Living La Vida Lester: Mayrhofen Austria

Sorry for the long delay on new posts to the blog. To be honest I am horrible at writing them and without Amanda here to do it it has been a lost cause. I figured that I should at least make an attempt at a new post about my ski trip this past February to Mayrhofen Austria.

A while back my friend Pete and I had been talking about a ski trip this past winter. He had been to Austria before loved it. So, we decided to go back to the area that he had visited because there was so much to see and a great deal of terrain to explore on the mountains. Mayrhofen is located about an hours drive South East from Innsbruck Austria. The town is surrounded by the Alps and there are at least 8 ski areas in a short distance from it.

Mayrhofen in the Winter

Pete booked the trip and we were set to go in the beginning of February. Our friends Jen and Nate joined us for the trip. We flew form Gatwick, UK to Innsbruck, Austria and then got on a bus that took us to our ski chalet, the Birkenhof.

Nate and Jen at the Birkenhof

This was a two star ski chalet with shared bathrooms and a ski storage area, with boot drying racks, in the basement. It was nothing fancy but for a week of skiing all you really need is a place to crash after beating yourself up all day.

The next day we got up early, ate some breakfast and headed out on the slopes. There is a large number of choices when it comes to where to skiing and boarding. We stayed in the areas directly linked to Mayrhofen and at Zell Am Ziller, which is a short train ride away (the train was free with the lift pass). The best part was that one 6 day ticket was good for all the areas within the valley.

Mayrhofen Trail Map

Zell AM Ziller Trail Map

We skied for six days and it was amazing. There was fresh snow a couple times and that added to the fun by refreshing the off piste areas. I would have to say that this is definitely in my top 5 ski trips.

Here are some pictures from the fun:

View of the Mountains

The Universal Sign For: Don’t Ski This Way or You May Fall Off a Cliff!

Serious Nate

Jen

Pete Doing His Thing

Great View

The town was a great place to unwind after long days of skiing. We ate all sorts of great Austrian food and indulged in a few of the local brews each evening before heading to bed to do it all again the next day.

Mmm Meat and Potatoes With an Egg on Top and a Cabbage Salad on the Side…Classic Austrian Cuisine.

We became friends with some English guys who were staying in the same Chalet as us that had been to this area many times. Along with sharing a great deal of knowledge about the off piste terrain that was available in the area they had brought along there guitars and managed to get themselves a gig for the week at one of the local restaurants. Pete even got to play a few songs one of the nights.