Crookhorn ski-ing 12 February 2012

Sunday 12 February


We have set the webasto for 06:00 and have breakfast at 07:00 ready to leave at 07:45. These boys are serious skiers and want to be at the slopes for when the lifts open and return as they are closing. The teachers are led by Steve and he is accompanied by Chris who runs Premier Ski-ing, an up an coming supplier for groups ski-ing in Austria. He is based in Mansfield and has brought along Simon to help with the lessons.
Steve also teaches the children ski-ing along with Phil, Matt and Chris, all teachers, and Roy, who teaches ski-ing at Bournemouth!
There are three other adults on, another two teachers Annie and Laura, and Phil’s daughter Emma.
We walk down to the coach at 07:15 and it is obvious the webasto hasn’t worked. This is a pre heater that you set like an alarm clock to come on at a certain time and it independently heats the water in both the engine and the radiators. Having set it for six we would have expected to come down to a warm bus but it is freezing.
We start the coach and I drive it down the road turn round and then go back to the hotel to pick them all up. Don’t tell anyone about me driving for a hundred yards on the wrong side of the road please!!
It is -15 when we depart the hotel!
Today they are ski-ing in the resort of Alpendorf and we set off in the very cold sunshine. During the journey the temperature gauge keeps going to hot but we eventually make Alpendorf. We park so the sun will soon be on the engine and then tick over to warm everything up. We think the water has frozen in the engine.
We call a taxi to take us to a local garage where I buy 10 litres of anti-freeze and the taxi only costs €30 and the anti-freeze €58! A good start to the week.
Brian drains some of the water from the engine and we top up with anti-freeze and let the engine tick over to warm and thaw the system out.
We now have a frozen loo complete with a bowl of frozen urine (yuck!!), frozen drinks machine, frozen heaters, frozen engine and frozen steerers!
The sun is out and shining on the engine which may help but it is still -14 in the sun!
After an hour of idling we take the coach for a drive to see if anything has thawed.
All is well until we reach the motorway and the temperature begins to rise. We are just about to pull over when the temperature gauge goes from in the red to normal running temperature and stays there. I think the frozen blockage is now unfrozen!
We pull into a service area for fuel (bus and us!), diesel for the bus and coffee for Brian and I!
We drive for another 20 minutes including the long climb back up to Alpendorf and the gauge doesn’t move from normal. Yes!
Once back in the -14 sunshine we put inside the saloon a small gas heater we have brought to thaw out anything that needs thawing and hope it will free the radiators.
As a reward we treat ourselves to a lovely pizza at a local pizzeria before going back to the cold bus.
My hat is losing its elastic so I go into the ski shop to buy another one. The young assistant finds me one I like and as I go to pay her she says it will cost €45! I said thanks but no thanks and rushed from the shop to take up Brian’s offer of using his hat! €45 for a bonnet!
There is a coach next to us, Cairngorm Coaches, and one of their drivers seems to be in need of a chat! He is okay and it transpires he is a mechanic so we ask him about our problems. There is not much he can do to help us but it helps pass the time.
The group start to come down from 15:30 and the first two teachers down are Chris and Matt and they are well pleased to find Brian has both cider and beer on offer. Nicely chilled too, well very chilled with some of the drink frozen.
Before leaving we warn everyone that it may be a cold ride home and sitting at the front it is definitely a cold journey home! Back at the hotel I walk into the saloon and am delighted to find that it is nice and warm. At last the water has thawed.
After dinner we put the gas bottle inside the coach to hopefully keep everything thawed. We have also set the webasto for 06:00.
There is also a quiz tonight and I join in on Matt Carver’s team which seems a wise move as he knows the answers to nearly all of the questions. After completing each round we are way ahead but Steve manages to dock us points each time so that by the end we do not win! A fix!
Some of the group are still in pyjamas and one of the older boys who have left school is wearing his dressing gown over his clothes! Why?!
I have a restless night worrying about the coach. Has it got a serious problem or will the gas bottle blow the lot up!!