The staff at Sport-Wellness Hotel Theresa treated the Browns, Englands and Trautweilers like royalty. The amenities at the resort were beyond comparison (five different saunas!) and dining was a true five course culinary experience (stuffed deer tenderloin with mushroom-vegetable ragout!). While hiking the remote Wimmertal Valley before breakfast one morning, we passed several hunting blinds where locals try to bag a chamoux (mountain goat) during the hunting season. At the far end of the Valley we came upon a spotless yet very remote restaurant and feasted on Kaiserschmarren, this is an Austrian cross between pancakes and french toast. The Hotel provided us with valet service to the resort of the day or we often chose to ride the narrow gage train down the valley to the front door of “Theresa”. I had an opportunity to ski with Stefan Egger and continue to perfect several of my freestyle moves including “The Mountain Auger”, “The Hand Grenade” and of course...the one I am most famous for...“The Equipment Discharge”. I had to explain to a couple of bewildered Austrians that Americans often launch into break dancing for no apparent reason even if we happen to be skiing at the same time. I’m not sure they bought it.

At one point we stood on top of a mountain on which Stefan explained that we could ski on the same lift ticket for 50 miles in opposite directions with interconnected resorts. The six of us believe that we may have found the ultimate ski vacation and we all vow to return someday.