Week 66: Postalm Winterpark

Jan 30

We went skiing for the first time since Eric broke his finger in week 11.

Eric was a bit nervous to get back out there after falling a year ago and having to go through surgery and rehab. I was proud of him for getting back out there and it is safe to say we will be back skiing again soon!

There are over 437 ski resorts in Austria and we visited our 2nd resort on Saturday–The Postalm Winterpark. This resort was much nicer in terms of our skill level. The Postalm Winterpark is situated on Austria's largest alpine pasture above Wolfgangsee and claims to have Europe’s longest magic carpet –a conveyor belt that pulls passengers uphill.

To get up to the Postalm you must first take the Postalmstraße–a toll road costing €20 and one of the most beautiful panoramic roads in the Salzburg region.

The winter park is essentially an amusement park for winter sports - with ski slopes, cross-country ski trails, toboggan runs, and winter hiking trails.

Five year olds were flying past us on many occasions. Winter sports are a big part of the Austrian lifestyle for a few reasons:

The high altitude alps means snow is guaranteed. Austria is widely recognized as one of the world's best “snow-sure” skiing destinations.
All the investment in the sport and it‘s infrastructure means skiing in Austria is safer than in many other European countries. It also ranks high up on the safest countries to travel and live in worldwide :)
Most mountain huts are family operated, guaranteeing a friendly and unique atmosphere after hours of skiing in winter or hiking in the summer. Stepping inside a cozy rustic hut to relax and enjoy yummy food is our favorite part of skiing.

We are recovered from covid and tested negative this week!

After being in the states for a week, and then in quarantine for two weeks, the thing I missed immensely was seeing our mountains. We had beautiful blue skies this week, so I was able to capture several shots of the mountains surrounding our house in Gmunden.