Celebrating in Bad Gastein

My employer, Insclear, celebrated in 2023 that we have existed for 10 years. To mark this occasion, the whole company was treated to a trip to Austria and Bad Gastein for four days. It was set for the turn of the month January and February, to fit the monthly cycle as well as possible. The majority of employees joined for these marvelous days in the Alps.

Wednesday – Travel day

For the first time, I took my own car to the airport. I had found Arn Långtidsparkering which would charge me 400 SEK for the duration and the whole process of checking in and transfer was very smooth. My only complaint was that the parking area was quite icy so the walk back after parking the car was careful 🙂

We were supposed to meet up at 8:15 at the check-in counters in Terminal 5 and pessimistic as I am, I arrived at 7:45. Dropped off my bag, and then waited for my colleagues who joined during the following 40 minutes. After everyone had printed luggage tags and dropped off their bags and skis we went through security and found our gate. Got to work a bit before boarding as well.

We departed a bit early and during the two-hour flight, I sat with Jessica and Sara and played a couple of games of Gurka. Once again I introduced the game to new people and lost; I need to learn to stack the deck.

We landed at Salzburg, which according to Wikipedia has about 150,000 inhabitants, and the airport felt rather small. When I got my bag I stepped through customs and went to find something to eat and got myself a small and expensive, but tasty, pizza slice.

Our guide from STS Alpresor met us and we went for the chartered bus. A one-and-a-half-hour ride to Bad Gastein with some nice pointers along the way. When we arrived at the hotel, about an hour before what the schedule said, we checked in very smoothly since we had filled out forms on the bus.

I’m sharing a room with Andreas and it was quite large, with both a bathtub and a shower, lots of closet space., and a balcony with a great view of the valley and the mountains. We unpacked and then I left to see if I could check out my skiing equipment during the afternoon instead of in the morning.

They had a great system. You filled out a small form and went to one guy to get your boots. Then the next one got you skis, poles, and helmet and finally to the cashier who scanned your form and said have a great day. Everything was booked and pre-paid and it was a great feeling with everything just working. We stepped outside of the rental place, Schober Sports and Fashion, and crossed the small street to go into the “Depot”, where you could store everything you just collected, except the helmet. The lift was just around the corner and in the morning you just walk up there with your regular shoes, changed into boots, and then stepped into the lift.

It felt pretty good not to have to carry all the stuff back to the hotel, even if it was just a five-minute walk. Again, pre-booked and very easy to use. I guess this needs to work smoothly in the high season when there are a lot more people.

I went back to the hotel and took a shower. For the afternoon the plan was a conference session. It started with a couple of name games since half of us are stationed in Stockholm and the other half in Sundsvall and we had an influx of new people last year. After that, Sara and Jessica had created three videos with descriptions and memories from the ten years that passed. It was great to see how rough it was in the beginning and how far we have come. It ended with a greeting from the chairman of the board who praised us and our company’s importance to the change in the industry. “Be proud of what you have been, and are, doing” he said. I have a soft spot for such types of speeches and I personally feel it’s important and great that we get praise from “outside the company” (even if he is the chairman of the board, he also represents a large player in the industry).

After the meal a couple of us sat down and had to do some last-minute work, it being the last day in the month. After a long day of travel and high altitude, me and Andreas got to bed rather early.

Thursday – Let’s hit the slopes

Both Andreas and I woke up early and went down for breakfast. We weren’t alone and except for those who had traveled here a few days earlier, we all were excited to start the day and get to the lift. I had decided to meet up with Eric at 8:30 and go together because both felt not too experienced and were looking for the same type of slopes.

We walked up to the depot and got our gear. Outside we met up with Max who had been here for a few days but the first time he went skiing was a month ago, so we expected to be about the same level. We took the cable car up to Stubnerkogel and walked up a small slope to the next cable car that took us down to Angertal. There we found a small slope for children (or adult newbies) which seemed like a good spot to warm up. I think I haven’t gone skiing downhill for the last 10-15 years so I was anxious to try a couple of easy runs before hitting anything steeper.

After two rounds about 100 kids lined up for the lift and we realized it was time to move on. So we got onto the third cable car that took us up to Schlossalm. Here there were a few blue slopes that Max thought would suit us. The only problem was the relatively short red slope from the cable car down to the lift serving these slopes.

When I approached the edge I kept wondering when I would see the slope. It took us more than 30 minutes to take us down. It was a bit too steep for being only the third run in quite a while. Glenn helped out a lot and coached us all the way down.

After catching our breath we got onto the next lift and finally found us a blue slope! We still took it very slow in the beginning but it was a distinct difference to the red one where at least I felt I could let go a bit more and more enjoy the skiing.

We made a few runs, took some photos, crashed a couple of times, and bumped into other colleagues. We tried different slopes which had different traits. Lots of people, going backward a few meters, steep sections, narrow sections, and so on. But we got into a rhythm just when it was about time for lunch. We met up with a few others in a restaurant in the slope and everyone ordered the burger. Nice to sit down for a while, take off the jacket, and let the sweat air out a bit.

When we were well fed and rested (well…), we left the establishment and went for another run. During this one, Eric dropped his ski and the “brakes” on it broke (the brakes are there to prevent a “loose” ski from going down the hill uncontrollably). He asked a lift operator what to do and the ski itself was functioning but the brake was of course not. We decided it was time to call it a day so we started the journey back (across a valley and a mountain). When we reached the last lift (before the cable cars) there were signs saying “Only for good skiers” and “57% slope”. We were reluctant whether we were up for it, but the alternative was a long, narrow, and at several places quite steep slope down (according to testimony from our colleagues). So we took the lift.

Halfway up, Max saw a shortcut so he stepped off, and fell to the side, surprising Eric who kept going. So I followed up the whole lift (which wasn’t as bad as we expected) and then he and I took us down another red slope, slowly and safely. We had finally reached the cable cars!

We went down again to Angertal and up to Stubnerkogel where we stopped for some drinks enjoying the view that was about 50 meters before the fog cut us off. After we finished our drinks Max joined a few others to go down skiing, while Eric and I took the cable car. We had had enough 🙂

We returned the gear to the depot and went into the rental place again to fix Eric’s broken ski. They swapped them out with only two questions,
– How did it happen?
-He fell.
-Are you alright?
Again, very smooth. When we had dropped off his new skis in the depot, we headed back to the hotel.

I got back to my and Andreas room and hung out my clothes on the balcony for drying and to vent out the sweat 🙂 I changed into swimming trunks and a bathrobe, and went to the hotel spa and joined a few others in the jacuzzi. Nice to just sit down and relax the muscles that had been working all day long.

After a shower and a change of clothes, it was time for after ski at a pub called Silver Bullet. We had a roped-off area with both snacks and drinks. Just hanging around and talking about the day. After a while, a DJ started blasting music and it was difficult to hear what the guy next to you said. After another half an hour, he handed over to a live band, and that made it for me. I left because it was so loud and I couldn’t have a conversation.

I went to the hotel bar instead, brought my laptop, and started on the post for this trip while having a mocktail, Virgin San Francisco. At 19 I turned on the game between Frölunda and Leksand and could watch the first period before it was time for dinner. Now we knew the routine and everything went smoothly. The main course today was schnitzel. I sat across from my colleague Fredrik and we talked through all dinner, having very nice conversations about lots of stuff. I really enjoyed the evening.

At quarter past ten, I texted Andreas and asked where he had gone. Didn’t get a response and when I got back to the room about half an hour later, he was already asleep, with a Liverpool game running on his phone. According to him he at least remembers hearing the referee start the match. 🙂 The altitude, the air, and the exercise take their toll.

Friday – Let’s do it again!

I woke up early today as well and we headed down for breakfast. Met up with Eric at 8:30 to head for the depot and then the lifts. We had made arrangements with some other colleagues to meet us at the first Cable Car after a while since they took a slower morning. There was a blue slope just beside the cable car in Bad Gastein which we thought would be suitable for today’s warmup. However, we went up the two-seater lift and when we got off, we realized that the snow was pretty icy. Good looking but icy. This means that, for an inexperienced skier, you don’t get that much traction.

We made our way down but it didn’t feel as good as we had hoped. So we jumped into the cable car instead and started to make our way to the same slopes as yesterday. Our colleagues were delayed so we just decided to meet up at the destination instead.

The trip up, down, and then up again takes about 45 minutes. Then we were at the same red slope that we had an issue with yesterday. After taking a few photos with the sun breaking through the clouds, we started our slow descent and it took about half an hour today as well, but we made it!

We did a couple of runs and then our colleagues had made their way to us and we caught them just after stepping off the lift. One of them was even more novice than me and Eric so we showed them the slope we thought was the easiest and nicest. Everyone did terrific and made it down to the lift again. At this time, me and Eric had gotten hungry so we were looking for food. The others joined us at the same place as yesterday. However, it was full inside so we ended up sitting on the terrace. As soon as the sun popped out it was quite nice, but when the shade hit us it got cold pretty quickly. I had some gulasch soup and it was nice! The burger yesterday was a bit much.

When everybody had eaten, half of the group went inside to “warm up” and have another beer, while the rest of us headed for the lift for another run. After the run, me and another colleague felt that this was probably enough for today so we started the journey back to the hotel, while the rest joined the rest to keep going for a while.

This time we stepped off halfway off the lift and could easily ski across to get to the cable car, avoiding the red slope we had taken yesterday. Then just another 45 minutes of cable-car-riding to get back to Bad Gastein. We got our shoes from the depot and then handed in our gear at the rental place, again real smooth process.

At 16 it was again time for after-ski at the Silver Bullet. This time I stayed for about 45 minutes before leaving (the volume got pretty loud) and went to the spa. I sat in the jacuzzi for about half an hour before a few colleagues showed up.

After another 45 minutes, it was time to get dressed for dinner. I managed to see roughly two-thirds of the first half between Sirius BK and Västerås SK while drinking my Virgin San Francisco before it was time to get seated at the table.

Different company this night again, but still very nice and interesting, while the food was decent. Spoke to a bunch of people before heading back to the room at 23 to pack up my stuff (making it easier the following morning) and keep writing this post. Our room is quite warm so I opened the balcony door to cool off the room a bit and was blasted by music, from somewhere down the valley. Couldn’t see where it was coming from, but when I stood on the balcony it was so loud that if it had been in my living room, I would have turned the volume down. It didn’t bother me, I was just surprised.

Saturday – Going home

Both me and Andreas woke up over an hour earlier than we would have wanted to, but since no one of us could get back to sleep, he started to pack his stuff while I took a shower. When we got down to the restaurant for breakfast, there were only two colleagues there, more dropping in after a while. Apparently, the party had continued in a hotel room when the bar closed.

We checked out at ten and paid for the two bottles of water we had taken from the minibar. As a receipt, I got a full A4 page looking like an invoice. We went down to the same conference room as the first day, and precisely as the previous occasion, the projector and sound system didn’t work as intended. After two guys, making a bunch of calls, bringing in a ladder, and checking the projector that was built into the ceiling, they finally managed to get it working.

Today’s task was to create a movie clip of 30 seconds, describing where the different parts of our systems would be, in five years. For this, we had just over an hour. We managed to create both very funny and creative movies. We broke up for lunch and then had some free time before taking the bus back to the airport.

I joined a few that took the cabin car to the top to sit in the sun and watch the view. We got up there just to realize that the terrace was closed due to heavy winds. We walked around, enjoyed the view, took a bunch of photos, and then stepped inside and took a table. We ordered some fika and just talked. After a couple of hours, we took one last lap at the top and then took the cable car down again.

The whole company hung out in the lobby or the lounge waiting for the bus which took about one and a half hours back to the airport.

When we arrived we grabbed our luggage and went into the terminal building, just to see a sea of people. However, the desks assigned to our flight had almost no queue, but they were also labeled Eurowings instead of Norwegian. A colleague went to the counter and asked and got the answer that we were at the correct desks, but they wouldn’t open for another 30 minutes.

Since we were first in line and the terminal didn’t offer much entertainment or food, we just stayed where we were and waited. Finally, they opened, and we got to check in, get in line for the security checkpoint (oh boy is the new one at Arlanda a dream to go through), and then into the waiting area. There was one small café where I bought a sandwich and some soda and found a table where I could watch the last period of Leksand – Örebro, while talking to different colleagues.

We boarded and there was just one little problem, two people (not one of us) were assigned seats 1E and 1F. The problem was that those seats didn’t exist. I moved along and somehow it got solved. The plane departed according to the schedule, and after two episodes of Chicago Med and Fire, we landed about 20 minutes past 23. Half an hour later I got my bag, said my goodbyes, and then left for the transfer to the parking lot. He arrived just after me and at about 00:45 I stepped into my apartment building, painfully reminded that the elevator was broken 🙁 One last exercise for my aching calves.

In summary, it has been a fantastic few days. Not only that I got to skiing in the Alps, but I’ve spoken to most of my colleagues and have had a wonderful time. Great planning and execution by Jessica and Sara and thanks to all the lovely people!