Pete's Log: Hintertux 2011
Entry #1719, (Travel)(posted when I was 32 years old.)
This weekend, I traveled with a group of friends to Hintertux. Many of the attendees were the same as last year and the year before. We stayed at the Spannagelhaus again. Definitely a fun tradition.
Drove up early Saturday morning and we were on the slopes by 11:30. I rented gear there. The skis I got were great. I paid the extra few euro for the "superior" package, and it was totally worth it. I had more fun skiing this time than in a while. I think partly because the skis were great, the boots fit well, and I was in better shape than the past couple times.
I skipped lunch Saturday and just powered through until 3:30, when I met up with people at one of the warming houses for a beer and a krapfen. Well, only I had a krapfen. But it was delicious. We then headed to the hut for the night. I was completely beat and did not think I would make it long past supper. I set a goal of not being the first to go to bed.
Anyway, dinner was great, and after dinner our host at the hut offered a cave tour. I had done one the first time I came here, but skipped last year. But it sounded like a good way to stay awake, so I went. The cave looked the same as last time and the guy told a lot of the same jokes. But it was still fun. It's a neat little cave system. They've explored about 12 km of it (after that it gets too small for a human to fit through), but the after-dinner tour only gets to see the first 500 meters or so. It gets pretty tight in places. The hard hats he gave us for the tour were definitely good to have on.
Anyway, after that, I hung out and had a few beers, and as the evening went on, more people kept going to bed, and I decided that I was a trooper. By the end, it was just Tony and I left. Before we went to bed, I talked him into going out to look at stars with me. I had seen them briefly on the way to and from the cave, but wanted a proper look. They were pretty. I am glad I did not repeat my mistake of last year and take out my contact lenses before checking out the stars.
So the next day I was on the slopes by 9:30, I think. I slept really well. The fact that this time our group of 15 was the only group in the Matratzenlager helped. I had a set of three mattresses to myself. So skied until about 1:30, then had lunch, then skied for another hour. On the road by four, at home before eight. A fantastic weekend. I look forward to doing it again next year.