Kirsten Captures

Day 5

Happy January 1st! Since I stayed up ridiculously late on new years eve, I inadvertently slept till noon. Whoops! Peter had already gone down for breakfast and I surprised him by saying I wanted to ski! With the first day of 2013 dwindling away, we got ready in a flash, fleece and gortex flying, and hit the slopes!

It was a beautiful day but the icy slopes made it evident that Val Gardena had not seen snow in really long time. The lack of powder made it really hard on my already sore and tired quads. My body was not happy! I ended up taking a break while the boys skied a few runs. It is amazing how cold I got sitting at the bottom of the mountain!

We finished off the day with a few more runs then headed back to the hotel. I was famished so we made sure to get sustenance at the hotel cafe. Then without knowing it, I ordered the most delicious meal I would have in Italy yet… a simple dish of bruschetta with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and artichokes drizzled in olive oil and baked. OMG SO GOOD.

I was in bruschetta heaven and ate every last crumb.

Later that night we watched fireworks on the mountain then went to a local pub for some drinks. I felt like I was in Austria! Selva is really an interesting town. So despite an icy day on the slopes, it was a wonderful new years day after all.

Day 6

For our last day in Val Gardena, Peter and I wanted to get out on the mountain as early as possible. As we were eating another amazing breakfast in the dark, the sun began to rise and we noticed that it was SNOWING!! Finally some fresh powder!!!

At the top of the gondola, it was blinding white and absolutely beautiful. Best yet, the runs were basically empty and cushioned with fresh powder. Look how happy we are!

In the morning we decided to stay on our favorite side of the mountain before anybody got there. We were carving through fresh snow and it was amazing! My legs were so happy :-). This side of the mountain also had some fun jumps and obstacle courses that were awesome.

Remember this picture? Three times I waited awkwardly in the snow while Peter came barreling down the mountain for some action shots. Finally I snapped this gem.

Although the falling snow froze our faces and coated our jackets, we didn’t care! We were having a great time… until we decided to go to the far side of Val Gardena. After traversing a never-ending flat run and getting stuck over and over, we made it over and realized… this mountain sucked. The mountain was short and bald which meant short and pointless runs with the cold wind blowing in your face. We quickly traversed our way back and got out of there!

And then something amazing happened. A rainbow in a perfect circle appeared above the nearest peak. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day of skiing and snowboarding.