Back Europe With the US ParaSnowboard Team

The final trip of the season is upon us, as we get ready for the Paralympic Games in Italy. We decided to go over a week before the start of games so that we could get our internal clocks set to the time zone and make give us enough time to prepare for the games.

Jon and I flew into Munich on Tuesday so that we could get the van, and go to the team's storage unit to pick up all our staff gear needed for the trip. This includes some excercise equipment, some physical therapy equipment, all our tuning and wax service gear and a few odds and ends we have over here that makes things a little more comfortable. Jon left some groceries in storage from our last Switzerland trip, so we already had snacks ready to go.

Tuesday night we stayed at our normal Munich airport hotel, the Movenpick. This is the place where pretty much all nationals teams stay when they travel in and out of the region. They are super accomidating, give us a great rate, and will hold items for us that get shipped there. This comes in handy when getting some waxes, as the waxes are getting more expensive with tarriffs, and some of the liquids you can't fly with, so its nice to be able to have them shipped to the hotel and pick them up there.

Wednesday we pick up the team and headed to Kitzbuhl for the next few days. Kitzbuhl is a massive resort in Austria and home to one of the most challenging downhill ski races on the World Cup Tour the Hahnenkamm. I'm looking forward to exploring the town and the resort over the next week before we continue our travels to the south.

Jon and my Euro travel luggage in the Munich airport

Van is loaded up with the Athletes gear headed to Kitzbuhl.

So many national teams pass through the Movenpick in Munich on the way to various World Cup races.

The Dinzler is the place to stop for food between Munich and the Alps.

Spatzl being prepared in a wheel of cheese at the Dinzler restaurant.