Innsbruck- Rock Climbing

This week Jon has been with us to guide us on a week of rock climbing and hiking in the Tyrol Alps surrounding Innsbruck. We're staying in an apartment in Innsbruck. Day 1: The first day we got up drove just 10 minutes and made the first cable car up to the top of the ridge over looking the city. We got all roped up and did about 4 hours on the via ferrata (in German is is called Klettersteig). The views were absolutely amazing looking over Innsbruck on one side and mountains as far as the eye can see on the other. The kids did really well. We move in pairs, Jon leading Casey, me leading Molly and James leading Julia. The adults have a via ferrata kit which is attached to our harness that we clip on to the wire. The kids are then roped to us. The hope is that no one will fall, if someone did fall no one would die, they would just fall as far as our rope. So you could get hurt, but not badly (hopefully). We move very slowly and carefully and help the kids through the tougher parts. We scaled a knife's edge ridge and crossed a suspension bridge. It was a really beautiful adventure and we were exhausted afterwards!

Day 2: We drove 35 minutes west to the town of Silz and climbed a route called "The Crazy Eddy"! This route was more difficult than the day before with steeper sections to climb straight up and more actual rock climbing required. I did not like this part at all but was able to make it through. There were some times when I was really scared and couldn't find a hand or foot hold to move, but somehow I was able to finish. It was a relief when the route got easier after an hour or so. We crossed a wire bridge which was like tight rope walking but with a wire above to hold on to (and attach harnesses to). Because the kids could not reach both wires Jon took them over one at a time. Casey and Julia crossed by hanging on to an extra rope he attached to the top. They just walked and held onto that rope with their hands. They were also attached to the wire above and to Jon. When Molly went she wanted to do a zip line style. So she just sat in her harness and Jon basically dragged her across hanging from the top wire. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be going across because the wires were vey taut so there wasn't too much wobbling involved. The worst part was next when we rappelled down a 100 foot cliff face. Watching my kids drop off the edge was vomit inducing for me. I was such a nervous wreck but trying to be calm. I was also nervous to go but felt fine once I took a few steps down. We ended the climb with a different feature we haven't seen before called a spider's web. Basically they attached chains to the side of the mountain in the shape of a spider's web and Jon hooked up a rope to belay the kids as they took turns climbing up and rappelling down. They loved this and felt so free and safe so it was fun for them. We had been eyeballing a nice beach on the river from our climb and we went to it once we got down. We had sandwiches and James and Molly swam. We hung out at the beach for awhile just relaxing as everyone was pooped. We stopped down town for a little while then came home for dinner and more planning.

Day 3: We drove 45 minutes west to the lake called Achensee. We took a gondola up to a valley up high that has 5 different peaks you can climb using via ferrata. We had the information from a climbing guide book we had bought and thought we would set out to attempt all five peaks moving from right to left. We had to hike about an hour to the start of the first peak. We could tell that there was a very large group climbing up behind us and we were eager to get on the wires before them so we were not held up by such a big group. We made it but the kids were tired from the effort. Anyways, the views were incredible everywhere we looked. The first peak was not very hard and turned out to be quite crowded so we had to do a lot of waiting around. James was saying that it was like a via ferrata amusement park where you can come up and choose which ride you want to take. People were climbing up the way we were trying to descend. We moved on to the second peak which was about a 30 minute hike away. This peak was a sharp tooth looking peak sticking up and it looked incredibly daunting. When we looked up and saw climbers on it and I was afraid of trying it. We had a snack at the base and I was very nervous about attempting this route. It was incredibly exposed, steep and unrelenting. There were no places to take a break and catch your breath. While we were waiting to go up a couple who was attempting it turned around and down climbed. We decided that I would lead this one so that Jon would be in the middle to help talk both me and James through any tough sections. I started up and just kept moving, keeping my eyes focused on the space just in front of me and trying to remember to breath. We all made it to the top of that tough climb with Molly and Casey close to tears but having conquered fear and pushing past it when it easily could have paralyzed them. We kept going on a much easier section to the cross at the summit and then down climbed to a grassy saddle between the peaks. I don't think James and I exhaled until we got there. We used all of our mental and physical energy so we decided to skip peak 3 and walk around to do peak 4 which was so easy it was just like a hike. After that we hiked back down to the gondola station where we celebrated with delicious pancake type things and french fries. Afterwards we took a dip in Achensee and then headed back to Innsbruck. Not a lot of photos from the climb because no safe spots to stop and get your phone out.

Day 4: We woke up to a rainy day which prevented us from doing a long climbing day. We packed up and drove south east about an hour into a valley and town called Mayrhofen. We are staying at a cool guesthouse right on a really loud moving river. We chilled in the hotel until the rain cleared and then did a climbing route right behind the hotel that it totally geared towards kids. It had all sorts of high ropes course type elements that they really enjoyed and we allowed them to move on their own with their owns clips instead of being roped to us. They had fun doing it for 2 hours. We're getting packed to head into the mountains tomorrow for three days/two nights of hut to hut hiking.

Playing Catch Up-Bavaria

We've been without wifi the last week so here is a lot of catch up of what we've been doing. Ljubljana, Slovenia. Drove in and explored the old town. There is a large pedestrian only section and we challenged the kids to find all five bridges and learn their names. They liked pretending they were in the amazing race and having to ask locals questions. We trailed them from a safe distance so they felt like they had some independence. Afterward we sat down for a rare restaurant lunch along the river at an outdoor pizza place. Shockingly the bill was only $20! A sign, I think, of how Slovenia is still catching up in the tourism game. We hiked up to the castle and meandered through the streets. It is a pretty and old city. We wrapped up the day with a long 18 holes of mini golf in the park.

Velika Planina is a herdsman settlement up in a high plain in the Slovenian Alps. I learned about it when we were researching the trip and really wanted to check it out. It wasn't far from where we were staying so we went to check it out. We took the 9:00 cable car and chair lift to the top. There was no real maps or guidance besides what we’d read on the internet. We headed towards the herdsman settlement and wandered all through the property- we saw the oldest hut, the chapel, and stopped for a treat at one hut. The kids had fresh apple juice and sweet pastries which were like fried dough. James tried the barley mush with cracklings, apparently a regional favorite. We headed back down after 2 hours up top and drove to lake Bled. We knew this would be very touristy but didn’t want to leave the country without seeing its most touted site. We parked at the hockey rink and walked to the lake. It was a pretty color and very clear. We just lounged by the lake and had a picnic lunch. This was just a pit stop for us so we didn’t not stay too long. After 90 minutes we set off towards Germany where we are staying in Hausham. Hausham is the town next to Miesbach, where James played hockey for the 2002-2003 hockey season.

Hausham Day 1 & 2: the weather was cold and rainy and we were a little travel weary so we did not do much. Laundry, we biked to the next town to a playground, walked around James’s old town of Miesbach to see his apartment, the rink, and his old haunts. One night we went to a family bbq for one of his old teammates 40th Birthday. As always our kids were hesitant to join in with the German kids at first. The shyness subsided and eventually they were all playing together nicely. We ate a lot of wurst and ended the night with a fun fire pit where the kids put pizza dough on a stick and cooked it for a treat. It was delish!

Day 3: we drove an hour to Dachau in the morning to visit the site of the concentration camp. It's hard to write about a visit like this. Part of you wants to take pictures but I refrained more often than not. It just too powerful of a place and so horrible to let it all soak in. It was fine having the kids there. We curtailed the message for them somewhat and I shielded Molly from some of the most graphic photos in the museum. In the afternoon we went into Schliersee and James and the girls did two runs down the Alpine slide. They loved it! We had some dinner at home then went back to that town. We stopped to watch a men’s soccer game and then went to this traditional German dance. The young boys and girls were all dressed in traditional leiderhosen and durndles. There was music by a live orchestra, men’s standing on tables cracking whips to the rhythm of an accordion, dances where they slammed on benches and some where pairs were spinning the women while the men jumped and slapped their knees and feet. James and I had a good chuckle thinking of the scene on European vacation where Chevy Chase tried to join in this dance.

Monday we rode the train back into Munich. James and I set up a small scavenger hunt for the kids. We gave them challenges of things to find and things to do as well as clues to find certain places in the city. It helped to make it more fun for them. We ended with one last swim in the moving river through the English Garden and then went to Andy and Caro’s to have pizza dinner in a beer garden and say our goodbyes to them.

Tuesday we had a calm but fun day. The weather was nice and we went on a different alpine slide. The T bar pulls you up in the little sled and then automatically starts down the track once you reach the top. No matter how fast you go you cannot fly off the track on this one. It was hilarious and the kids went 4 times each. In the afternoon we borrowed our hosts paddle board and took it to Schliersee to play in the water. Everyone paddled and swam and soaked in the warm sun. We ate dinner outside and cleared out the fridge of all of our food.

Today James picked up Jon from the airport in the morning and we drove to Innsbruck. We got settled in our apartment and explored the town a little bit. Tomorrow we will set out for our first day of rock climbing.