Our mini winter vacation

In some ways, this is a bit embarrassing, that here we are living so close to the Bavarian Alps, and up until this past weekend have not made use of any of the fabulous winter sport activities there.  Skiing, either downhill or cross-country, just seemed too complicated, as not only do we not have any equipment (which of course we could rent) but in order to keep the suitcases to a minimum we had decided not to pack any winter-sport clothing:  Benjamin is the only one with snow pants, for example.  Somehow the thought of getting sweaty, and then cold, in jeans and cotton sweaters, and coming back for an hour on the train was enough to just make it not happen...

 
However, last Sunday was sunny
(finally -- this has apparently been the grayest winter here since 1951)
and we decided to head to the Alps for some sledding!









There are several Rodeln (sledding) hills in the Alps, and we chose one in the little town of Lenggries, since the base of the mountain is only about a 20 minute walk from the train station.  On the way to the hill, we rented two sleds, for 5 Euros each, since it was not clear whether there would be sleds available at the hut on top.

The sledding path is about 1.5 km long, with an altitude difference of 200 m.   It took us about 40 minutes of good effort to get up to the top of the sled run (walking on loose snow is not as easy as summer hiking!) but there were some beautiful views along the way.

The little hut at the top of the run is a very typical Bavarian Hütte, and before we started our sledding, we had a great lunch of potato and sausage soup and Wiener Schnitzel.
Luckily they had one more sled available to rent, so we had a total of three.

Near the top.  We were glad to see the hut after 40 minutes of climbing.

Now for the fun part!!  

Actually, it was a little alarming at first, not only because it's quite steep near the top, but because it's nearly impossible to brake with two people on a sled.  (Digging in heels works to some extent, but not when the track is icy, as it was at the beginning.  The only way to slow down is to put both feet on the ground and lift the front so that the back of the runners digs in...)

 Once we figured that out, the kids went sailing down on their own, and Thomas and I took turns sledding part-way down while the other walked.  Once at the bottom (10 minutes or so) we hiked about half-way back up and slid down several more times (while one parent waited at the bottom).



This was great exercise, in the sun and mountain air. We were all pleasantly exhausted by the end of the day, and there were no arguments about bedtime!

Julia coming down the track...
Unfortunately my camera batteries died just as Benjamin and Thomas came into view.