Luxury Skiing in Bad Gastein

An Unusually Luxurious Trip - January 2015

Conditions in the Alps have been slow to get going this season. With leave booked for early January and Andy wanting to go downhill skiing, the task was set. I needed to find some snow, in a resort with enough runs, (and challenging at that), to keep us amused for a week, whilst being within our budget. Let the research begin!

 

With the 'Where to Ski & Snowboard' book at my side and various internet tabs open: Ski Club of Great Britain, Snow Forecast & Crystal Ski I started to research & plan. The snow forecast was looking good for Austria during the week we would be going. Bad Gastein is recommended in the WTSS book as  an Austrian resort that gets overlooked but should be one that people would go back to year after year. It has a large ski area and is good for intermediates. Digging a bit deeper I discovered that advanced skiers would not get bored either. There is potential for off-piste and there are a number of un-groomed runs which are avalanche protected and checked by the ski patrol. Sounds ideal. Also sounds easy to plan doesn't it? It took me days to get this far; checking and re-checking all the websites mentioned above. One day the 9 day snow forecast could be 33cm for Bad Gastein, the next could be 7cm with most of the precipitation falling as rain.

 

Above Dorfgastein

On the Crystal website I found 7 nights in a 4* hotel, the Sanotel half board, with free use of the spa, free shuttles to the ski lifts and an 'apartment' with large bedroom and second lounge/diner/kitchenette; I was tempted. The price was reduced and with 9 days to go before departure, a price of £710 for the both of us, I booked. I checked the price right up until we left for the airport and the holiday was reduced further; a couple of days after I booked. The price went down to £630 but that was the final reduction. I also discovered that the holiday appeared unavailable from Manchester airport but was available from the East Midlands; obviously the flights filled up before the rooms. The holiday was cheaper the further south you flew from. I don't know if this is down to aircraft fuel prices.

 

The famous waterfall outside the Sanotel

I chose to buy the lift passes and rent ski equipment independently as this was cheaper than going through Crystal. I booked skis and boots with Hervis and opted to pay when I picked the equipment up.

 

 

As we were being transferred from Salzburg to Bad Gastein we drove past the other ski areas included in our lift pass. Dorfgastein is furthest down the valley but has probably the biggest ski area. The valley was green but unbelievably we were told that the runs down to the resort were open. I thought they must be mistaken. Dorfgastein is a small resort but seems to have its share of accommodation & shops.

 

Next stop was Bad Horfgastein; the second biggest ski area, again with open runs to the resort. We left the coach here and got a smaller taxi to take us up to Bad Gastein and through the winding roads to our hotel. We climbed quite steeply up the valley but sadly it was still green when we arrived at Sanotel in Bad Gastein. We were the only guests from our transfer and even though we arrived at about 1pm, we were taken straight to our residence about 100m from the hotel's reception. We were impressed with the hotel staff right from the start; so friendly and helpful.

Above Bad Horfgastein

Our residence was HUGE as ski accommodation goes. A large double bedroom with two twin beds together, as a double bed. This was comfortable and throughout the whole week we never had a gap appear between the two beds or sheets getting pulled off one or other of the beds as often happens when twin beds are pushed together. The lounge was large and comfortable with a dining table and kitchenette. The latter gave us the opportunity to make hot or cold drinks whenever we desired. The bathroom was also large, with a bath and shower.

 

It was a two minute walk to the main hotel where the spa is open from 9am - 9pm. The restaurant serves breakfast from 07:30 - 10:00 and dinner from 18:30 - 20:30. As long as you were in the restaurant by 20:30 you would get your 5 course dinner. This consisted of a choice of 2 soups, a buffet salad, starter, choice of 3 main courses and finally a dessert. The food was always delicious and portion sizes were just right. Breakfast was a buffet affair with both continental style and cooked. There was always plenty of food and again it was delicious.

Green valleys below

 

Having arrived early in Bad Gastein we walked up into the main town, past the waterfall. Hervis had said that we could pick our kit up after 4pm but they were quite happy for us to collect it earlier. Their English is perfect and they are really friendly. We were happy with the first pair of boots and skis we were given and we were able to leave them in the shop overnight. This was really helpful as the shop is right by the ski bus stops and the Bad Gastein lift station. I could even leave my own ski boots there. On the following nights we were able to leave our boots on the heated blowers. They said they would change our equipment, if we needed but both Andy & I were happy with what we were given. We went for the intermediate package and both had new skis with good edges, which it turned out was really useful given the icy pistes this week.

 

Sanotel is in the very left of the picture

Our routine was breakfast between 7 & 7:30am, hotel shuttle taxi to our skis at 8:20 on most days but they arranged an earlier shuttle at 8:00am on one day, allowing us to get the free ski bus to Dorfgastein at 8:27, from outside Hervis. We would ski all day, with a brief stop for lunch. In the afternoon we would ski all day, catch the last lift up and stop for a gluvein on the way down. If necessary we would then get the free ski bus back to Bad Gastein, drop our skis and boots off and finally get the free hotel shuttle back to the hotel. Once at our room we would have a quick drink and then head down to the spa for a sauna, jacuzzi & swim before returning to our room to shower and change and return to the hotel for dinner.

 

There were a couple of hiccups in this plan. The hotel were happy to organise a shuttle for us at 8am, (the first one was usually at 8:20am), so this was fine. However, Hervis don't open until 8:30am and so we couldn't pick our skis up nor get on the free ski bus at 8:27am, to get to Dorfgastein. The next bus is at 8:57. You can keep your skis, especially useful if you have your own, at the ski depot at the bottom of the Bad Gastein lift. This opens at 8am. Alternatively you could take them back to the hotel's ski room. The other hiccup is the hotel's free shuttle finishes at 5pm. If you like to ski late, as we do, then the ski bus may not get you back to Bad Gastein in time for this shuttle. It is, however, a pleasant, downhill walk through the town, back to the hotel. You can always take in a bar or two on the way.

 

So far, so good. Now, the snow and the skiing.



Pretty good snow conditions heading down the longest route into Bad Horfgastein

On the first day of skiing it was raining at Bad Gastein so we opted to take the free ski bus to Sportgastein further up the valley. Here the slopes are higher, between 2600 & 2000m. As we climbed slowly up the valley on the free ski bus the rain turned to snow and the road became covered. We got on the gondola at Sportgastein and exited it at the top into a whiteout. We could make out the piste markers and tentatively started off, two years since we had been on downhill skis, into a whiteout, on pistes we didn't know. We're both quite competent skiers but with the whiteout, the (soon to become well known 'unpredictable' pistes of the Gastein valley), coupled with an old pair of goggles that let the snow in; we looked and felt like beginners again.
At lunchtime we headed back down the valley to Bad Gastein and were relieved to find that it was now snowing here also. We were advised to get off at the middle station but confidently ignored that advice and continued to the top. We could see no more than 6 feet in front of us and when on our skis we were being blown uphill! We took the sensible option and headed back inside to the gondola only to find that it had stopped running due to the wind. We could go to the restaurant but instead opted to persevere and get some skiing done. After passing a ski school group, some of whom had decided to take their skis off and walk downhill, we soon made it out of the cloud and the worst of the wind and skied comfortably down to the middle station. Not ideal conditions for our first day.

The weather for the remainder of the week was mixed with fresh snow, rain, wind and temperatures of 8 degrees centigrade! Surprisingly the snow was pretty good; most of the runs have snow making facilities, producing good quality snow. We explored the main resorts included in our area lift pass but were disappointed not to get back to Sport Gastein due to high winds, (apparently). We saw no signs of any strong winds and think that perhaps the locals were preserving the fresh snow for themselves at the weekend.

The skiing suits intermediates; we came across no flat, gentle runs suitable for beginners but apparently there are some slopes that they can confidently learn on. The hill sides are steep and the runs are narrow and unpredictable. The slope angle would change unexpectedly with little uniformity to the gradient and the fall line would sometimes be straight down, at others it would be towards the trees that lined the majority of the runs. If you were descending at speed you may well get caught out by the numerous tracks traversing the slopes creating ramps that would cause you to get some serious air. We enjoyed the skiing but were cautious a lot of the time, however, plenty of other skiers felt comfortable letting loose and would speed down past us, edges cutting nicely into the icy slopes.

Grabnerhutte

 

The restaurants were traditional, many not having staff that spoke English, nor menus in English. Unfortunately I took a gamble on a soup in one of these establishments and ended up with a bowl of watery soup with a huge 'liver dumpling', basically a lump of liver in the middle. The Grabnerhutte off Red1 at Dorfgastein is to be recommended. The staff were friendly and English speaking; the restaurant was warm and comfortable with sheltered outside seating and lovely views. The prices were great value and there was a varied menu.

Our living room / diner

I would recommend this resort and would go there again if I was looking for a good value holiday with great customer service. The spa hotel really made the trip; it was fantastic to loosen our muscles at the end of a hard day's skiing. The skiing was fine but I felt limited by the narrow, steep runs. There were few opportunities to dive off the side of the runs or into bowls for some easy off-piste, however with better snow conditions I think this would improve. That said, there is a lot of skiing, albeit divided between 5 mini-resorts. The locals highly recommend Graukogel and Sport Gastein. Unfortunately we didn't get to Graukogel due to the lack of snow and we only visited Sport Gastein in a windy whiteout on the first day. The skiing is best suited to confident intermediates. 

Andy & I are not into the après-ski, generally falling asleep by about 9:30pm, but we do make the most of the skiing. There are plenty of bars, hotels, restaurants, spas and a casino to keep you busy if you like the nightlife and other skiers we met thoroughly enjoyed their night time activities in the resort.

(I have skied since I was young and have skied in France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and did a season working in Stowe, USA).