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| Kitzbuhel Ski Area |
About The Trip
My two friends and I will be
traveling to a remote area and skiing the world’s most dangerous hills;
experiencing what only some of the greatest Canadians have. For a trip like
this to be possible we will need three things: time, energy, and money. Appealing to the time leisure paradox, the best time for a trip like this is after we have
steady jobs but before we have a family. We will be young enough to have
energy, employed enough to finance it, and have few enough responsibilities so
as to have the time.
Who- Scott, Alex, and myself
What- Ski Vacation
Where- Austrian Alps
When- 5-8 years from 2012
Why
I have grown up skiing all my
life and the majority of my closest friends are ski racers. I have dedicated
much of my life to skiing and spend every day possibly with wooden boards
strapped to my feet. In addition, we will be visiting historic hills where some
of the greatest Canadians (and my heroes) have won & lost major competitions. We will be
daring the elements just as they have before us. Lastly, our final day will
consist of a Heli-Skiing trip so we can get away to a very remote area of the
mountains that very few people have had the pleasure of experiencing. The sheer
components of uncertainty, danger and unknown would make this the ultimate
vacation.
Overview
Not only am I incapable of
skiing 5 days straight in the mountains, it would be foolish to put ourselves
at that much risk. Our trip will be 7 days in length: 2 days travel, 5 days
skiing.
Day 1- Toronto to Kitzbuhel
Day 2-5 – Skiing Kitzbuhel
Day 6- Heli-Skiing in Lech,
Austria
Day 7- Kitzbuhel to Toronto
Day 1
Unless I’m waking up for
skiing, I am not a morning person. We have dedicated the entire day to travel
so we can avoid red-eye flights, early mornings and being tired throughout the
whole trip. Departing mid-morning from Pearson International Airport we will
transfer planes in Frankfurt, Germany and continue on out to Salzburg, Austria.
From here we will be renting a car from Auto-Europe and drive the rest of the
route to Kitzbuhel. The trip will take about 12 hours. Once we arrive in town
we’ll head straight for our Hostel. Little time will be spent at our accommodations
so we have opted to stay at the ‘Snowbunnys Backpackers’ Hostel. Cheap spacious
rooms, equipment storage, hot showers, a kitchen, and slope side are some of
the major selling points of this place.
Day 2-5
As very committed skiers, it
is not unusual to find us up at 5 am waxing and sharpening skis preparing for
the day. With the exception of Day 2, lifts open at 9 am and my friends and I
will be the first on the hill and last to leave. On Day 2 we will need a few
extra hours of rest to balance the jet-lag. We will likely dedicate two days per mountain (Resterhohe & Pengelstein)
and spend one of the afternoons at Hahnenkamm Mountain. If energy
permits we will indulge in some Après-ski at ‘The Londoner’.
The
Hahnenkamm
One
of the major Mountains found in the Kitzbuhel Alps, this is where we’ll find
the most dangerous runs. This hill plays host to the annual World Cup alpine
ski race and is what gives Kitzbuhel the title of world’s most dangerous ski
run. It is at this hill that the Crazy Canucks have pulled numerous wild
kamikaze stunts that catapulted them into fame. Simply skiing this course and
surviving is admirable. Ken Read once said about the hill ‘When you hit
Kitzbuhel, you want to be at your peak’. Todd Brooker, born in Waterloo, ON, is
also one of the Crazy Canucks who has skied and won gold on this very course in
1983. In 1987, Todd once again found himself at the top of this course hoping
to lay claim to a second victory. Regarded as the most famous ski crash in
history, Todd’s racing career ended before he got to the bottom of the hill. In
the top section of the course Todd was beginning to decend the Zielschuss pitch when he lost control. Although he
survived, he spent years in rehab and never truly raced again. Later Todd would
comment that everyone remembered his crash but him. Below is a very graphic video
of the crash. WARNING: Very Graphic Video:
The
Londoner
Hesitant
to spend anytime away from the hill, this is one pub that we cannot miss.
During the evenings that we find ourselves with some extra energy we’ll venture
to this place to have a few beers and check out what the Crazy Canucks
considered the best pub in town. This bar often lays host to the Après-ski of World
Cup races.
Day
6
While
skiing at Kitzbuhel is a dream come true, our last day is by far the single most important part of the whole trip. Heli-Skiing is a bucket-list activity,
invented by Canadians, that really allows us to travel to out-of-bound trails
few have ever ventured. The activity will be expensive and time consuming. We’ll
need to get up extra early for a two-hour drive from Kitzbuhel to Vorarlberg
and during the one day we’ll get in 4 runs before making the two-hour return drive. However, the experience is
priceless. ‘Wucher Helicopter’ leaves right from the Lech Ski Hill and will
drop us three on the top of Schneetäli where we can experience trails never
before skied. Wucher offers a few pictures and a video on their site that give
you a feel for what it’s like take on their Heli-Skiing experience:
Below
is a trailer for a movie that passionately describes what it means to ski
uncharted territory:
Day 7
On the final day we will wake up mid-morning and repeat Day 1 in reverse.
Costs
On the final day we will wake up mid-morning and repeat Day 1 in reverse.
Costs
Note: prices posted are the
grand totals for 3 people to travel together on this trip
- Flight- $4050 (Austrian Air)
- Car Rental- $400 (Auto-Europe)
- Gas- $100 (6 Hours Driving)
- Hostel- $300 (6 Nights)
- Lift Tickets- $1000 (4 Full Days)
- Heli-Skiing- $2000 (4 Runs)
- Living Expenses- $1200 (Food and Other)
· Total: $9050
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