ZELL AM SEE, KAPRUN, SAALBACH, SALZBURG AND HINTERGLEMM
This was our first visit to this central region of the Austrian Alps, just a 90 minute drive south of Salzburg.
Being so early in the season, a ski holiday was always going to be a bit of a gamble, but on balance it proved absolutely worth it. The slopes were pretty much empty, there were no lift queues whatsoever, and the weather… well, you can see for yourself. Gorgeous.
For the first time in almost 30 years, I ditched my snowboard and ventured back onto skis. I was seduced by the dark side back in the mid-90s. I still love snowboarding and will no doubt continue, but I’ve always said that as I get older I might return to skis and stick more to the piste. And at least skis face the direction of travel… which is undeniably kinder on the body!
The first few days I must have looked rather pathetic: all speed, no style or finesse. In my defence, ski design has changed a LOT in almost a third of a century. The short, wide carver skis I hired took some getting used to, a far cry from the long, straight skis I learned on.
We booked a one-bedroom apartment in the small village called Viehhofen. It had been in our diary for two years, and the price we paid was incredible, a cool £26 per person per night. A nice bedroom, comfortable living area, well-equipped kitchen and, best of all, a private sauna in the room. We also had access to a communal boot room and laundry facilities (see hints and tips).
Viehhofen is a few kilometres south of Saalbach and not far from Zell am See. It sits deep in a valley and, at this time of year, doesn’t see the sun at all.
Cold would be an understatement. Icicles on icicles!
SAALBACH
This was Emma’s favourite. Packed with blue runs and easy reds, it was perfect for relaxed cruising. We planned a circular route taking in both the north- and south-facing slopes.
We started in Saalbach where we parked the car, heading off anticlockwise around the loop. All the runs we skied were blue, which made for a wonderfully stress-free day. The furthest point we reached was Kleiner Asitz, where we stopped for lunch.
Die Alte Schmiede was a lovely mountain hut basking in sunshine and serving great food. We stayed here for about 40 minutes before continuing our loop and heading back towards the car.
The restaurant itself is brilliantly designed. The bar is quaint and packed with features from its past, and next to it sits a working watermill with an indoor fish pond stocked with goldfish.
Even the toilets deserve a mention, they look like something out of a museum, with glass walls offering a glimpse into a bygone era (tastefully done, I should add). An interesting place to take a pee!
We covered a lot of ground but hardly broke a sweat, returning home by mid-afternoon. Our accommodation was just a five-minute drive back down the valley.
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ZELL AM SEE
Wow. This place really ticked the boxes for me… but NOT for Emma. You’ll find out why shortly.
The new(ish) gondola, the Zell am See Express, is literally a few hundred yards from our accommodation and had only opened for the season a few days earlier. We wandered up around 08:30 to find an empty car park and absolutely no queues. In fact, if you look over Emma’s left shoulder in the photo, you’ll see my car, one of only half a dozen in the closest car park.
Once at the top of the first lift, we gazed out over a vast horizon of empty pistes and thought we’d hit the jackpot. Mid-week, early season, and not another skier in sight.
However, we were soon to discover the downside of skiing in the first few weeks of the season.
I’d previously mapped out a route I thought Emma would enjoy, only to discover early on that access to the opposite side of the valley, where there’s a great selection of blue runs, was blocked.
The reason? A SINGLE closed route. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the only blue run linking the two areas.
So we skied this side of the mountain until I (somehow) convinced Emma to try black and red run number 9. To be fair, they were short, well within her ability, and they opened up the other side of the mountain with some lovely restaurants and blues I had planned. Along with Panorama Plattform Kaiserblick (with its awesome views over the lake)
This should have been the only non-blue experience of the day.
But then came The Incident.
After a few happy smiles, we headed towards blue routes 1, 2 and 3, following a circular route that was supposed to end at the bottom of the Schmittenhöhebahn cable car, our way back to where we needed to be. That was the plan, anyway.
While following route 2, I spotted a sign for Schmittenhöhebahn and confidently headed in that direction. Five minutes later, the run steepened slightly and I noticed the piste markers had turned black… and were numbered 13.
Oops.
We’d (or rather I’d) taken a wrong turn. This was the longest black run in the valley.
So there I was, on skis for the first time in three decades, accompanied by Emma, who suffers from a severe case of petrified-of-black-runs-itis. What did I do? Exactly what any man keen to avoid an immediate black eye would do, I kept very quiet.
It wasn’t until the very end of the run that I fessed up, by which time Emma already knew something wasn’t quite right but couldn’t put her finger on it. Fair play to her, she made it down and I’m still alive, largely because she accepted it was a genuine mistake.
We won’t be doing that route again in a hurry. On the plus side, the views from this side of the valley over Zell am See were absolutely stunning
KAPRUN
This famous glacial resort was just a 20-minute drive away, which meant an earlier start than usual. With runs reaching between 2,000 and 3,000 metres, it pretty much guarantees good conditions.
After the previous day’s “black run experience”, we stuck religiously to kind, friendly blues all day. I think I may have been forgiven.
The restaurant at the top of the resort is a must-see and is accessed via a short railway, a series of tunnels and a lift. The views were tremendous, genuinely breathtaking.
We stopped for hot chocolate and Kaiserschmarrn in an almost empty restaurant, another bonus of skiing out of season: no queues and first pick of the best seats.
We spent the rest of the day cruising up and down near-perfect glacial runs, before stopping at what must be one of the plushest mountain restaurant we’ve ever been to called GLETSCHERMÜHLE for refreshments followed by a final few runs.
On the way, we discovered this atmospheric castle just outside Kaprun, traditional, dramatic, and very Austrian.
Salzburg
Our penultimate day and we thought we’d take a day off the slopes and head for the nearby city of Salzburg.
Whilst here, my mum suggested we try out a local speciality dish called Salzburger Nockerl (a sweet meringue/soufflé, with fruit sauce) and sent me some pictures of her visit to here back in 2005 with my dad. They were on a trip with my godmother Margaret and her Austrian husband Bruno.
So that is exactly what we did!
We even managed to find the same restaurant they visited, it’s called “The Sternbräu”,
So that’s exactly where we ate!
…and it turns out it’s in the top five places in the city to try this dish!
We even tried to replicate their photo!
Scary to think that my parents were younger than me when this picture was taken, with my dad having been retired for over a decade already. Nathaniel hadn’t yet been born, Lauren and Sarah weren’t even teenagers, and I was still working at Heathrow. So much has happened in all of our lives that period of time, but at the same time it only feels like yesterday.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets of Salzburg, exploring the Christmas Markets and visiting the Cathedral. It certainly is a lovely city.
We ended up visiting this city twice, the second time en-route home when Salzburg was bathed in sunshine, under a piercing blue sky. We had a couple for hours to kill so where better to spend the time back here.
HINTERGLEMM
Our final day, much like our first, was spent either side of the village of Hinterglemm, exploring the north and south side of the valley. This village is a short 15 min drive from our accommodation.
Our favourite mountain hut was Sonnalm at the bottom of D5 ski lift, but there are many to chose from.
The south side of the valley needs a lot more snow this time of year, so thankfully the snow machines were working!
We covered quite a bit of ground here, but didn’t head over to Fieberbrunn as this ski area is a little lower in altitude. Maybe next time when it’s colder and has a little more snow!
So all in all a fantastic pre Christmas trip, the weather played ball and location couldn’t have been better.
KARLSRUHE
We stopped here on our way home and went in search of another Christmas market after grabbing a bite to eat on a restaurant near the station.
A rather unexpected find. Two huge markets within a few hundred metres of each other….and some rather splendid buildings.
Hints and Tips.
Accommodation – This is my fifth Holiday Property Bond holiday (HPB) destination this year. I’m starting to like them! You know exactly what to expect, and they never disappoint.
The accommodation in Viehhofen is the smallest venue they own, with there being only five apartments in the two chalets. However, HPB have plans to double the size in the next two years.
Being so small, it means we needed to book well in advance, one of the reasons we booked before Christmas and in low season.
Our one bed apartment was only £368 for the week (or £184 per person, or £26 pppn). The quality is the usual HPB standard, so you can see these are pretty popular.
Viehhofen is ideal for exploring this region, with the Zell am See express gondola being only a few hundred yards away. Everywhere else is within a short drive or bus ride away – ski buses are complimentary.
Parking for cars is right outside the room, and there is a great communal boot/ski room and washing/drying room. Our apartment even had its own PRIVATE sauna which we used every day!
However, unlike almost all other HPB venues, this place does not have a swimming pool, games room or tennis courts. But let’s face it, who needs to play tennis after skiing!
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Ski Hire – We didn’t book the local hire in Viehoffen, but chose a place called BIG TIME ski hire further down the valley in Maishofen. We booked through ALPY.COM and paid £109 each for ski and boot hire for six days (mid range). I tend to book well in advance to get the best prices or wait for Black Friday week sales.
