Ray Muggli          Photos by Connie

Oh Yes, Another Après Ski Club Gathering at SFO. This time the Adventure was headed to Kitsbuhel Austria. There we luxuriated at the Hotel Maria Theresia with two waist expanding meals a day. Oh Well.

The Lufthansa flight over was followed by the Feshing (Carnival) bus ride from Munich to the Ski Mountain. So all of Europe was on the road with us. This was the beginning of a week of Carnival. The first night we had our welcome party at the Hotel and were serenaded by costume glad kids singing to us until 4am. Is "Viva Las Vegas" an Austrian song?

Sunday began the European Ski experience. You probably will not believe this but we broke rule 4 on one of our first runs. (Rule 4 is "Don’t run out of Snow before you run out of mountain") The Magnificent eleven hit the bottom of a canyon and we all had to take taxis back to town so we could get back up on the mountain. Tee-hee!! Oh, the magnificent 11 were: Laura Bryan, Greg Smith, Heather Purcell, Janice Melena, Denise Mansfield, Mark Nave, Maureen McGettigan, Bob Raos, Christiane Hili (Chilli), David Whetzell and Ray Muggli. As the Eleven rode up the chair we noticed Barbed Wire Fences in the snow and thought: Cow-$400, New Skis-$1K, New leg $20K, The Experience---Priceless. There was great powder in a large bowl and Mark cried out "Lets Hit the Powder Over by the Big trees". Heather exclaimed, "I don’t Do Trees". We all looked over at the very wide bowl and counted all 4 trees. Mmmmmm! She later embraced rule 8 which is "The trees are my friends, they will not hurt me". It was on the mountain when Ray and Janice were talking about having the Austrian traditional Ski Drink called Yager-Tee. Two Austrians were talking and one cried out Yeh Yeh. The New Après Cheer is now "Yager-Tee, Yager-Tee, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh" repeated three times in a row. You had to be there to appreciate the looks we would get as we cheered on in restaurants etc. That night we all went to the Local Swimming area looking for the missing Hot Tub. No Hot Tub was OK because we were having so much fun on the water slides we forgot how hard we skied that day. That night we took in the International Dancing Bears Display. So many countries on display.

Who will ever forget Monday Skiing? TOTAL White Out. We could not see our skis. We did a few runs on the ice hoping we would not run into each other. A skier had skied off the cliff and we all stopped to help. It gave a new meaning to "It Sucks to be you". We didn’t say that to him? The skier was ok but the eleven went in for Yager-Tees. After a long struggle with no visibility, we found our way down the mountain. Mark asked if we could get a refund and the Lady said "I can’t help it if you guys are Slackers". Oh Ouch. That night we danced in the local pubs until 3am. Who was that Cute Après Blonde dancing on the table?

Tuesday was tour Salzburg Day. What a Quaint City. We hit Mozart’s digs and that very special Chocolate. Ask Laura about her Monk encounter at the 800-year-old Cathedral restaurant. No Laura, "Naughty Girl" was not on your forehead. Our tour guide Ingrid kept us in stitches all day and we ended up at A Feshing party in the city of Mondsee (Moon Lake). The parade and street costumes were fun and the environment was a very large party. Being good little Après skiers we had Apple Strudel and Hot chocolate. After all "The Sound of Music" wedding chapel was right there.

Wednesday was a fabulous sunny day with lots of fresh powder. We went up to "Powder Heaven" The only way up there was on a Single Person lift Chair. We got quite good at skiing by the Barbed Wire Fences and cutting to the front of the line. The highlight of the Day was "Linebacker" (Previously known as Janice Melena) falling on the Very steep Slope, sliding down hill upside down and backwards hopelessly picking up speed like a human Bob Sled. (Head First). Half way down she looked up to see "Brakes" (Use to be Ray Muggli) Looking down into her eyes. The Slow motion that followed no one believes. The two ended up completely entangled like a Double Pretzel. Greg called out "My Gosh What are you two doing". Color those Pretzels Black and Blue. The ladies had their picture taken with the Super Heroes (Bat Man, Robin, Super Man and Spider Man) The Pictures on the Apres Web site must be a riot. Mark went off a cliff almost recovered but went off another cliff in the air. Heather saw this just like in Switzerland and cried out "The Flying Squirrel lives Again". Talk about a Yard Sale. WE did the famous "Hahnen Kamn" Championship Down Hill race Course. Our times were a little over the 1:58 minute record. Well, maybe a lot over.

Thursday we went over on Kitzbuheler Horn Mountain. Wow, What Great Snow on the Endless Run. The Run was so long and the sun so bright we got sunburn on one run down. Joe Giammarco and Claire Kelm had turned us on to this fabulous place. The 360-degree Panorama view of the Tyrol Alps jagged peaks took your breath away. That night was the Hot Gluhwine party in Mark and Ray’s room.

Friday was the Great Shopping day. Some went to the Glass Blowing Village. Barbara Coats had taken the train to Innsbruck earlier in the week. Friday night was the Yager-Tee Party in Dees room. Ray and Mark have the recipe down and everyone has the cheer down. We will have to have a "Yager-Tee" Party at the Lodge soon. The last dinner at the Hotel was really great.

The Lufthansa Party home was Snoops driven. What Fun.

Could Italy be on the Horizon?

PS: Many events happened that I was not present for. I wish I could have captured everything and everyone, as it was a Fantastic Trip. Thank you Dee Askew for Great Snow, Feshing Carnival, and a great bunch of people.