What if we said you could come with us to Bavaria and take a brand-new Porsche and drive it as fast as you want through the Alps? Seven crazy ADL Members said… Hold my beer!

Hot off our 2nd Annual Willy’s Run to Germany, Austria and Italy and the hearts are still pumping with adrenaline. We drove some beautiful roads, ate some incredible food, discovered Gruner Veltliner and watched some incredible ski racing at the opening GS World Cup races at Solden!

The adventure started in Stuttgart where we visited the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen. Learning all about the history of Porsche and seeing the evolution of the designs and manufacturing gives you a full appreciation for the machines you are about to drive for the next week. Highlights were the 30th anniversary of the 911 Turbo – my favorite was the special edition green version they made for Ferdinands 76th birthday. It was a classic. We also spent Monday walking around Stuttgart and sampling the food and beer gardens of Paulaner and Carls. Was a deep dive on day 1 into Bavarian Food & Drink.

Tuesday and we were off to Munich to get our Porsches. Getting them there saved us from having to drive an extra 3 hours at the end of the trip back to Stuttgart merely to return the cars. After a seamless exchange of international drivers licenses and credit cards we were off to Kitzbuhel. It’s an easy 2 hour drive with a mix of Autobahn and twisty’s and gave everyone a chance to get familiar with their cars. We had three 911’s and one Cayman. We stayed at the famous Das Reisch hotel in downtown Kitzbuhel, across the street from the Londoner. The Reisch family has owned and operated the hotel for 92 years. Their Great Grandpa was the one who introduced the sport of skiing to the village. He went to Norway and saw what they were up to and brought back skis to Kitz – the rest is history. The family takes great care of us and the hotel really sets the mood.

We fueled up with some great Italian food and took the Hahnenkamm Bahn up to the Start Haus. We said hello to Phil Mahres gondola on the way up and stole a trophy 🙂 Steve Mahre asked us to deface it and change Phil’s name to Steve, but we forgot the spray paint can in the hotel in Zuffenhausen… sorry Steve. After a quick tour of where the boys kick out of the start wand, we began a steep hike down the course to the Seidal Alm Bar. You really get a great appreciation for the steepness of the course when you hike it in the Fall. It’s a wicked steep hike and by the time we got to the bottom are knees were barking. It took 3 days to get the lactic acid out of our thighs. Next year I’ll bring a Theragun for everyone to share.

^{Pictured above: Two former ski racers and three never racers… guess who? 🙂}

The Seidal Alm Bar or Hutte is a famous fixture on the Streif. During the race the skiers fly into view from their backyard with a cruiser jump pictured above. Then they land with a quick left foot transition into a big double right footer that takes them 180 degrees around the bar, as they head down to the Hausberg Kante. We always watch the race from here and enjoy a beer and warm leberkäse sandwhich. We stopped here for a couple beers and lunch before finishing the hike. It’s halfway down so its the perfect spot to take a break. Don’t you wish these huttes existed in the States?

After the hike, three of us drove the Porsches up the valley to a local golf club where we had an afternoon reservation for 9 holes. Although it was drizzling and we had to play with rented clubs, we had the time of our lives playing for the first time in Austria. Next year we will add more golf and optional mountain biking for those that are interested. It’s a blast. The courses are fantastic in Austria and if you’re into MTB its a paradise.

It was a big day of fun outside the cars in Kitzbuhel. We finished the night with a fantastic dinner at restaurant recommended to us by the nice gal at Siedal Alm. I must add that all the Austrians were so generous and helpful on our trip. They were always happy to see us and gave us great local advice whenever we asked. Some countries don’t enjoy their tourists or their tourist jobs. The Austrians do. Highly recommend any trip to Austria.

---

---

Wednesday is our biggest and most exciting driving days of the trip. We depart Kitzbuhel in the morning and head to the home of the Porsche Family Farm and the birthplace of Ferdinand (Ferry) Porsche, Zel Am See. He developed the 356 right there in the barn and test drove it and many future Porsches on the Grossglochner Pass. We gladly paid the toll to enter and drove with big smiles and heavy feet over the pass to Italy. The pass is the highest in Austria and the roads are fantastic for pure driving pleasure. The views add to the drama.

---

We finished the last 50 hairpins and setup for the night near the Saslong DH course in Val Gardena. We always stop here to pay homage to our American Downhiller heroes who really have dominated this track like no other country. Checkout our Saslong T-shirt in the Club Store for all the details on our dominance.

---

Innsbruck – City of Dreams

If someone told me you have to live in a city, I would say Innsbruck without hesitation. This is the coolest city in the world if you are a skier. No bad commutes, surrounded by mountains, filled with vibrant culture and most importantly great food and people. I probably shouldn’t brag about it as its still undiscovered, but the people we know there will appreciate our passion.

We spent Friday night here after a leisurely 2-hour drive from Val Gardena. Our best friend Thomas reserved us a table for 7 (Sieben) at Sieben O’clock. If you have been following our DreamTrip stories at all, then you would know Thomas is our best buddy at our favorite restaurant in Innsbruck – STIFTSKELLER!!! No trip to Austria is complete without eating here. Again, we don’t mean to ruin your idea of eating out back home, but… we must put things in perspective.

---

Next Year’s Trips – We create the trilogy.

It was a heart stopping trip with G Forces and top speeds over 160MPH. We traveled in style and had a blast with local friends and new ones made along the way. Our group of sieben (7), had a blast and became “fast friends”. Excuse the pun but we were laughing it up. Next year the World Cup week trip is already sold out. We will add a second Willy’s Run trip the week before which will substitute the Solden race with more golf and mountain biking. We will drive the same great roads but throw in a bit more optional golf, mtb, hiking and spa hotel time. This is by far the most reasonable Porsche driving trip in Europe in existence anywhere in the world. Don’t believe us? Shop around. Most of these trips start at $9-10K we pull this off for a little over $3k and about $1000 each for a brand new Porsche 911 for 7 days. It’s a steal. Take one and drive it like you stole it in Willy’s Run Part III.

If you are interested reach out to us here: info@adlskiclub.com
and check out our Willy’s Run Trip Page here: The ADL Willy’s Run III – World Cup Porsche DreamTrip