Skiing in Galtür and Ischgl

The weather took a bit of a downturn midweek, with snow and mist, and then some wind and heavy rain. This didn’t stop us skiing of course, although my lesson was cancelled one day and I went to the spa instead. The adverse weather restricted how far James, Heather, Ewan and Andrew could ski along at the much larger ski area of Ischgl, because the higher lifts were stopped due to wind. However they skied around where they could in Ischgl and Galtür, and still had a good time. I stayed in Galtür which had more than enough pistes for me. 

Andrew left to return home this (Friday) morning, which was a pity because that was the day that the ski lifts at Ischgl opened back up fully again. The sun shone, for the morning at least, and Heather, James and Ewan skied all the way into Switzerland for lunch. 

Meanwhile I had my last ski lesson of the week with instructor Tobi and the girls. We have been such a supportive and friendly group, joking that Tobi can call us “The Panic Group!” Tobi noticed my phone screensaver of Flora, and told me that his cats are called Yoshi and Tina. I have had a great time at my ski lessons, and most importantly I feel that I have regained some lost skills and built up my confidence. I’m so pleased that I have skied for five days out of a possible six this week. 

I felt rather sad then to take my skis back to Walter’s Ski Hire Shop and to start packing my case. 

When the others were on their way up the fairly short slope from Walter’s to the hotel, James noticed a wee old man who was struggling to carry his skis, so he carried them up for him, which was really kind of him. 

We had a delightful last evening in the hotel restaurant and bar, with fantastic food and the great company of our dear friends. James was a bit worried about the air in his (partially consumed) 1 litre bottle of Jura whisky possibly expanding during the flight and breaking the glass bottle or pushing the cork out in his suitcase. Heather had the genius idea of decanting the whisky into a smaller (75cl), screwtop water bottle from our dinner table. This worked perfectly, the remainder of the whisky just about filled the water bottle. We went to bed in good time, aware of our early start tomorrow morning.