We had another great day in Innsbruck. We took the funicular, and then two cable cars, up the Nordkette — the massive mountain to the north of Innsbruck. It was snowing today, and while that was fun and very seasonal, it obscured what would have been a breathtaking view with clouds and fog.

We had a great time though. After the fun funicular ride up to the cute ski town of Hungerburg (300 m elevation), we boarded a cable car for a long ride up to Seegrube (1905 m). Once we arrived at Seegrube, which is mostly a ski stop, we discovered that they were having a kids’ day, with fun activities and games. Benjamin played with shovels and buckets in the snow, while Liam enjoyed toddling around on the well packed snow.

After a bit, we decided to go up even further, to Hafelekar (2256 m). Up there, we were almost to the top of the mountain — I was nervous just walking around the stone observation platform outside the little hut where the cable car stopped. It was cold, windy and very high — the clouds and the birds were all below us. The slopes were so steep and rocky that we couldn’t see much of them, and it is unbelievable to me that people ski or snowboard down them and survive. We didn’t stay long — we all got cold and I was worried about Benjamin bolting off or climbing up on the wall (he showed no interest in doing either, but I worried anyway). It was frigid and stark, and I understand now why we shared our trip up on the cable car with only one other passenger .

We went back down to Seegrube for a snack. While Dan finished up and Liam dozed, B and I ventured back out to play in the snow. We made snow angels, built a snowman (complete with carrot nose that we brought up with us) and a “snow racer” (like a motorcycle). (Benjamin named both the snowman and the snow racer “Frosty”.) We rode on a short “magic carpet” ski lift (like a people mover, for little kids just learning to ski) a few times — it was really fun, but the fog was so thick that even the short ride was a little disorienting. (I have no idea how the skiers and snowboarders could see where they were going.)

Tired but satisfied with our snow adventure, we came back down to town. Walking back, Dan told Benjamin that he had been an angel today, to which he responded, “I’m not an angel, I’m a happy, happy, happy, happy, happy boy, and Liam is a happy, happy, happy, happy, happy Liam!”

After dinner, we returned to our hotel room, where B looked up at the sky and said, “Goodnight Frostys!” It was a good day, and it has been a good snow adventure.