Skiing fun and some mishaps

On our first day at Obereggen, we checked our boys into their respective classes and I decided to ski nearby so I could keep an eye on how their first day went. It didn't take long before my big boy got his confidence back and he was happily going up and down the piste with his class. Then I saw my little one on his first time on skis enjoying the experience as if he'd been born on skis. It was wonderful to see and felt good to know that we could do this more often as a family. Hubby in the meantime went for a hike through the forest realised his shoes weren't quite right drove to a nearby Decathlon Store to buy the proper hiking boots. 

In the afternoon he was breaking in the new boots by hiking up the first mountain to meet us for lunch at a restaurant at the top. We had a wonderful first day par some very sore legs and feet but we all agreed it was a beautiful spot and we were in for a beautiful week. We enjoyed the village teepee and returned to the hotel for late afternoon tea, a swim in the indoor pool and watch the sunset before dinner. We met other guests with kids who were friendly and trying to practise their English.

Sitting around the lounge bar area the hotel served complimentary bubbles for all the guests which was really nice. The owners came to greet all the guests personally and clink glasses which was a lovely touch. The main barman whom I thought looked Middle Eastern who was friendly and attentive came by our table and was very chatty with us. 

Everytime there was a lull in the service he came around and he'd chat with us. Hubby was enjoying this new friendship so he can enjoy good service at the bar. 

Anyway he turned out to be Moroccan but lived in Germany for over 10 years and lived in the skiing area for 3 years. He was telling us this and I asked if he was much of a skier and he said he tries to ski at least once a week. So I thought maybe it's not his thing because other ski area staff I know ski almost everyday and it's why they live in these areas. 

So I ceased the opportunity and was asking which piste I should go up and which was safer and how hard they were. As we can see three pistes from the hotel he was pointing out which ones to start with and the like. Next thing he asked if we wanted him to show me where to ski in the area! I looked at my husband very taken aback by this offer and he said, yeah why not so you know where to go. 

I actually couldn't believe my luck. I had tried to join a class so I would know where to go but it being low season there weren't enough skiers booked in for them to run a class so I was stuck trying to find my way on my own. So I accepted the offer and made sure we weren't affecting his job and he said it was fine he'd love to. He told me to meet at the lift first this in the morning and I was nodding with excitement to have a private tour guide show me where to go. 

Before the first lift moved I was waiting there excited to get the day started. From my skiing the day before I thought early morning was a bit icy but my new friend said it's a good time to start so I thought who am I to question him. He showed up and off we went up the mountain, we skied to lift after lift and we kept going higher and higher! I was a kid in a candy store as I marvelled at the beautiful mountain tops and the gorgeous pistes and it being a new skiing location for me was just awesome. My new friend was a great tour guide, he told me the names of the different pistes and it was starting out great. I warned him I was rusty and needed time to catch up. He'd ski ahead and patiently waited for me to catch up. It was quite icy as the sun hadn't quite warmed some of the ice on some pistes so I was extra careful as I didn't want to topple over at all on this hard ice but we were having fun. I was enjoying the wind in my hair and the sound of the skis in the snow. But also it was quiet, not many people were up there at that hour so it was lovely to go at my one pace and weave my way down the piste. I was murmuring prayers of thanks and grinning from ear to ear at the beauty of it all but also how lucky I was for this kind soul to bring me on a tour of the mountains.

We were on a red piste and it was quite icy, I was concentrating not to fall but also keep up with my tour guide when all of a sudden he takes a tumble down the slope. I slowed down and tried to go wide but also tried to go closer to see if he was okay. Then I realised one of his skis didn't come off in the tumble and now I was worried. I skiied closer and was yelling out if he was okay. He shook his head while trying to remove his ski. He was holding on to his knee and grimacing in pain. 

At this point I was so worried and felt so sorry for him to be in that way. Luckily at that very moment a slope marshal was skiing past witnessed this and came to his aid. I couldn't believe what just happened they were speaking Italian and from my try hard listening and deciphering my new friend was asking for the medics. I felt so bad at this point and I didn't know what to do. I collected his sticks which fell off when he tumbled and brought them to him. Within minutes the medics came up in a snow mobil ambulance pulling a stretcher. I couldn't believe this poor guy's bad luck and prayed that he wasn't going in the stretcher! 

I waited around to make sure he was okay when I realised they were discussing me with the medics and kept looking at me. I stood there not sure what was going on when the medic asked me in English if I knew how to get back. I realised my poor friend was telling them that they have to bring me along as I didn't know the area. Well my self sufficiency kicked in and reassured him not to worry about me and just focus on himself getting help. The medic asked if I knew how to get back to the hotel and in my haste I said "yes of course, I'll just ski all the way down".

To my amusement the medic informs me that I couldn't, that I had to ski and take lifts in order to get on the right pistes to get where we came from...! And I thought I was being smooth saying where I was going. I quickly said of course, I will follow all the signs to Obereggen as I did see they're everywhere. And now I was in a slight panic wondering if the signs were as easy to follow as I was imagining but nevertheless I will just make sure this poor lad gets the help he needs and not worry about me. So I wished him good luck and thought to remove myself from the situation so my new friend didn't worry about me anymore as he was clearly in pain. I told him not to worry and that I hope his injury wasn't so bad and thanked him profusely as well as apologised that he was hurt. He waved me off and I skied off with a prayer that all will be fine.

Well thanks to his good guiding skills I'd remembered generally where we had come and to my surprise we were about two villages west from where we had started. So I took my time read the signs and had a great morning of skiing alone. I figured that poor guy got hurt showing me this amazing place I may as well make the most of it and so I did. Come lunch time I skied all the way back to Obereggen and picked up my older boy and up the lift we went back to the top to have lunch with hubby who had hiked up. 

He thought I was arriving with our new friend but got a shock when I told him the awful story. That evening my poor new friend, ski tourguide and barman wasn't at work and the staff said that his leg was hurt from skiing. We felt really bad for the poor guy and tried to find out to get in touch with him but the hotel didn't get back to us about him.