Some photos from Lech/Zurs Austria - Feb 15-24

Awesome photos and video, as always, looks like a dream vacation to me, kudos.

Oh man....this makes me so jealous. Unbelievable photos!!!

Angus said:

how did you plan/book trip?

Click to expand...

Up until a couple of years ago my parents used to spend 3-4 weeks every winter in Europe (they're to old to do it anymore). I think they went 25 consecutive seasons. They always had an itinerary of where they wanted to go but the only reservations they ever made was for a rental car & plane. They've probably been to most resorts in France, Switzerland, Austria & Italy. They never had a problem securing a room even at the most remote resorts. If they liked a resort they'd stay a few days, if not they'd drive out & go to the next one. What they liked about Europe as opposed to going out west was the ability to do different things. They would ski for a few days then be able to drive out & visit Paris, Rome, Spain or whatever within easy driving distance for a few days. Then drive back to the Alps & go skiing again. Out west your pretty much stuck at the ski resort or several within an area. There's not much else to do except ski.

Enjoyed your pictures & vid. My parents have boxes of pictures from Europe taken with the old fashioned stereo cameras. You have to look at them through a special viewer (almost like binoculars). Whats great about these photo's is they give you a 3-D view with depth perception. Some really great shots.

epics report.

We were restricted in time because Monica is a teacher and we had to go during her February break. If you want to stay in Lech/Zurs area you need reservations well in advance; rooms for the week were all booked up early. We found our place online via the Lech/Zurs website and with a call to the tourist office. They only rent rooms for the week so you had to book for the whole time. We squeezed in another night in Zurs at the start of the trip at the last minute when something opened up. Transportation from Zurich to the area is via a bus service and it was easy to book online.

The hardest part was booking guides, which needs to be done well in advance during the high seasons. Lots of schools are on half term that week so the competition for guides is fierce.

Thanks for the report and pictures. They look dreamy. A bit like heli skiing without the heli. You must be in fabulous shape. I know how much effort it takes to ski powder, at least for me.

Bumpsis said:

I know how much effort it takes to ski powder, at least for me.

Click to expand...

The off piste is certainly more strenuous than the groomed. You can watch all the folks headed back to the lifts on the groomed relax and ski in the most energy efficient manner. The only people skiing hard on piste aren't going into the backcountry on their next run. Our big runs were 3000-4000' of vertical, and I found the traverses to be especially tiring. The powder was light enough and without manky junk that it was fairly easy on the legs. The biggest pain was down low when the snow got heavy and the sun had hit it. That was incredibly tough on the legs.