Day 153: St. Anton, Skiing Day 1
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
153 — St. Anton, Skiing Day 1
02-January-1972
(Sun.)
TRANSCRIPT
St.
Anton
Breakfast was really
good.
Went to rent skis. Turned out that even though the
rooms aren’t too expensive, the town really is. So……!
Also, decided to take the ski school—on the advice
that I didn’t know what to do.
My first shock was that the lift lines were really
crowded. Awful lot of Englishmen in Tirol.
Well, the ski school. I went up to a teacher and
asked him where I should go. He said, stay with him.
I didn’t learn anything because all we did was ski an
awful lot, all around the whole place. But it was
fun, and even though there wasn’t quite enough snow,
the conditions were fairly good (slightly hard and
patchy). See map of trails. It was really good and
tiring.
Met my two roommates—Austrians from Wien. So my
German is working again. Really nice though. And we
had dinner (not the greatest) together, and met with
other people.
Walked around town. Didn’t do much. So, here I am
writing. I’ll either read, study, do my music, or go
to sleep.
REFLECTIONS
St.
Anton is expensive. I learn
that St. Anton is expensive. Did I just repeat
myself? Yes, it’s expensive. And that was 36 years
ago. After all, it has an international reputation
and I think the rich and famous come here. I’m
neither rich nor famous, so why am I there? To ski. I
suspect that it is among the most expensive ski
resorts today, as well.
Student housing. I remember
that I picked my housing from a student newspaper or
flyer back in Vienna. And so I had reasonable rates
for the room. The picture above shows typical Tirol
houses. (I am fairly certain these are in St. Anton).
I had two roommates with whom I shared the sleeping
quarters (think hostel). Both were Austrian students
from Vienna. It is a great way to meet people and
speak German. I suppose that you can only do this
when you are young, and a student. Do older people do
this in St. Anton? Let me know. I may want to go
back. 
Skiing in St. Anton. St. Anton
is an incredible ski resort. 36 years later, I
remember the skiing at St. Anton more than skiing
most other mountains. I suspect that it is because of
its vast skiing terrain and its incredible views such
as the towering summit and the cable car ride to the
mountain top. (And some of my subsequent skiing
here.) The opening picture shows this vast skiing
panoramic view from afar. The very large summit
building is just a tiny blip at the top of the
picture. Disclaimer: I don’t remember exactly where
all of my skiing pictures were taken, but I am fairly
certain that these pics are from St. Anton. I
shouldn’t have been surprised that the lift lines
were crowded, this was, after all, the Christmas
holiday season.
Ski school. Yes, I
like ski school and taking lessons. Remember how well
I was doing in Innsbruck? Well, my first instructor
at St. Anton today doesn’t really show me any
instruction. We just ski. A lot. I suppose that is
good because without someone taking you around you
might end up skiing down the wrong slopes. In
Innsbruck, I had George and Elisabeth showing me the
slopes. The photo above is taken from the ski lift
Dinner
with roommates. Dinner at
the gasthaus was in a common area with the guests of
the house. I remember, in particular, a few unique
events about the St. Anton dinners that will probably
surface in the next few posts. I walk around town a
bit and probably don’t go partying due to low funds.
Sleep sounds good. I write in my journal. Now, that
was nice. I thank myself 36 years later, otherwise I
wouldn't be writing today. 
Till tomorrow.
John
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