Expedition to the Kingdom of Snow

A crash, an ambulance and a fallen one walking down a slope – that’s how our skiing trip in February started for some of us. But let’s go back in time a little more. 27^th of February – a day, that changed the lives of everyone in the 2ak drastically.

Before the sun hit the lands of the well-known Lustenau, a lot of pupils assembled in front of a building, that was known as a house of horror, or in other words: the HAK/HAS Lustenau (Insert thunder noise here). After all the tiring work of boxing up all the items needed for survival in the mountainous terrain of Damüls, two coaches hit the road in order to set the young explorers off into the wilderness on a mysterious quest from which they may never return.

Once on the slopes, it took nearly 1,5 hours for the students to make sure their surroundings were secure and that they would not get overrun by snow groomers. After fighting themselves through the fog that was so thick you could not even see the ground, the adventurers returned to the hut (UGA Alpe) to enjoy some fast food. Strangely, one group didn’t attend the meal in time. One of their fellow adventurers had fallen into a trap of doom and had to be rescued by the brave heroes guarding the environment of the snow empire. Said person was not seen again until the fellowship reunited in the following month. Another person who overestimated his/her ability to ski was not capable of skiing down the slope and ended up walking down. The accompanying teacher definitely had to put a lot of energy and motivation into keeping the group together and getting everyone back home safely.

The following day, the remaining researchers split up into small divisions, always on the honourable mission to scan and map the area, some moved faster than others, and some did not move at all. Wounded and exhausted from the traps that were lurking in the shadows, they always did the best they could to protect themselves.

The fog cleared up, barely any clouds were in the sky, the lunches happened to be acceptable, until on Wednesday, everything changed. Some enlightened ones told the others they would get a good meal in the evening, but you will read later on how everything turned out in the end. That day, as one of the survivors felt a pain in his throat that would not go away for days, a small group of four traversed summits as well as valleys to escort him to a place where he would get the medicine he needed to survive. However, the group only was able to lead him to the top of the “Mellaubahn”, where they had to leave him to his faith. He faced the demons of his past and his present, only to return in a ray of light just few hours later.

The prediction made in the morning concerning a delicious dinner might have turned out to be true for some, but others claimed they were served the most despicable pizza they had ever tasted. Many bawled their eyes out at night due to the frustration they got from that dinner. From there on, it was hard to survive. Many were too frightened to leave the accommodation due to the extreme exhaustion they were suffering from, while a few others continued the mission until its harsh end on Friday, where the group finally returned home to their loved ones, full of new experiences. Their return was celebrated by many members of their families who were waiting for them at HAK Lustenau. Full of discouragement, all tasting the bitterness of defeat, yet some felt differently – they were full of joy to have returned from what was looking like hell to them. No matter how, everyone was disappointed to hear about going back to their regular everyday life without the thrill of an exciting adventure.

Amely Riedmann und Matthias Frick, 2ak