Sometimes you get the bear...and sometimes you break your clavicle in 2 places and have to fly back from overseas. This, unfortunately is one of the latter stories.
I had some work to take care of in Hungary, and when we were finished I hooked up with a Hungarian colleague and we make a quick trip to the Semmering area, about 1 hour Southwest of Vienna, to a resort called Stuhleck. The resort was okay...not one I would recommend given the other options in the area. (it has a reputation for ice and has an inconvenient base area layout.) For about another hours drive you could go to Kierchberg, which I thought was a superior place.
Conditions were icy, which may have been my undoing but to be honest, I do not really know what the heck happened. I just remember my shoulder pile-driving into a rock hard surface. With my clavicle broken in 2 places and some newly acquired titanium, my ski season is over.
One of the nice things about many of the European resorts is that with the use of the RFID cards at the lifts you can produce a chart like the one below which shows my ski day.
I got hurt on the back side of the mountain which meant I had to load a lift and ski down about 3900 vertical to get back to the car. About half-way down my companion noted that I was skidding my turns and I noted he should mind his own business after which we got along swimmingly.
I chose to travel home to get this attended to...it had to do with not wanting to miss my flight. I am sure the Austrians would have taken good care of me but I wanted to be home. A couple notes here if you have not skiied in Europe before. Ski Patrol is a different concept. They are more like a rescue force...you call them on your mobile and they will come find you. They do not "patrol". Also, you may have to pay for their services if you do not carry special insurance. I had an emergency assist card in my wallet from my employer so in either case I would have been fine but I chose to hightail it home. Be sure you know the score before you go.
I will be back skiing next year...probably with a different attitude. Meanwhile I am going crazy.
Graph of my ski-day, the lines pointing from lower left to upper right are the lifts the others are the slopes:
It WAS a beautiful day.
This is the hill that got me...down near the bottom somewhere
There were several ski rentals competing for business but none of the larger outfits that cover multiple resorts. This mom and pop place caught my eye:
