Post Nauders

... e. black face paint on face, neck and arms (which they are still trying to scrub off! me and gemma wore our thermal bottoms as they are bright colours and gemma wore a black top. all my black tops were in the wash so I wore my apron back to front with the company logo covered in black tape. again, photo attached!

and then there was today - our first day off since we've been here and our first day on the slopes! it's been snowing all day (and most of last night) so ...

... would probably charge $30-40 for a main meal. $22 is likely to buy you a foccacia or salad at a modest cafe in Subiaco. Again the difference lies in the quality of the experience. Perhaps it's just that I am a foreigner in a new place, intrigued by new and interesting dishes and unique ingredients, but I still find that I am receiving a larger portion, better service and more value for my money at restaurants here in St Anton, bearing in mind that the restaurant I ...

... nor interesting so if you ever feel that I am heading in that direction please don't hesitate to leave scathing comments below!

So since we last spoke, the temepratures began to warm up to 2-3 degrees but fortunately there was no precipitation and a thin layer of snow still covers the village. I took the opportunity to go shopping at the unlikely named local snowboard shop, 'Supa Surfers Paradise' to buy a new board and ...

L*st night w*s our first night on the town for the se*son *nd it w*s cert*inly * l*sting first impression. We ventured into the vill*ge *t nightf*ll *nd *rrived *t the opening of the Christm*s M*rkets where there w*s * sense of excitement *nd *n *bund*nce of 'Christm*s Cheer'. This could m*inly be *ttributed to the presence of bulk *mounts of Schn*pps, Gluhwein *nd Fruschpunch th*t w*s ...

... lies nestled within the Tyrolean region of Austria (St Anton am Arlberg) which is normally accessed most easily from Zurich (3hrs by rail) or Munich (5hrs by rail). Tori (my girlfriend) and I have a rented apartment for the 2009/2010 winter season. Having organised the rental using the internet, we were a little uncertain of what exactly to expect, but having seen some photos and liased frequently with the owner/manager Silvia ...

... want to arrive at 11, and have to pitch up in the dark, so we decided to drive until about 7 - 8 p.m., and find somewhere to stay, then catch the group up at Val D'Isere the following day. As we didn't have a roadbook for the route, we just had to figure it out. This wasn't too difficult with the maps and GPS, so we set off to see how far we could get that evening.

... Trey and I returned to the top again intent on blasting down the mountain at top speed. We both made it down without using the brakes at all in 5 minutes and some-odd seconds. We both had a blast. Trey video recorded his first descent and he intends on publishing on youtube when we return home.

... the next 4 days so we got some great conditions. After that it was all blue sky hot sunny days.

I used to work in St Anton quite a while back so it's great coming back here each year and seeing a few old friends who've kept doing ski season after ski season.

... inimtühi, sest see oli hooldamata ning hüpekad olid liiga järsud. Lisaks olid osad rajad kohati "loiud", st et suusakeppide abil sai küll edasi, aga laudurid pidid laua alt võtma ja kõndima kuni järgmise laskumiseni või liftini. Osad nõlvad olid suusatajate poolt päeva lõpuks lausa liiga muhklikuks sõidetud, niiet põlved said kõvasti vatti.

Ilm oli iga päev TÄIESTI erinev! Esimesed päevad siras päike, siis paar päeva sadas lund ja nähtavus oli lausa ...

... franks... we found our room and spent half the day asleep! (hence the reason i recommend a room for the night before)... (these pictures were taken by michael due to my ipod being on the ""fritz"" and it has about eight days (1 gig or so) of photos... i will update it later when i can get the piece of technology working... ciao!