The hills are alive with SNOW!

One of the coolest things for me during our two years in Munich was being close to the mountains again.  It brought back good childhood memories and there was a strange sense of deja vu when I needed to scape snow off the car or leaving for skiing in the morning.  

Lucky for me, I have a wonderful wife who understands my passion for mountains and skiing.  She was a very supportive ski widow.  Also good for me was how close skiing was to our home - more on this later.

This is me New Year's Day 2010 last year.  High up at Hochfügen Austria.  Great snow and not too many people.  

A video from the Krystalhütte Austria.  One cool lunch place with 360 degree view of the Alps.

Of course when the sign says trail closed and you see everyone skiing past it, what do you do?  Ski past it as well of course!

And behind the closed sign - a gorgeous powder filled bowl!  This resort here is Spitzingsee, Germany.  It is less than an hour from our house.  As the skiing was so close, I was constantly torn between being with Will and Sarah and skiing.  Luckily, the closeness allowed me to do both!  There is a great deal here when you can ski at most places in the morning until about 12 and then be home.  So I would ski for a few hours and then head back into Munich, arriving at 1ish to play all afternoon.  Better yet for me, the cost of skiing here is WAY cheaper.  A morning pass costs 18 euros to 26 euros.  Amazing!

The 2010/2011 ski season kicked off with a TON of snow.  This is early December only an hour outside of Munich at Lenngries, Germany.  The amount of snow was incredible for this time of year.  I was sure 2011 would be a great year.

Here is me taking some early season powder turns at Lenngries, Germany.

And here is my favorite ski buddy Armin.  His kids are on the ski team at Lenngries and we were looking forward to many more mornings like this.  Unfortunately, Armin tore his ACL and LCL a few weeks later to end his season.  Regardless, this was the best snow we'd see all year.  January and February were completely dry!  Of all years to have no more snow.

Here is a shot from on top of St. Anton am Arlberg in Austria. This mountain was incredible.  Super huge and massive.  It was a great day, but I could only imagine here on a powder day, that would be epic!

 Me at St. Anton.  Sunny and a perfect day.

 From left to right, Armin, Lawrence and me at St Anton.

 Of course one of the crazier things about skiing in Europe is Apres ski.  As we've noted earlier in our posts, the Germans (and Austrians) know how to party.  At the end of the day, there are numerous huts and apres ski lodges at the base or near the base of the slopes.  Here we are at Mooserwirt, a super famous apres ski local at St. Anton.  You can see, this is just as important as the ski day!

So imagine this.  After skiing all day and then having a drink (or two or three or more) at Apres ski.  This would be okay if you just had to walk or take the bus back home.  However, this place is still a good couple minutes of skiing without being intoxicated down to the bottom of the hill!  So skis back on for a run after beers in the dark to the bottom.  Fun stuff:)

A sunny day at Garmisch.  That is the Zugspiste, Germany's tallest mountain (10,000 feet), in the background.

This is one thing I will miss moving back to California.  I can't wait to take Will back here some day to ski with me.