Rodelbahn

Thursday night we decided to go sledding.  Not just any sledding, sledding down a 5km sledding run.  When would we ever have a chance to do that again?? Probably never... though it almost happened that we never got to go in the first place...

I really wanted to go sledding.  I looked in the tourist info book to figure out how to do it.  All I could find was the name of the place and the phone number.  Not helpful.  I went to the tourist information center.  There, I found out where on a map the sledding place was (not helpful), and that I should call if I wanted more info.  I tried to ask more specific questions.
How do we get there?
Call a taxi.  Or drive.  It says right here in the info book.
Can we rent sleds?
Yes.
What do we do with them when we're done?
Why don't you call?
Do you know how much it costs?
No.
So we can go sledding (pointing) here anytime?
You should call.

Grrr... very un-helpful.  Strike one for info center woman.

According to the map, the sledding hut is about 3 miles from the closest bus stop.  We'll definitely have to take a cab.  The info lady circled the statement "taxis and traffic can travel to and from the hut from 13:00-14:00, 15:30-17:00 and 19:00-22:00.  Fine.  We'll find a taxi between those times. But what about the sled?  She says they rent them at the hut, but how do we get them back up there???

Never mind the sled rental (I decide at 5:45pm, 15 minutes before all the stores close), we'll go to the sports store and rent one.

The guy at the store, who, for the record, does not work at the tourist info center, says "don't rent a sled here, you can just leave them at the bottom of the hill!"

Really?  The woman at the info center couldn't have said that???  Strike two for her.

So 8pm comes along and we're bundled up to go sledding.  We get into the taxi (because it's between 19:00&22:00) and start on our way to the sledding hut.

The road is just wide enough for one car and we're in a van.  The driver is driving 50mph around hairpin curves on a road covered with snow.  Next to the van on one side the mountain climbs at a ridiculous angle, and on the other side, drops away- no guard rail, fence, snowbank....  The driver starts talking on a cell phone while accelerating.  I keep telling myself he does this every day, but we're all holding on for dear life.

Finally, after a 15 minute ride from you know where, we are deposited at the top of a hill next to a dark house.  Hopefully someone's there, we think...

We find the sled rental door which says "sledding from 10:30pm on."

REALLY?? The woman from the info center couldn't have said THAT??  Strike THREE!!!

Turns out the sledding run is also the road that runs to and from the hut.  So you can't sled during the hours traffic is allowed to drive on the road.  Ridiculous!!

Fortunately, the hut also had a restaurant with awesome apple strudel!

At 10:30 we rent our sleds and procede to barrel down the sledding run, around the hairpin turns, next to the scary drop offs, and past the tiny lights the illuminate the path (every once and a while).  It was terrifyingly awesome!  Once I figured out how to steer a sled that is...

Unfortunately, I have no sledding pictures.  Partly because it was very dark, but mostly because I had to hold onto my sled for dear life.

Despite our adventures getting TO the sledding, I think it was my favorite part of our Austrian vacation!