© Foto by Alex Ugalek @ at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
© Foto by Alex Ugalek @ at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Judith Schmuck

The feeling of spring on the slopes

It is still too early to get excited about the budding Alpine gentian flowers beside the slopes, as the mountains are still deep in hibernation and the snow-covered slopes still look very inviting for carving and boarding.

Down in the valley and in the animal kingdom, spring is nearing, and we all know that springtime is the best time for flirting. So, why not get a few tips, so that you could possibly get off the single track and change onto the “double tracks?” When skiing, there are so many opportunities to meet people from the opposite sex (or the same sex).

Most of the time, you are never sat alone in the cable car or on the chairlift. So, it is worthwhile to keep your eyes peeled, to see whether a cool acquaintance is hiding under a pair of cool sunglasses or under a cool helmet! Use this time to get into conversation with the other passengers – the mutual topic of skiing or snowboarding, the slope conditions or the weather are harmless topics of conversation, whereby you will not look like the biggest flirt in the Alps. Nice set up, or not?

Modern ski lifts in Ski amadé

A possible dialogue – one does not need any speech training to put a few nice words together: 

A: Great weather today, don’t you think? I just cannot get enough of this panorama. B: Yes, it really is mega. 

A: Are you on holiday or do you live here? 

B: Unfortunately, only on holiday and I have to go home again on Saturday.

A: And where is home?

B: Vienna, only half as nice as here, but what can one do. 

A: I know Vienna quite well, I always go a couple of times a year. 

B: Oh, what do you do there?

... It can all happen in a blink of an eye, and then you are showing each other the selfies and party photos from the night before. We used to all be in the telephone book. Now we are all on Whatsapp and our faces are an open book – friends, like and always connected. Being pen pals and waiting for the first letter to arrive by post for 14 days are thankfully a thing of the past. So, get on your smart phones and save the number first of all. If these getting to know one another words come into fruition, then you also have to ski down the same slope and then take the next draglift up together and you just hook up without further ado. If the signs are good that there is a mutual liking, then the next plan of action would be to go to the nearest Après ski bar after skiing and get some support from Helene Fischer, Andreas Gaballier, a bright red rubber dinghy and if you are old enough, from a few Jägermeister. They are the masters (Meister) of hunting (Jagen) for a reason. 

This can of course all go south, be very embarrassing or even be hopeless. If this should be the case, then you always have the best excuse in the world that when you get to the top you have to head off in the other direction. A great advantage of being on skis at over 2000 meters above sea level is that you can quickly leave without a trace, well maybe with just a single track in the snow. 

Judith Schmuck

9 article
Read more