Christine in Mayrhofen, Austria

It is the greatest time of the year.  That's right--It is SKI SEASON.  Woo Hoo.  For Thanksgiving, I traveled to Mayrhofen, Austria to ski.  Mayrhofen was suppose to open on that Saturday.  But alas, there is no snow to be had in Europe.  We skied at Hintertuxer Gletscher (Glacier).  There's always skiing on glaciers.  We were 3250 meters up (10,750 feet for you Americans).  It was above the tree line.  You take 3 gondolas to get to the top.  That is my least favorite part.  Of skiing in general.  Sometimes you have to suffer for your sport.  Big risk.  Big reward.

The views were breathtaking.

Yes, there were T-bars as you can see in the above picture.  Those are not so fun, but whatever.  I got to ski.  I just like the mountain.

You can't tell depth perception in a picture of a snow covered mountain.  But this is what a run looks like:

But we did more than just ski.  We also hung out at Après-ski (it means after skiing, in French).  That means you drink Glühwein (amazing spiced hot red wine) or heisse schkolade (hot chocolate). Speaking of them, the French like matching outfits.  I found this very amusing.  I don't know why.

Some of us at the bar (the cool people--me too, but I'm the photographer):

And we played this game.  You hit the nail into the log.  But the hammer is hollow.  So there is just a rim to hit with.

My nail is the middle one.  Winning.  ha ha

If you are not a skier, you can be an ice mountain climber:

Or just hike with some friends:

Like I said previously, there is not a lot of snow to be had (this is a sad sight):

Very cool formation in the rocks:

The hotel after the jump.
The ride to the mountain.  At least I didn't have to drive.

The hotel:

Our Thanksgiving dinner.  It's the thought that counts.  Well, the turkey tasted delicious as well.  The rest, not so much.

And last, but not least, the dog that I wanted to take with me:

Christine