Blog

Hello all,
looking forward to Australia Day. It is going to be a lovely sunny day and a nipply minus 10.
Oh well we are still going to krank up the BBQ. Cook up some Aussie burgers, make those sausages sizzle and get the vegemite/cheese toasties out.
Not only that we have managed to get quite a stash of Coopers Ale ( both the red and the green labels)
There should be a few Aussie tunes and our big screen is back. So we can even watch the Australian open.
Oh Mate it going to rock.
Come down it should be a good laugh.
See you there!!!!!

Hello all,
No blogs recently due to a computer glitch!!
Things have been so different in Fang this week compared to last week.
Race fences are gone and all the piste is open again. Yahoo
So Fang has been rocking and rolling.
We are having a bit of a Swedish thang going on every Wednesday- Swedish meatballs, Swedish music etc.
Being the international bar we are celebrating Australia day on Saturday.
We have our hands on some Coopers Ale. We have the red and green labels.
BBQ will be on. Aussie burgers, sausage sizzle.
Come down it going to be fun, see you there

Hello all,
Woke up to a beautiful blue sky day with a lovely -9.6 on the temperature gauge.
Still feeling cold.
My boys have been in ski school for the past 3 days. Today was the last day where a small ski race was organised.
I think that ski school is great for kids. Trying to teach your kids to ski is not always a pleasant experience.
Maybe it is just my family, but my kids can get really angry and grumpy with me. They would never talk to a ski teacher the way they would talk to me.
They have been in different groups, one skiing all over the mountain. The other in Nasserein only but learning loads.
Two very happy boys.
In the race one got third, and the other fourth-however more importantly they have had a great time!!
Take care

Hello all,
had a chat to Mum and Dad on Skype this morning.The kids were looking at them thinking they were in fancy dress. I had to explain that (again) that Gran and Pops live on the other side of the world, and it is warm there at the moment. The kids don’t really buy this this, maybe Gran and Pops should dress up in there winter woolies for these skype chats.
I did something very strange today. I went to Rendl. Where is Rendl you ask.
Well its on the other side of the valley.
Rendl is a great place to ski, there are often a lot less people over there.
However I must admit I haven’t been there for ages(we are talking a loooooong time)
I go to Rendl regulary in the summer, but not so often in the winter.
However Rendl is great. It can be known as rocky Rendl. If the snow is a bit sparse then damage to skis is a commom thing.
Rendl is a place that care should also be taken in abundance.However as the snow at the moment is not so plentiful so I am not going to go on about avalanches.
If you are at Rendl, go to the bar that overlooks the fun park. There are 2 ladies that work here that are lots of fun-Silvia and Daniella. These ladies rock!”! Tell them Maggie sent you!
It is a kiwi guy that drives the the Pisten bully for the fun park, so that is why it look so magnificent.
Take care xx

Hello all,
It was a cold day today. They were predicting minus 16 on Gampen.
We are still having quiet days in Nasserein.
All the race nets are still up. The ladies race has passed. However now we have the Europa cup race.
The main race day is tomorrow.
I have been told they will start removing the fences straight after. Hopefully by Saturday everything will be gone.
The access to Fang House has been very limited and we have really noticed it. (As have the Rodel hut)
We had a guest DJ in fang this evening-John Pye. The place was rocking when I left.
Having guest DJ’s is something we might and try a bit more.
Still trying to warm up from today.
Cheers

Hello All,
Race day. I was feeling really excited about today. So we found out last night that there were no Swedish ladies in the race. There were were two Swedes in the earlier stages, however one did not finesh and the other was a tad on the slow side.
However tomorrow is a different story. There are 3 Swedish ladies starting in the Super G.
In lucky 13th place Jessica Lindell-Vikrby, 50th starter Sara Hector, and 56th starter Kajsa Kling.
We have our Swedish flags up and will be yellow and blue all day.
So Alice McKennis( from America) won today. Congratulations!! followed by Daniela Merighetti(from Italy) and Anna Fenniger (from Austria) got third place.
Tomorrow we are going to get the BBQ going. Come down for a Hotdog or a hamburger.
Take care, see you soon

Hello all,
feeling so refreshed after a day off.
So tomorrow is race day. Today was the training day- and it got cancelled. Why-well it was dumping today. Windy as hell, cold and not so pleasant. So actually a good winter day. However when you have the fastest ladies in the world in town-these are not really the conditions that you want. I mean when you get your lycra on to speed down a hill at 100km(plus) you really need a smooth track. The race race ladies are not powder hounds. As much as they might love a powder day-they are out for podium fineshes.
So spare a thought for the folks that will be out all night tonight. They will be shovelling snow off the track, sliding down on their skis. I believe work starts around 12am.
Tomorrow in Fang House we will be yellow and blue. Go team Sweden. However looking at the start list there appears to be no Swedish ladies in the race. I am shocked!!! to say the least.
Lindsey has done her nails for tomorrow. Wishing Lindsey all the best for her comeback!!!
What ever happens,race, no race we will be at Fang.
See you soon xx

Hi all,
Well for January it was a warm balmy day.
So in Nasserein it was spring conditions. Spring skiing is fun-in spring.
This time in January is a funny time. Why-well not many people want to ski now. This is a time that is considered low season.
Personally this is a time that I would reccomend a holiday.
I look after 2 apartments in St Jakob. At the moment they are both empty.
I don’t really know why this is-has everyone spent too much on Christmas presents? or maybe a bit of that annual leave was used over Christmas and so everyone wants to wait a bit longer before they request more.
Whatever the reason is now is a time when accomodation will be cheaper than Febuary.
So if you are wanting to have ski holiday but are feeling the pinch check out this time.
This is not just this year-its is every year.
So this weekend is THE RACE!!
Well two days of ski racing. We have decided to go Swedish. Hasse(the boss) is a proud Swede. There are many great Swedish ladies on the world cup skiing circuit. We have sent an email to the Swedish team saying that Fang will be the Swedish bar. They haven’t replyed yet- oh well whatever.
We have Swedes driving down from Sweden(funny that) bringing us flags etc (Thanks Oskar you are the best) We may well make meatballs all weekend. Maybe that will tempt the Swedish ladies to drop by.
So getting into the race thing (Lindsey areyou going to race? I know she isn’t Swedish but I think she rocks)
Wednesday tomorrow, snow forecast for Friday. Might even totally get into the grove and have a little ski (or maybe snowboard) this week.
Take care

hello all,
sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple of days, some times it is just like that.
So what has happened in the last couple of days?
Rain, rain, rain!!
The Rain started on Friday, but Saturday was unreal.
If it had been a bit colder then it would have been alot of snow.
Oh well these things happen. Not much you can do about them. So may as well get on and the make the best of the situation.
This weekend we have a ladies ski race here in St Anton. This means that it is part of the World cup circuit. So we are going to have all the top women skiers coming to St Anton am Arlberg for 2 days of racing. These are the formula 1 ladies of skiing. Hey these are amazing Ladies-the speeds at which they can go are unreal. We are talking about speeds of up to 125km/ hr. Amazing when you are wearing a lyrca suit and a helmet. Not only that but you are not skiing velvetee pisted runs but ,scarey, steeper than you can believe runs!!!!
Ok so I am am a Kiwi and sports people are totally amazing to me. (Richie for Prime Minister)
I have a fav- Lindsay Vonn. An Amercian ski racer who has no fear. She is fantastic to watch.
However on the down side, most of Kapal and Gampen are now closed in preparation. There is a tunnel you can go throu to get to Nasserein.
If you don’t know my boss, Hasse is Swedish-so Fang may well be yellow and blue for the weekend. We will be the Swedish bar. He is off to IKEA tomorrow.
I was here when we had the world champs. It will be a great weekend!!!!
Take care xx

Hello all,
Thursday wahoo my day off!!
Went for a ski today-yuck!
I am a terrible skier. I am a wanabe be skier. However I have always snowboarded.
When I say always well since I came here. I never saw snow until I was about 7. I grew up at the beach in a sailing family. Yes Austria is a land locked country but I come from NZ.
In NZ I skied maybe 2 weeks as I grew up.
So I snowboarded when I first got here. Loved it for years. Except I hate flat areas-nothing like running out of speed. Having to take a foot out and push while those damn skiers just use those sticks (yes I do know they are called poles)
So I decided to make the change. Here is my philosophy, snowboard for a week and by the end of that week you can look pretty damn good. Ski for a week and by the end of the week you still look like a tourist. I think there is a lot more technique to skiing.
So now when I am on my skis I look like a tourist. Everyone has to wait for me and I hate it. So I end up snowboarding.
It would probably help if I skied a bit more.
So today I only did one run and then went rodelling (tobogganing)
Had a great afternoon rodelling. Stopped at the rodel hutte. I love that place. Christoph is a lovely guy.
He told me today that they do dinner from 7pm. I would reccommend to book as it is very popular. (You can’t book for lunch but usually you get a spot after a short wait)
This place was re-built a couple of years ago. They really have done a fantastic job.I have written about this place before. I am writing again because it really is great -real austrain feel. ( I paid for all my food and drinks just like a tourist )
Rodelling in the afternoon is so much fun.Rodelling in evening is also fun but much busier (in the afternoon you can rent a rodel and just use your ski pass to get to Gampem- In the evening you must pay for the lift to take you to Gampen)
Rodelling can be a pretty fast. I would reccommend that children wear helmets (I wore mine today)
Crikey thats enough for today!!
Don’t forget we are trimming that damn beard of Harrys tomorrow. S
See you at 2pm
Ciao