Zell am See. I was quite disappointed to find out that there was no snow when I disembark from the train. Everything looked normal. The locals told us that this was the latest they ever had without snow in December. Well, this phenomenal seems to be appearing everywhere in Europe as winter is exceptionally late this year.
The mountain that we are supposed to ski on is called Kitzschenhorn. The highest peak is 3000meters and it takes 3 cable cars to go all the way to the top.
Anyway, all disappointment was soon forgotten the following day when we ascent the mountain. The mountain glacier managed to squeeze in a few centimeters of snow the previous night and thus we were all able to ski. And this was the first time I see real snow and actually have snow falling onto me. It's really amazing!
It is also the first time I see this weather information on my phone: Flurries
I couldn't resist trying some things that I could only see on TV, such as lying on the snow and making a human shape.
Skiing is actually really tough! Firstly, you have to put on a pair of heavy skiing shoes, which I called the Transformers Boots as they look like one. This could probably be the most uncomfortable thing I've ever worn. It makes your ankles straight and you can't walk properly anymore with those shoes on. It also hurts my shin real bad. But I suppose it's all because we want to protect our ankles from twisting and breaking when we fall.
It's a good thing that the buddy network arranged for a ski course for inexperienced people like me. During the course, we tried to learn the basics of controlling and stopping on the skis. It was hard and really takes time to get used to. This is the photo of our class:
Even after 2 days of course, many of us still had trouble controlling while on skis. But most of us decided that we were ready to tackle the slopes at the end of the second day. We had to take a third cable car to go all the way up. It was really windy and cold up there. We were all very excited about skiing on a real slope for the first time, so we just headed down immediately. We rolled down the mountain, literally! I think almost all of us could not control the skis and also could not stop. It's so easy to accelerate yet very difficult to stop. For me, I will force myself to fall in order to stop. It's surprisingly not painful at all to fall, just that my body may end up in some awkward position.
Once we reach the base of the slope, there is something called the "mushroom" (Poma Lift) which will bring us back up the slope. The mechanism looks like a mushroom head, and we have to put it in between our legs while standing up, and it will pull us up the slope. It's pretty ingenious, but they will shut it down if the wind picks up, and we will be left stranded on the machine on the slope. It's definitely not fun at all to be stuck there with strong winds blowing. My face got so frozen that I could not even speak properly.
Nonetheless, on the last day of the trip, some of the newbies decided to head up again and attempt to ski all the way down to the middle of the mountain, where the base camp is located. The weather was as shitty as you can get, strong winds, heavy snow fall and limited visibility.
However, we decided that we would not let the shitty weather stop us, so we started our journey down the mountains. All was well until we unknowingly ventured into an 'advanced' slope (we only skied on beginner's slope before this). It was really steep and we were all struggling down it. After feeling that my knee almost got dislocated from a super somersault fall, my Irish friend and I decided to give up and walk down the slope instead. Thankfully, after that slope, we found the beginner's slope path again and successfully reached the base camp. The journey was really exhilarating and scary at points, but I definitely have no regrets doing it. Here's the 4 of us who made it down the slope, in one piece:
Even after 2 days of course, many of us still had trouble controlling while on skis. But most of us decided that we were ready to tackle the slopes at the end of the second day. We had to take a third cable car to go all the way up. It was really windy and cold up there. We were all very excited about skiing on a real slope for the first time, so we just headed down immediately. We rolled down the mountain, literally! I think almost all of us could not control the skis and also could not stop. It's so easy to accelerate yet very difficult to stop. For me, I will force myself to fall in order to stop. It's surprisingly not painful at all to fall, just that my body may end up in some awkward position.
Once we reach the base of the slope, there is something called the "mushroom" (Poma Lift) which will bring us back up the slope. The mechanism looks like a mushroom head, and we have to put it in between our legs while standing up, and it will pull us up the slope. It's pretty ingenious, but they will shut it down if the wind picks up, and we will be left stranded on the machine on the slope. It's definitely not fun at all to be stuck there with strong winds blowing. My face got so frozen that I could not even speak properly.
Nonetheless, on the last day of the trip, some of the newbies decided to head up again and attempt to ski all the way down to the middle of the mountain, where the base camp is located. The weather was as shitty as you can get, strong winds, heavy snow fall and limited visibility.
However, we decided that we would not let the shitty weather stop us, so we started our journey down the mountains. All was well until we unknowingly ventured into an 'advanced' slope (we only skied on beginner's slope before this). It was really steep and we were all struggling down it. After feeling that my knee almost got dislocated from a super somersault fall, my Irish friend and I decided to give up and walk down the slope instead. Thankfully, after that slope, we found the beginner's slope path again and successfully reached the base camp. The journey was really exhilarating and scary at points, but I definitely have no regrets doing it. Here's the 4 of us who made it down the slope, in one piece:
On the last day, mother nature decided to let it snow in the town we stayed in at the base of the mountain. It was snowing quite heavily and the snow flakes were huge. It did not take long for the entire place to be covered in white. Everything seems to look exceptionally beautiful when it is covered in snow. It is a magnificent sight for someone like me, who spent 22 years in the tropics, to witness.
We would party to 2-3am before going to bed and try to wake up at 8am the next day to go up the mountain. It was a funny sight every morning at breakfast as everyone would still be having hang over and feeling extremely tired. However, once we exit the hotel and the fresh icy cold air hit us, we would all be awake and ready to go!
This was really the most awesome trip that I've been on, and I would say that going on this trip was the best decision I've made during this exchange. I've had a blast of a time, made many new friends and I truly enjoyed every single moment of it. Who cares if I was not able to clear some courses because the dates clash? I could still take the courses in Singapore but I cannot ski on a snow mountain. I'm on exchange and having fun ALWAYS comes first!
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