Day 158: Beautiful Zurs
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day 158
— Beautiful Zurs
07-January-1972
(Freitag—Fri.)
TRANSCRIPT
St.
Anton
Skied alone today. Went
to Zurs. Better (mostly) snow conditions. Some of the
slopes and scenery were fantastically beautiful. I
wish I had my camera. Good thing I didn’t take my
camera, because I took a couple of really bad falls.
Made the circuit. Up to the high chair lift and
around the back of the mountain—quite a ways, to
Lechs.
Long and nice run. Good snow. (However, I liked the
other Valhalla run better.) From Lechs, [took] the
cable car up, and then a very easy, medium long run
down to Zurs. Took quite a while.
Zurs (combination with Lechs) has some of the best
and most beautiful skiing in Arlberg. The scenery is
surrealistic. About a 40-minute bus ride from St.
Anton.
Conclusion
on St. Anton
International resort, thus very expensive. Probably
most expensive in Austria. Can get somewhat crowded
(lift lines; some slopes), especially during the
holidays. However, the skiing (overlooking
conditions) is fantastic. There is so much in the
Arlberg area and most of it is of medium
difficulty—what I like. It is basically challenging
enough, relaxing enough. Mostly wide open slopes
(because of altitude), not through the tree line.
Very many possibilities. Ski school is basically
good. You do an awful lot of skiing in a lot of
places. So it is like having a ski guide (unmarked
slopes). The conditions (in the Tirol area) will
probably always be the best here (highest altitude).
For this week, it was basically hard, sometimes good,
lower areas not good. Considering it hasn’t snowed in
3-4 weeks, this is not bad. Thus, good and bad
points.
Went dancing with English and American students.
Great time. Lot of fun. Perhaps can meet one or two
of them in London in summer. Too bad I wasn’t staying
longer.
REFLECTIONS
Skiing
Zurs. Zurs had
amazing views and better snow conditions for this
period. A full day skiing ending with a long run down
the back of the mountain to Lechs, back up in the
cable car and then down a moderately easy run. Great
for practicing paralleling. I do like moderate runs
with just enough difficulty not to kill myself. The
opening photo is of a snow-filled valley (venue
unknown).
What is amazing and not obvious in the journal is
that I ended up
40 minutes by bus from St. Anton.
That is
quite an amazing journey down the back of the
mountain. (I hope I’m correct on this.)
[I’ve heard that in recent years, much of the Alps has gotten less snow than in decades past. Certainly, that is influenced by global warming. A friend in Switzerland tells me that their remaining glacier(s) are not going to last very long.]
Nature. Certainly, when nature cooperates and there is plentiful snow, St. Anton must be an incredible place to ski.
Expensive. As mentioned many times, St. Anton was generally expensive.
Conclusion. I loved St. Anton.
Dancing with the girls. What’s going on with me? I’m meeting girls right and left. Is it the golden suntan from the Tirolian slopes? My dazzling après ski attire? I don’t know. International-traveler’s confidence is all I can guess. Believe me, even though it’s easy for me to meet people, meeting girls was not the easiest thing to do. Good Golly, Miss Molly, I’m even talking about visiting them in London? Did I get an address? Hmmm.
Don’t worry, I am still enamored by both Anjali and Elisabeth. I’m still a nice guy. Maybe I’m just lonely.
John
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