Ruth took Heidi and Rose to Germany to visit family in '68 and again in '70. After a week in Berlin visiting they spent a week in Austria skiing. In '68 they stayed in St. Christophe at Hotel Belvue. Ruth bought complete sets of gear and jackets for the three of them and hired an instructor to gather them up in the morning, escort them around the mountain, and deliver them to the hotel again at the end of the day.
The following trip Heidi thinks they stayed at the same place. A few days into the trip, Ruth shattered her left ankle and was confined to her hoospital bed after the surgery. The girls were in group lesson with Helmut. He took the group to Veluga Gras - the glacier at the top of the mountain. They discovered the only way to safely descend was to sideslip hundreds of feet down the smooth, icy, very steep slope. Ruth had a fit when she heard what they did, after the fact.
In 1981 Ruth again got the urge to visit Austria for a bit of skiing and then a family visit in Berlin, and she wanted Heidi and me to accompany her. Barely three years into my retirement, we weren't in a financial position to afford such a trip, but a gift from her friend, Doc Long, was very persuasive. Passports were acquired, arrangements were made and February of 1982 was to find us in Europe.
I had concerns about traveling so far from home with my medical condition, but we worked all that out. Then we discovered Heidi was pregnant a couple months before we were to leave. Her doc said that shouldn't be a problem. Heidi could only get two weeks vacation, so we visited in Berlin for a couple days and then left for Dorfgastien just south of Salzberg.
I had concerns about traveling so far from home with my medical condition, but we worked all that out. Then we discovered Heidi was pregnant a couple months before we were to leave. Her doc said that shouldn't be a problem. Heidi could only get two weeks vacation, so we visited in Berlin for a couple days and then left for Dorfgastien just south of Salzberg.
The first day of skiing turned out to be exciting. Heidi, Ruth and I headed up the chairlift to Wengeralm, a restaurant about a third of the way up the mountain, then grabbed a T-bar that went up another third... and above the clouds. I was not that good a skier and probably got in a bit over my head. As we started down and into the clouds I could barely see my ski tips on the snow in front of me.
We skied some wide, easy slopes and then got into some narrow tracks connecting to other slopes. I was taking it pretty slow and easy; the light was flat and even where the fog wasn't thick it was impossible to discern variatiojns in the terrain. Ruth tired of my slow pace and went around me. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see the edge of the trail and she went over, faalling to another, wider slope below. A dislocated shoulder, a ride to the hospital and a cast spelled the end of her skiing for the rest of our two week stay.
With maybe three English speaking residents in the village Heidi and I still managed pretty well for two weeks. My Gereman improved, if only for the short term. And we visited Gros Glockner, the highest peak in southwest Austria. It turns out that is where my dad was stationed back in 1945, but that's another story.
We returned to Austria again in 1989, this time with Heather, John P., my mother and a few friends in tow. The weather was less cooperative than on our prvious visit, presenting special challenges for me.