After many a plane rides, I can’t tell you just how great it was to be greeted with a tray of pear schnapps by a jolly Austrian in Wagrain. It felt almost like home away from home with my Canadian buddies Wade Simmons, Thomas Vanderham, and Richie Schley to name a few sitting next to me in the log dinner hall – but then things quickly turned Austrian. Giant plates of meat started appearing in front of us like a scene out of a vegetarian’s sweaty 4 am nightmare. Wait a second…that vegetarian is me. Although I was shock stricken and mildly repulsed, it was like a happy dream for all the carnivorous boys around me who started tearing into the meat like a present at Christmas. But, as I have always found here in Austria, the people are very hospitable and had already arranged a meal of meatless dumplings and salad for me. They were so good that even carnivore cameraman Cory dove in.

Heaping plates of meat were definitely a regular site during our trip, as were pretty awesome trails everywhere we turned. Our first stop in Wagrain was a bike park created by ex-Whistler local Jason Roe who took his bike park building savvy and brought it to Austria. As a result, the trails we rode were very Whistler-esque and very FUN. I was particularly happy because I got to test out my new Norco Six on the little jumps, drops, and wallrides there, and it rode like a champ…and it got a new name: “Champ”.

After a great time with the Wagrain crew, I packed up Champ and we headed to a little spa town called Bad Gastein. This place was pretty breathtaking because the whole town was built on cliff banks that were cut in half by a raging river. We did a bit of xc riding in the mountains around the town where we saw something I have never seen before in real life: cows trying to make babies. I felt like I was hosting something on the Discovery Channel for a second when they were doing their thing only 10 feet away. Cory even caught it on tape. Big animals those cows are.

Anyway, after cleansing my mind in the healing waters of the spa in our hotel, we shipped off once again and were Saalbach bound. My Norco teammate Mislav (The Croatian Sensation) took an 8 hour train ride just to meet up and ride with us there! What a nice guy! We were all pretty stoked to head up the gondy to see what Saalbach had to offer beyond wicked slopestyle competitions and wild parties. I must say, it did not disappoint! We got gnarly on the pro line of their “Evil Eye” freeride trail that turned out to several kilometres of super number one good times.

The next day Mislav, Dylan, and Cory headed way way way up to the top of Hinterglemm’s big gondola to check out the views and riding, but I was stuck down below with a nasty cold that seems to want to hang out for a few days. Cold or no cold, I couldn’t refuse going to Saalbach’s indoor foam pit/dirt jump zone later in the day. Mislav got crazy in the foam with some superman backflips and Dylan quickly taco-ed his wheel into submission after a landing gone wrong...but that didn’t stop him and he kept rippin’. I was having a blast trying to blast out of the quarterpipe and getting disoriented in the foam pit. Random locals started trickling in to watch us and I think it was the most excitement they have seen for a while judging by the looks on their faces.

If the foam pit wasn’t exciting enough, getting on the train to Zurich the next day definitely made up for it. I’m still sweating from hauling our giant bags and bike boxes into our non-existent luggage compartment! Now we’re on a big train to the land of good chocolate (Switzerland). Between eating chocolate, yodelling, and riding my bike, I’ll keep you posted on our adventures…