Austria - blue skies in Bad Hofgastein on the first Sunday of the ski season 2012

Trying to keep up with the locals - 9th December
The Icing on the Cake - the Weitmoser Schlossalm 
Definitely an Austrian feel to today's proceedings. The locals were out in force for the first Sunday of the ski season so the standard of skiing was pretty high. The Scandinavian tourists were probably all at Sportgastein enjoying the sunshine. Not that the Swedes and Danes are bad skiers, but they do tend to either ski in large groups on the piste or form splinter groups on the most hair raising off piste sections. Most of the locals had lunch in the Weitmoser Schlossalm. It is self-service and offers a good selection of traditional soups and stews. I had a delicious Goulash Soup with a Weiss Beer and TW a Knodel Soup with an Almdudler. From the outside the place looked like the decoration on a Christmas Cake.
H3 heading down to the Valley
The lifts near the Haitzingalm are idle at the moment
TW wrapped up against the cold
Hamburger Skihutte - quiet today, the tourists are elsewhere
As you can see the lifts are not busy in December

What a difference a day makes - 10th December
Street View in Bad Hofgastein
It's not always sunny in Bad Hofgastein. Today there was about 40cm. of new snow and the blue skies were replaced by grey. No excuse not to give it a go on ski's though. A lot of the local school kids were taken up there, what a games lesson! They were not the only ones enjoying the deep snow. The snow was waist deep for the little ones but knee high for yours truly. Good fun though.
Bleak House
Climbing over the hill
Light snow falls on the Ice Rink
No room at the Inn? The stage is set for Christmas
The snow is building up around the Maurachalm 1607m on H2
TW has H3 to herself today

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