Skiing Austria - Salzburg
The historic city offers history and spectacular skiing-snowboarding
So, what's the first challenge for a New Jersey boy when skiing and snowboarding in Austria?
Not the ski trails.
Not the snow conditions.
Not adjusting to the mountains' elevation or the jet lag.
The first challenge is this: reading, understanding and remembering the ski resort names. These German names go on forever.
For example?
- Schmittenhohe
- Kitzsteinhorn
- Hinterglemm
And, those are only the individual ski area names within a larger umbrella resort.
Or, how about mountain peak names?
- Spielckkogel
- Recihkendlkopf
- Hockalmspitze
Forget about figuring out how to descend the mountain based on the appropriate trail ratings. You can spend a day just figuring out which hill you're standing or sliding on.
And, let's not even talk about lift names. Kohlmaisgipfelbahn?
Luckily, Daniela, our guide for this group ski trip with Ski Europe speaks four languages. she can help.
Still, even if the names are unpronounceable and defy memory, the upside—and the common denominator—for skiers and riders worldwide is this: these are huge, remarkable mountains, holding ski resorts that stretch for miles and run from town to town. The downhill snowsliding simply thrills.
But, when you lodge in an historic city like Salzburg, the experience transcends mere skiing and riding. Here the old town resembles something out of a fairy tale. A child’s concept of what an medieval European city should look like.
Crossing the Salzach River on a pedestrian bridge, the view borders on cliche. The entire town backs up to a pair of abrupt mountains that veritably shoot straight into the air. Nestled at their bases, the town appears as if it’s always ready for a siege.
High on one of those hills looms Hohensalzburg Fortress, built in 1077. It’s the largest, fully-preserved fortress in central Europe. It looks exactly the way a ten year-old boy would picture a medieval fortress.
Looking down from the fortress, you could spend an entire day counting church spires. And, several days could be spent visiting those churches—wherein most of the time you’d find your mouth agape at their timeless beauty.
You can also spend days wandering the old town’s narrow streets and secretive lanes, discovering shops, restaurants and more historical sites as you go.
Climb the other hill (by elevator) and you come to the newly constructed modern art museum, wherein not only is revealed—you guessed it—modern art, but more spectacular views.
But, more than anything, Salzburg is Mozart’s town. He was born here, he lived the majority of his life here, died young here, and is now venerated here by everything ranging from two museums (his birthplace and his residence) to weekly tourist dinner-concerts to a brand of chocolate.
You can bask in all this antique and Mozartian glory, and then hop on a bus from the central city that will take you to the ski hills.
The greater Salzburg region holds 23 major ski resorts that support snowsliding on nearly 1400 miles of marked trails. Resorts can be found as close as 40 minutes’ drive out of town, or you can travel for 90 minutes.
Don’t want to drive? The daily Salzburg Snow Shuttle ski bus leaves for a different resort daily from the city center—Longang on Saturday, Zell am see on Sunday, etc. Some resorts, like Höchkonig, are served by public bus or train.
I spent a recent week hopping daily with colleagues onto a bus in Salzburg and traveling between an hour and 90 minutes to a selection of the region's ski areas. It was a remarkable trip—beginning with the arrival of snow at just about the same time of our arrival.
Yes, a different ski area daily with a name I can't pronounce can be confusing. But, the ski experience, complemented by the historical/cultural experience, more than compensates. There’s nothing in North America that’s comparable to the scale of European skiing.
