Stories from Bad Kleinkirchheim

Author: Markus Patscheider

„My name’s BOBO and I’m from the South Pole. After a very long journey, I’ve finally arrived here in Bad Kleinkirchheim to be with all the children” … this is how I was greeted by a penguin who looked, by the way, to be in a pretty good mood. BOBO is the mascot of the children’s ski school Krainer / Wulschnig. He’s pretty much part of everything – teaching, racing and naturally the children’s show that begins every Friday at 11:45 am at the Bach Lift.

Finally, everything is ready and the kids get to show their families what they’ve learned in the last days of ski school. On the closed show slope, all the kids - from the littlest ski school kids to the young ‘professionals’ – show that together they have, more than anything else, lots of fun in the snow.

You can see that they’re nervous before they start. But they’re all concentrating on what they’re doing and nothing can break the spell, not even their parents with all their cameras and video equipment. About 30 groups take part and, depending on their level, they perform the snow-worm, backwards skiing, the waltz, human slalom, parallel skiing, skiing in formation, wedeling, and lots more.

Even though the kids are from about 10 different countries and speak just as many different languages, there are no problems in understanding. Skiing, fun and games connect – even across borders. At the end of the show the kids and their instructors all dance the BOBO dance… “Listen you, listen you, here comes the dancing kangaroo…” I probably won’t be able to get that out of my head for the rest of the day.

When the children get their diplomas with photographs and their medals, then happy faces and proud parents are guaranteed.

The conclusion: a colorful show program, good mood music and, fitting for a day in winter wonderland, lots of snow.

Image and text courtesy of Markus Patscheider for the editorial team of the website www.badkleinkirchheim.at