Ski Weeeknd- BlackForest

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Nick has been excited about skiing since we knew we were coming to Germany. So, this was his weekend. He loves skiing! I on the other hand have never been skiing and was slightly scared to try it. We went through the Outdoor Rec on base to rent ski's, boots, and poles. The rest of the gear we ordered online a few weeks earlier.

Our journey began early friday morning. Unfortunately we didnt take into account the snow that fell overnight so it was after 6am by the time we left the Kulinarium. The roads weren't too bad but still slowed us down a little bit. We were heading to small ski resort area known as Feldberg. It took us far too long to get up the mountain due to the winding roads, slow traffic, and people pulled over to put on their tires chains...Luckily we beat most of the later traffic so we didnt have to park too far away. We put our boots on and grabbed our poles and ski's and headed to find lessons.

Once we paid for the lessons for me we stood around and waited for the rest of the group to form. Among them were some US and British contract workers/wives that work on the base in Ramstein. Most of the group was as inexperienced as I was. Nick left to hit the hills and ski the rust off. We learned the basics and then took to the mini hill to learn how to go down and stop and then how to turn. It was a lot of work going up each time. After about 2 hours of practicing we took and hour lunchbreak. Nick and I headed to the resorts hotel restaurant since the other one took only cash. They had an amazing buffett with unlimited use of the latte machine!!!! Once we finished lunch I headed back to our my group for more lessons and Nick headed back to the slopes. The instructor, Max, picked those of us with enough skills to take the left up and try to come down. Luckily or unlickily I was included with that group. I was more afraid of the lift then actually skiing down. Our groups first attempt up was difficult for most of us including myself. The idea was get in position turn to the left and wait for the pole.....then grab it and put the pole with the disk at the end between your legs before it took off...The lady in front of me sat down (itsnot meant to sit on) and therefore fell off.....Then it was my turn. I got in between my legs fine...it took off...then I was concentrating on holding on and not dropping my poles that my ski's got tangled and BAM! I went down about 50 meters from the start...I popped my skiis off and walked back down where our instructor was waiting and made my 2nd attempt. This time I kept my concentration on my skis and my hands. I made it to the middle where our group was meeting. Once we all made it up we followed our instructror as he weaved us down the hill. It was a little scary but we all did pretty well. Each of us fell at least once. Some way more then others..Some every turn we did. Luckily that wasnt me. We practiced from the 2nd post down, then from the 3rd post down, and at the end of the lesson from the top down. very exciting yet terrifying since it's so easy to go out of control.

By this time it was almost 3:30pm. We stopped into the little bar ontop of the main lift for those who were more advanced. Everyone seemed to be smoking inside (ugh) and we drank and watched the snow continue to fall. It hadnt stopped snowing since we arrived in the morning. When we got back to our car we were welcomedby at least 6-8 inches of snow on top all of the cars. Nick and I began the tedious task of clearing the snow from the car. As we began to make our way down we realized the weather and roads were getting worse. So we decided it would be smart to find a placeto stay. We picked out a place called Titisee. After a few stops we found a place with an available room for a decent amount. It also had a pool indoors and was heated. Unfortunately we didnt think about that so we didnt have our suits. Once we changed out of ourski wear we headed to the main street to find some place to eat dinner. We found a nice little Pizza shop (run by greeks) meaning a free shot of Ouzo. We each had an adult beverage (with no ice available at the restaurant.) Luckily the soda was somewhat chilled. After dinner we headed out to walk around andadmired the views by the lake. This would be another beautiful place to spend a weekend in the spring/summer when its warm.

We woke up the next morning with intentions to go skiing again. But, our legs were both very sore and by the time we finished our breakfasts we decided we would pass on the skiing and head to Triberg instead. Home of the cuckoo clocks. Unfortunately it was Sunday so many of the stores and restaurants were closed up. Luckily the shop of over 1000 clocks was open as well as a cafe for coffee and pastries and a small italian cafe/restaurant for lunch.

While in Triberg we also had to see the famous Gutacher Wasserfall, Germany's highest waterfall. It's about 163m down. With all the snow parts of the paths were closed down but we were able to see alot and get a few good pictures.

With some good sights, food, and drink, and skiing under ourbelt it was time to headhome.

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Photos

Titisee
lots of snow!