Hagleitner Family Balance Hotel Zell am See

... hand at an ariel assault course....he came back a shell of his former self after 3 hours in the trees hanging from bits of wire and trying to keep up with 9 year old girls who were more agile than him..for my penance I had to play pitch and putt with Lauren using carved putters and wooden balls..no danger i'll be joining a golf tour anytime soon. 

Definitely worth a visit in winter for you keen boarders out there.

... took us right up through the mountain to the top. An elevator in the middle of the mountain! It was made of such good brass and the engineering was so good, it has ever been serviced. But it also caused the deaths of 12 construction workers when it was made. Or thats what we were told. After the war, the UK and USA blew up most of his buildings in this area but Germany managed to save the Eagle's Nest because it was so amazing and ...

... Center and also the new, more accessible entrance to the bunkers (no steep flights of a hundred steps). There was a lot of reading and information that we did not have time to take in. We got to see portions of the bunkers and the long staircase from which the bunkers used to be entered. It was all fenced off; in fact the hotel above is now levelled. I was not as impressed with this portion as I had been 25 ...

... legs began to whimper and ask whether it wasn't time to gently ride back to base for a nice, cold beer. However, they quickly came to their senses and marshalled themselves for the coming onslaught: a long, hard fire road climb up 9 long switchbacks. Bigger than anything in South East England, for sure. The reward was worth it: a long singletrack descent with lots to offer in ...

... lunch but I went back up and used the Flying Gangster trail as my post-lunch challenge. It didn't disappoint! It's a freeride trail, with some very steep, fast sections, jumps, drops and big berms, but there's nothing you can't roll over if you're a beginner-level freerider or more used to XC, like me.

On my first run, I fell off after a bit of the trail that was covered with wood ended ...

Another lovely farm-fresh breakfast. We had bought 2-day lift passes for Skiwelt so spent a second consecutive day there. Katie used the lifts and went walking along the top from above Scheffau toward Ellmau then down the funicular railway there.

Keith and I took the lift up from Scheffau. A lovely, blue, sunny day. The nature of the riding took a significant step up today. We practiced ...

They even have a special word for the rain that falls in Salzburg - it's something like Schnurlregen - but I'd have to find my Austrian book to check the spelling. Well, that was my fear for my holiday! And here we were, landed in Salzburg, and guess what? rain!

Luckily by the time we'd waited for the passengers from Glasgow to arrive so that our coach could leave it'd stopped raining - so it couldn't have been that special Salzburg rain that ...

... the Spanish restaurant recommended by the information office (yummy but not as good as our memories of the Mexican place!). Friday we skied in Zell am See - the weather was beautiful and we had amazing views of the lake below. Most of the runs to town were open and we enjoyed the long trails down (~40 minutes of non-stop skiing!). We were so happy that winter had finally arrived!

August 26-Monday
We left Kitzbuhel at 8:30. There was a brief stop in Berchtesgarden, in Germany, at 10:00. Up on the side of the mountain, we could see Hitler's Eagle’s Nest. It was rather chilling to see that part of history. The bunker is now a restaurant. Our rest stop overlooked a valley filled with wonderful homes. What a view! Back on the bus and on to Salzburg. Time 10:35.

August 24, Saturday
We arrived in Kitzbuhel, at 1:30 pm. We were advised not to take a nap because it would delay our adjustment to the time difference. We are staying at the Hotel Jagerwirt, a very quaint hotel. There is a small balcony off our room and the view is spectacular! We are sitting in a valley surrounded by the Alps…awesome! To help stay awake, we took a walk, the first of many, into town. It all seemed like a dream. I couldn't believe ...