The skiing and snowboarding terrain at Cortina is split into six interlinked areas, each of which has excellent, modern lift facilities:

• Faloria
• Tofana
• Cinque Torri
• Cristallo
• Mietres
• Falzarego-Lagazuoi

Cortina is mostly suited to intermediate-ability skiers and snowboarders; around two thirds of the terrain is suited to intermediates and almost another third to beginners. There is, however, still to be found some excellent terrain for advanced skiers and snowboarders. You are guaranteed to encounter long, linking, groomed trails, wide-open powder bowls and plenty of easy, Beginners’ areas.

Cortina is included in the world famous interconnected Dolomiti Superski Pass, covering over 1,200 kilometres of skiing and snowboarding terrain in the area.

Advanced skiers and snowboarders can make for the powder-filled cliffs and chutes of the Olimpia trail, which hosts a World Cup Downhill competition every year. The trail is very steep, fast, and tests fast turning ability in deep, powder snow. If it is breakneck GS turns that you are looking for, head for the Cristallo Area, on the steep Canalone Staunies trail.

Extreme skiing and snowboarding tours are available in Cortina, here professional guides will take snowriders to the best off-piste powder spots in the surrounding Dolomite mountain range. Local knowledge here is key. A word of warning: It is not wise to venture too far off-piste, by yourself; as there are some large cliff drops and crevasses in the area. Safety courses and equipment should be brought or hired if you are going to do this, and remember never to go off piste on your own where there are avalanche warnings.

Intermediate Skiing and Snowboarding at Cortina

Intermediate skiers and snowboarders really are spoilt for choice at Cortina. All six areas have long, linking groomed trails.

In the Falzarego-Lagazuoi area, the breathtaking nine kilometre groomed Armentarola trail winds its way down around the mountain, from the top of the Lagazuoi Cable Car. From the centre of Cortina Village, take the Faloria Cable Car for lots more long, wide, fast, groomed cruising trails, leading back down into the village.

Beginner Skiing and Snowboarding at Cortina

Beginner skiers and snowboarders learn on the wide gently sloping runs rising up from Cortina Village, graduating to some of the steeper, longer trails on the upper mountain areas.

Cortina has four Ski and Snowboard Schools and all of the will offer you a bilingual instructor. All these companies offer group, day-long and private lessons to all ages and at all ability levels. There is also a mountain guide company in Cortina, offering off-piste guided skiing and snowboarding tours.

Cortina Terrain Park and Halfpipe

The Cortina Terrain Park, in Faloria, has been added in recent years. Here you can jump on boxes, slide over rails, and hit some kickers. There is a good spread in the sizes of the jumps, and to cap it all off there is a competition-sized halfpipe which is in very good shape.

Other Activities at Cortina

Activities also worth checking out in and around Cortina are:

• tobogganing on the long pistes in the Mietres Area, which is always a hit for all ages
• snow rafting, using inflatables to bound down the slope
• snow shoeing, take a hike and get some spectacular views (some of which are not accessible to skiers)
• cross country skiing in the valley.

Off the slopes, you can go swimming in the public pool in the town. There is also a cinema, but the films tend to be in Italian. Or you could go explore the local museums or, get a beauty or massage treatment. Many of the local hotels have luxury spas attached to them. Our favourite was the Cristallo Hotel Spa & Golf course.

Cortina Shopping

The Corso Italia, the pedestrian-only main street in Cortina village is lined with shops stocking the latest ski and snowboard equipment and rental gear. There are also plenty of designer fashion boutiques, jewellery stores, antique stores, art and photography galleries, general, gift, and souvenir stores. Cortina has a wide range of well-stocked grocery markets, delicatessens, butchers, and wine stores.

Restaurants in Cortina

Cortina has numerous restaurants, catering for all tastes. Pizzerias and Italian trattorias tend to only serve traditional Italian cuisine. Watch your portion size as these places make enormous bowls of pasta or pizzas that will be falling off the plate. For coffee & breakfast, if you don’t get that at your hotel, you will be able to find plenty of small cafés offering everything from a espresso to a croissant. Our tip for Italian cafés is to order and drink it at the counter, sitting down will double the price ! Here are some highlights from Cortina

• Pizzeria al Passotto: Try their wood fired pizzas or their delicious homemade pasta, our favourite was the a’matriciana, which was to die for.
• Leone & Anna Restaurant: is well worth a trip. They are known for a more traditional menu. They serve Sardinian cuisine, with an emphasis on fish.
• To go up market , or to celebrate visit the Hotel Cortina. They offer four-course Italian and international menus, which can be polished off with some of their wine from their expansive cellars.
• Rio Gere Restaurant: family-owned and run. Uses local produce rustic Italian meals and interesting desserts, especially the ones with icecream.

Cortina Nightlife

The main street in Cortina village boasts many wine bars, which become very busy in the evening, around dinner time. After dinner, the trendy VIP Club in the Hotel Europa is renowned for its cocktails. The bar turns into a disco after midnight and remains open until the early hours of the morning. The Belvedere Club hosts top DJs throughout the season and, The Monkey Club in the Hotel Cristallo, has frequent theme nights, jazz nights and comedy nights.

Credits

This comes as a bit of a disappointment as Turin airport was well situated near the Italian / French Alps and was quite handy to get quickly to some of the major resorts. It’s proximinity to the France was also a bonus, resorts like Chamonix & Courchevel were about 2 hours transfer from the airport.

Skiing near Turin

The most famous area are the mountains of Piedmont, this was the location for the Winter Olymipics in 2006, so they must be doing something right. Piedmont features 53 ski resorts, the most famous resorts being Valle di Susa,Sestriere,Pragelato,Pragelato,Valsesia. In all there are 1,300 kilometres of runs available and well over 300 gondolas, chair-lifts and ski-lifts. Piedmont estimates that they can carry 400,000 people per hour. Piedmont is a top class skiing area, and it offers more than enough challenges for every level of skier. The prices on some of the smaller resorts are cheaper than skiing in France or Switzerland, so if you are looking for a cheap family ski holiday, then Piedmont might be the area you should look into.

9 resorts near Turin airport

If Turin isn’t an option, i.e. if you don’t plan on staying a whole week, from Sunday to Sunday, then Milan might be a viable alternative. Milan is marked in light blue on the map above. There are two airports in Milan, Bergamo (BGY) & Malpensa (MXP), and have significantly more flights in and out. Ryanair flies every day into Bergamo from Dublin & Aerlingus flies every other day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) to Malpensa but this will add about another 1.5 hours on to your transfer time. If you are considering flying to Milan, it might be worth checking our resorts like Andermatt , Flims or Laax, these resorts are about 3 hours outside Milan airport.

Over on the other side of the mountains is Grenoble, France (St Geoirs) (GNB) , which is situated very close to some great skiing. Right now Ryanair fly there on Saturday afternoons, and also might be worth checking into.

Leave your tips

If you have any recommended skiing resorts in this part of the world, i.e. in and around Turin or Milan, please let us know in the comments !

• Brixen im Thale
• Ellmau
• Going
• Hopfgarten-Kelchsau
• Itter
• Scheffau
• Soell
• Westendorf

View across Ski Welt

Recently Skiwelt – Wilderkaiser has been joined to Kitzbuhel / Kirchberg mountains via a gonadal in Westendorf.  To ski in both areas you will need to get a special lift ticket, named the “Kitzbuehler Alpen” pass. So if you are interested in skiing great distances, and every day a new area, then this is the resort for you. There are also busses (free with your ski pass) that will bring you between the different resorts.

Getting to Skiwelt by train

Skiwelt is reachable by train via Wörgl. The local train stops at Hopfgarten im Brixental Berglift, Westendorf in Tirol & Brixen im Thale. One further stop along the line, is Kirchberg, which will bring you as far as Kirchberg / Kitzbuhel. If you are looking to get to Söll (7km), Itter (5km), Ellmau (16.5km) you can get a taxi or a bus from Wörgl Süd-Bruckhäusl. So in essence you can get to Ski Welt rather cheaply from Innsbruck Airport (INN), Salzburg airport (SZG), Munich airport (MUC) & Memmingen (FMM) rather easily.
The advantage of taking the train is that the transfer cost is significantly lower, and travelling in large groups isn’t such an issue. For buying train tickets you can search on www.bahn.ie for trains starting / ending in Germany or www.oebb.at for Austrian trains. If you are travelling from Munich to Skiwelt, you can book your entire ticket on Bahn.ie. Train times should be around 2.5 hours from Salzburg & Munich, and slightly less for Innsbruck. Journey times: when taking the trains your journey time are similar enough to driving in a car, considering that traffic can cause delays during the weekend. So hiring a car could possible work, but it would certainly work out more expensive.

Travelling to Ski welt with the Bayern Ticket

If you are flying into Memmingen or Munich, you can get all the way to Kufstein on a special group ticket called the Bayernkarte (Baveria Ticket). This ticket is valid on the trains to get you to Munich city from the airports, and will bring you across the border to Austria. This ticket costs €29.00 for up to 5 people, you can purchase it here or at all train stations. To continue your travel from Kufstein to Westendorf in Tirol, it will cost you €7.20 one way (via OEBB.at). This means that you can get 5 people from either airport to Westendorf for €13 each. When you consider that a transfer would cost €80-€100 per person the savings here are considerable. Trains tend to run every hour or every 2 hours, so there are a number of connections per day that you could possibly take.

Sadly this is the information that ski companies or hotels won’t tell you, as they will often try to sell you their transfer products.

Flying from Ireland

There are direct flights from Dublin & Cork to Munich airport with Aer Lingus, and Ryanair flies into Memmingen (also called Munich West) & Salzburg from Dublin. There might be some other charter flights that fly into Innsbruck, which is an amazing airport to fly into, due to the fact that there are Alps on sides of the plane as you land.

Cheap Ski trip in Austria

So it’s possible to get to Ski welt rather easily and cheaply, and depending on the flight prices and times, you could use it as a destination for a cheap, short 2nd yearly ski trip. If you are flexible about your flight times, you could possibly spend a night or two in Munich or Salzburg and continue on to Ski Welt. For getting accommodation we recommend contacting the local tourism offices. They will provide you phone numbers and websites of local B&B’s (so called Pensions).

Do you have any tips for getting to ski resorts in Austria, Italy or France for reasonable prices ?

Getting to La Plagne

La Plagne is in the high alps which means connections will be lengthy. Expect transfer times of 3 hours from Geneva or Lyon (served by Aer Lingus and many charter flights) or Turin (Ryanair). Chambery, served by some charters, is about 1.5 hours drive. If you are coming from Europe or the UK, overnight trains run from Paris to Moutiers or Aime, a 20-30 minute bus journey from the resort.

Nice long runs off the Glacier

Information about La Plagne

With over 2000m of vertical rise in the ski area, skiing is very varied in La Plagne. The runs through the forests below the main resort can suffer in times of bad snow cover, however higher runs are generally reliable. We visited during very bad snow cover but the vast majority of the resort remained open. The reds and blacks off the Glacier De La Chiaupe and the Col De La Chiaupe provide some nice long runs and the sheer size of the area means you can visit a different area every day. Champagny, in the next valley behind the main resort but covered by the same lift pass has some beautiful runs, and is generally much quieter than La Plagne itself, despite the fact that is faces South and gets lots of sunshine!

Le Mont Blanc, from the higher slopes

Ski pass prices

A one day pass will cost around €43, while a 6-day lift pass will cost around €210 for just La Plagne, or €250 for La Plagne and Les Arcs. At the time of visiting there was an offer of a free day’s skiing in Les Trois Vallees if you pre-booked a 6-day pass, and many accomodation providers can organise this for you in advance.

Resort Information

Most of La Plagne was built in the 1960s and 1970s and unfortunately this shows. Accomodation is not hard to find but try to get one of the newer blocks if possible, unless you’re on a budget in which case look out for bargains! Most of the night-life is in the main resort centre in Plagne Centre, and the free busses between the villages run until around midnight so try and stay in Plagne Centre if dancing the night away is in your plans! For those more in need of a good night’s sleep, Montalbert, and Montchavin are only a lift or two away from the main pistes but quieter and cheaper. Champagny, although quite a distance by road, has easy access by ski to La Plagne, and has quite a few good quality chalets and hotels.

Aime La Plagne... oh dear

Paradiski France

La Plagne is linked to Les Arcs to form the Paradiski area. A pass covering the whole area is not much more expensive, and well worth it for the more adventurous skiier. Connection is achieved by the Vanoise Express, an incredible double-decker cable car holding 200 people that covers the distance between the two resorts in only 4 minutes! Be aware however that the return brings you to Montchavin, much lower in the valley than Plagne Centre – allow at least 1.5 hours to make it from here to Montalbert or Champagny before the last lift, and as always keep an eye on the weather. When we visited, we found it easier to drive to Les Arcs (which took about an hour) and have a relaxed day there rather than rushing for last lifts home. For those looking to tick more resorts off the list, Courcheval and Meribel are also less than an hour by road and easily manageable as a day-trip.

The Vanoise Express with over 200 people in it

So for good value skiing in a large and varied ski area, with guaranteed snow on the high runs and plenty of accessible beginner and intermediate runs, look no further than La Plagne!

Where is Altenmarkt im Pongau

Altenmarkt im Pongau is just under 200km from Munich, and 70km from Salzburg. It is reachable by road just off the Austrian Motorway, A10, or by train, the nearest train station is in Radstadt, just 5km away. Hotel Schartner will arrange transfer service from Salzburg airport, for just €90 one way for up to 3 people. It can be done cheaper by train, but with luggage, the language we would recommend this transfer option. Altenmarkt im Pongau is a lovely village which offers quite a big range of shops including sports shops for ski hire and a general grocery store SPAR.

A review of Hotel Schartner

Hotel Schartner [www.hotel-schartner.at] is a family run hotel, which is full of old world charm. It has been handed through the family from generation to generation, and has gone through some recent modernisation. The hotels 35 rooms have been individually decorated with the personal touch of Mrs. Christina Schartner and dinner each evening is prepared by the friendly gourmet chef, Mr. Bernhard Schartner himself. The evening meal, which was a blend of traditional Austrian food and international cuisine. Mr. Schartner incorporates many local and fresh produce in his menus.

Here are some pictures of what we enjoyed (for better pictures check out their website)


With the halbpension (half-board) offer you will be treated to some tasty delights, including a Greek food night along with evening musical entertainment. The morning breakfast is typical for Austrian hotels, with a selection of cereals, fruit juices, meats and cheeses. Save room for the pancakes, these are particularly tasty !

What else they offer

The hotel also has a spa or “wellness” area which is quite popular in the evenings to relax after a day in the mountains. Here you can dip into the jacuzzi or sweat it out in the sauna, or just relax and look out the window at the mountains. They also have a well equipped gym on the property.

They also offer wireless LAN (WLAN) throughout the property.

Ski Resorts near Altenmarkt

A free ski bus runs regularly the village to the near by ski resorts of Zauchensee, Radstadt & Flachau which are part of the SkiAmade group of resorts. We visited Zauchensee and Flachau/Flachauwinkl on our weekend trip, which are suitable for all levels of experience. Flachauwinkl is more geared towards snowboarders as they have a snowboard park with a half pipe & rails. Zauchensee has a women’s world cup run for those of you who would like to try something extra difficult. If skiing or snowboarding isn’t your thing and you want to enjoy the snow, you can always go sledding (rodeln) at the Königslehen-Rodelbahn in Radstadt, which boasts a 6.2km long piste.

Thanks to Bernhard & Christina Schartner for showing us such a warm welcome and to Christian Schartner, for being an excellent tour guide. If you do visit, let them know that you heard about them from skiing.ie.

Photos of Hotel Schartner

Here are some other photographs of the hotel :

The ski area of Soell (spelled with an umlaut, Söll, in German) is part of an amazing connected resort called Skiwelt [www.skiwelt.at], overlooking the majestic Wilder Kaiser mountains. Altogether, Skiwelt has 279km of pistes, with 43% beginner, 47% intermediate, and 10% expert. In the main resort area, the highest peak is Hohe Salve (1,829m). As you can see above, the view from the top is amazing! There’s a nice restaurant up there with outdoor benches and Plexiglas protection from the wind, so you can sit outside at 6,000ft and enjoy a Hefeweizen beer in the sun. Lift tickets run €39 for a day pass and €167 for a 5-day card.

You can make a day’s adventure out of traveling many km from one end of Skiwelt to the other: for example, you can reach Scheffau (pictured below).

From every part of Skiwelt, there are different, beautiful views. This photo shows some clouds in the valley, with just the mountains poking through – a common (and amazing!) weather pattern for the Alps.

Getting to Soell

Soell itself is just 110km from Munich, 80km from Innsbruck, and 130km from Salzburg. But since the resort of Skiwelt is surrounded by roads and towns, you could just as easily stay in Scheffau, Ellmau, Going, Hopfgarten, Westendorf, or Brixen im Thale. Soell and Scheffau are the closest resorts to Munich, and you can get there easily without needing to buy the Austria highway sticker or “Vignette.” In case you choose to arrive by train, you can go to one of the towns on the south side of the mountain easily, such as Hopfgarten. With a car, you’ll have greater mobility in case you want to check out other towns around the resort.

Tips for Soell and Skiwelt

For experienced skiers: do your own ski tour! Start at Soell, and take the gondola to the top of Hohe Salve for a great morning view. Then go down the steep slope on the back of Hohe Salve and turn left toward lift 7, Filzbodenbahn. From the top of that one, take a left toward Scheffau. One of the lifts at Ellmau, number 80, is actually a mountain train! Have fun exploring for the day. Just make sure to head back toward your base-town with enough time to arrive before the lifts close.

When there’s fresh snow, the best powder skiing areas of Skiwelt are found around Hohe Salve. You’ll see these areas when coming up the gondola from Soell. On the backside of Hohe Salve, toward Scheffau and Brixen, there is even more powder. For good carving, try the slopes under lifts 42 and 43.

If you need a day off from skiing (or learning), or have some non-skiers in your group, try sledding at several of the areas around Skiwelt including Soell. Sled-riding is called “Rodeln” in German; and this isn’t your grandpappy’s sled-riding, as you ride up the lift and then go on a course several km long. The best thing after all this exercise (or in between sessions!) is a “Susse Mahlzeit,” or sweet meal. Germans love to eat apple strudel, Kaiserschmarrn (a kind of chopped pancake), or Germknoedel (plum-filled, poppy-sprinkled dumpling) for lunch. Here you can see Germknoedel with vanilla sauce or melted butter!

The nightlife, to be honest, is not as hot as some other resorts like Mayrhofen, Soelden, and St. Anton. But that makes the Skiwelt region a little more family friendly. For Apres Ski, there are still several good possibilities. Both Soell and Scheffau have jumpin’ bars right near the gondola entrances, just follow the pulsing music when you arrive at the base of the mountain. Enjoy a Jagermeister, some mulled wine, or a local beer!

The most photographed sign in all of Austria’s ski areas must be this one, at Mayrhofen [winter.mayrhofner-bergbahnen.com]. It’s the entrance to Harakiri, the steepest groomed ski run in Austria at 78% grade (that’s 38 degrees!). Besides having this super steep slope, Mayrhofen has a lot of great things to offer: excellent nightlife, varied slopes, connected resorts, and good train connections. The 159km of slopes have a meager 45km for beginners, a whopping 94km for intermediates, and a respectable 20km for experts. Prices run €39.50 for a daily ticket and €166 for a 5-day pass.

You can also find places to do tandem paragliding in Mayrhofen. Just be careful on the slopes, you don’t want to be airlifted out. There’s too much fun to be had on the wide, open slopes and big-air funparks!

Getting to Mayrhofen

If you arrive by plane, you have a drive of 160km from Munich, 70km from Innsbruck, or 180km from Salzburg. There is also a good train connection to Mayrhofen. If you come by car, Mayrhofen can be a good choice if the weather is snowy – you won’t have to drive up the steep road that goes to Hintertux. But, if there isn’t enough snow on the slopes, the glacier at Hintertux is only a half hour drive away. Your ticket should be good at both resorts, just check with a ticket agent to be sure.

Tips for Mayrhofen

Where to start? You can do a ski tour going between the linked resorts, including Finkenburg and Eggalm. The 150er-Tux is a big cable car that holds 150 people at once, which is quite an experience. The top of Horbergjoch chairlift is 2500m; the snow stays more powdery and soft at that high altitude. Just be careful not to get lost

Try out a Tiroler Grostl for lunch: that’s fried potatoes and strips of ham or bacon, with a fried egg on top. It’s a favorite in the Austrian Alps, and very filling as you can imagine.

One of Mayrhofen’s strengths is the nightlife scene. There are several discos, bars, and rock clubs. There’s one basement disco near this bridge over the river:

Bigger Map
And just a bit farther down Ahornstr, this was the scene at one rock-oriented Apres Ski party,

So when your day on the pistes winds down, head into town. Take a break from Austrian food at the China-Restaurant Singapore [Scheulingstraße 371]. Check out the (smoky) Scotland Yard pub [Scheulingstraße 372], mix with some young locals, and play a game of darts. Enjoy your stay, and make sure to save enough energy for a run down the super-steep Harakiri!

At St. Anton am Arlberg [www.skiarlberg.at], you’ll find snowy pistes reaching all the way up to 2,811m. This beautiful mountain is nestled in the Alps not far from Switzerland and Italy. Great slopes and off-piste areas combine with this HUGE connected resort to give you a great ski vacation. The massive 278km of pistes are distributed well: 110km beginner, 138km intermediate, and 30km expert. For this great package you pay a bit more, as the price is €43.50 per day or €182 for a 5-day pass.

Getting to St. Anton

St. Anton am Arlberg is a bit farther to drive than many other resorts. It’s 190km from Munich, 100km from Innsbruck, and 280km from Salzburg. Note, the Munich distance is if you take A95 and then go on some smaller mountain roads; otherwise via Innsbruck it’s 260km. You can also reach St. Anton by train without problems, which would work well if you’re staying directly in town.

Tips for St. Anton

The very cool Galzigbahn is a must to ride up, it has a really neat giant-wheel-system so you don’t have to walk up the usual flights of steps to board the gondola. There is a sledding area for the non-skiers (or worn-out beginners), operating from the Gampen chairlift. Sledding is called “Rodeln” in German.

St. Anton has a lot of powder potential if there’s any fresh snow. There are good powder stashes to be found in many areas around the resort. The town of St. Anton is already at 1,304m. Due to the high altitude, the sky is very blue – so take your pocket camera along for some great shots

For Apres Ski you should try the Krazy Kanguruh, directly on slope 21. It’s a great atmosphere to have a beer or a Jagermeister, and there’s usually a lot of dancing and partying at the end of the day! At this Map below you can see the center of town, with the Galzigbahn on the left, and B&B’s, restaurants, shops, and bars sprinkled around.

Bigger Map

If you’re there on the right week, the nightlife in St. Anton is quite good. The last time I was there it was an Easter holiday weekend, and we had quite the night out. Enjoy your trip to St. Anton and tell us all about it when you’re back!

Kitzbuhel is a fantastic mountain in the Austrian Alps, surrounded by several quaint towns including Kirchberg im Tirol and Kitzbuhel itself. The resort is especially good when there’s lots of new snow, as there are many steep & deep powder stashes. Daily tickets this year are €41.50 for adults: a little steep, but often you get what you pay for in a ski resort. A 5-day pass will run you €170. Across the road from the main ski area is the 2000m high Kitzbuheler Horn, where there’s a big snowboard halfpipe. The view of the Horn from the main ski resort is fantastic!

There’s a lot of terrain at Kitzbuhel [www.bergbahn-kitzbuehel.at], 170km to be exact. It’s a good mix for beginner (72km) and intermediate (74km), with just 24km of black slopes for experts. But there’s a famous World Cup slope (Hahnenkamm), and the powder potential is great for intermediate and expert skiers alike.

Getting to Kitzbuhel

Kitzbuhel is centrally situated in Tirol: 130km from Munich, 100km from Innsbruck, and 110km from Salzburg. If you are traveling in to one of these cities by plane, it would be around 1 1/2 hours drive to the resort (depending on traffic, of course). You can also arrive to Kitzbuhel by train. This may take a bit longer than if you go by car, but could save you a lot of money if you plan to stay in the town of Kitzbuhel for your whole trip.

Tips for Kitzbuhel

As mentioned, this resort is great for powder days! Above you can see some fresh tracks just off one of the main slopes. One thing I love about Kitzbuhel is that there’s a lot of off-piste stashes, and a lot of them are right near other slopes. That way if something happens (you get stuck, lose a ski, or bang your head on a rock), you can easily get help. For the best off-piste powder, head over to the 1972m Steinbergkogel. You’ll see the powder stashes below you as you ride up lift C1 or C7. There’s another stash just below lift C2, which goes up to Ehrenbachhohe.

Another nice thing about Kitzbuhel is that many of the lifts converge on the same areas at the top or bottom. This makes for easy connections between different sections of the mountain. If you split up with your buddies so some can do groomers and others go off-piste, it’s easy to meet back at a central lodge for lunch. Here’s the view from one of the many lifts converging at Ehrenbachhohe:

Partying in Kitzbuehel

Some places that are Irish friendly include Flannigans – Irish Pub , Jochbergerstrasse 4, in Kitzbuehel. Or if you want a a little more “international”, you can try The Londoner Pub, Franz-Reisch-Straße 4, 6370 Kitzbühel . Both these bars are in the middle of the town, and offer a great way to party into the late evening. These places, esp. the Londoner start to kick off around 3-4pm and continue well after mid-night.

Situated in the middle of Austria’s Salzburger Land ski area is Obertauern ski resort [www.obertauern.com]. Located at 1630m high, and mountains soaring to 2313m around it, Obertauern is a perfect ski resort. Ski-pass prices are average for skiing in Europe, and a day pass will cost you €37 and a 6-day pass costs €183. Obertauern can get crowded during peak season, but when we were there it there was short queues at the lifts.

Getting to Obertauern

Obertauern is less than 60 miles from Salzburg, Austria, 140 miles from Munich, Germany and 160 miles from Innsbruck, Austria.

All of these cities offer (near) daily flights from Ireland (Dublin & Cork). To get to Obertauern you will probably need to rent a car or arrange a transfer. If you rent a car, make sure your rental car comes with snow chains, as the approach road can get impassable if you don’t have chains. When we went there they had a compulsory snow chain notice in effect, and there were police checking cars mid way to the resort to make sure people had the chains on their cars. To the right is the  Austrian sign for looks like this. The nearest village with a train station is Radstadt, which is easily reachable from Salzburg & Munich. And from Radstadt, Obertauern is about 25km.

Obertauern offers a great mix for snowboarders and skiers alike, with ski pistes to keep every level of skier happy. Unlike many resorts Obertauern really takes care of the beginner skier, offering a huge 61km  of blue slopes. For more advanced skiers there is 35km of red slopes and 4km of black slopes. With 100km of slopes there is plenty of routes to keep you occupied on your ski holiday. There is also an opportunity to off-piste (weather dependant). We were there at the start of February 2010, and there was fresh powder in abundance and some great fun.

Tips for Obertauern

For lunch we ate at the family friendly Treff 2000. Which can be a little difficult to get to unless you take the Grünwaldkopf lift. Treff 2000 has a non-smoking restaurant and a bar. For the aprés ski on the piste, Hochalm is the place to be, during the week they have live bands to keep the party lively. Or favourite routes during the morning was Grünwaldkopf which is lower down, and in the afternoon were Kringssalmbahn and Seekarspitzbahn.  They have a few drag lifts, but we tended to avoid them, as they don’t really suit snowboarders.

One final small fact about Obertauern : is was used to film the Beatles film HELP! in 1965 ! Check it out !