 Poster: A snowHead
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Radstadt – Haus Susanne, Tombola La Bombola prize
Last week (2nd January), we were lucky enough to stay at Haus Susanne in Radstadt, courtesy of Flangesax. I won the prize (in an astonishing piece of good fortune) in the Tombola La Bombola lottery in 2014. We probably wouldn’t have gone on a family skiing holiday to the Ski Amade area without winning the prize, but are really glad that we did. I’ll include a few photos to follow once I work out how to post them on here.
Ben, Angela and their family are excellent hosts. We were travelling in a group of 12 with 4 children aged 4 or under, and they made everything very easy for us. We upgraded to a catered stay and the food was great. Ben or Angela cooked good hearty food (including catering for a pescatarian) which really hit the spot after a day outside in the snow.
Ben and Angela’ kids (won’t post their names on here) were really good with the boys, building snowmen and sharing their sledges with them. Every day when we got home, the first thing the boys wanted to do was go out and play with Ben and Angela’s kids.
Snow
We had been pretty nervous about the snow situation in the run up to our trip. We were very fortunate, we arrived to green fields, but woke up the next morning to about 5-10com of snow, which the boys were delighted to get out in and build snowmen. The grown ups were also pretty pleased about this as it meant the piste riding was more forgiving than it would have been. We had regular top ups of snow throughout the week.
Local ski school
5 of our group had lessons at the Radstadt ski school, including 2 who had a pretty patchy record with skiing (either intimated or a fairly serious injury last time out). All 3 adults thoroughly enjoyed the lessons and came away feeling they had improved and with a renewed enthusiasm for skiing. 2 of our boys had ski lessons and really enjoyed themselves.
Ski areas
Because most of us had our children with us, we weren’t racking up huge amounts of miles. In this respect, Radstadt/Altenmarkt suited us perfectly as there was enough to keep us going for an afternoon or morning session. Radstadt and Altenmarkt are a mixture of blues and reds served by gondola and chairlifts. There’s also a sledge run which we hoped to try, but there hadn’t been enough snow for it to open.
We also made it over to Reiteralm on 3 days. Reiteralm is about 20 minutes’ drive from Radstadt. Reiteralm is more extensive than Radstadt, I had a great morning there on my own, with lots of red runs to explore and spectacular views at the top.
We went to Reiteralm more than once because the beginner area is up on the hill, on a plateau reached by gondola. There are 3 magic carpet lifts on the nursery slope and also a very gentle blue served by a drag lift, which meant that it was great for the beginners in our group and for the boys to go sledging. We hired toboggans at the bottom and took them up in the gondola. From that plateau we were able to take short winter walks through the woods with sledge and baby carrier without straying too far from hot chocolate. There are (I think) 3 restaurants there, we had lunch outside at the same place twice (can’t remember the name but it is the restaurant nearest the nursery slope), all pretty good value and tremendous views.
There are lots more areas I’d love to explore, but on this trip we were constrained by keeping the boys happy, so erred on the side of doing less but making sure they enjoyed it.
Therme Amade
We took the boys over to the Therme Amade baths in Altenmarkt one afternoon, it’s well worth a visit. There are a variety of pools, including hot pools, water slides, toddler pools and a pool which goes outside. Really relaxing, even though we foolishly coincided our visit with the end of the school day so we could have picked a quieter time.
Hire car
We hired a car from Hertz, both for the transfer from Salzburg and to get around while we were there. There are a lot of ski areas within easy drive of Radstadt, which can be reached by ski bus but having the car was more convenient.
One word of warning, I’d booked ski racks with the hire car, in my ignorance assuming that they would be like a roof rack, so I could strap my snowboard bag to that. Turns out I was wrong, ski racks from Hertz are 2 separate metal discs which attach to the roof magnetically, no use for carrying a snowboard bag. Fortunately, Hertz gave us a slightly bigger car and with a bit of luggage Tetris we fitted everything in.
Eating out
We only ate out one evening (when Ben and Angela had a night off), at the campsite restaurant round the corner. The food was good, nice choice and good portion sizes although you need to make sure to sit in the non-smoking section if that bothers you.
Accommodation
The rooms at Haus Susanne were large, clean, comfortable with balconies and a terrace. As well as the dining room, there is a residents lounge bar in the basement which was really helpful for us, as we were able to wrangle the boys down there during early evening, then have drinks together once the boys had gone to bed. It also meant that various adults could demonstrate their Guitar Hero prowess on the wii.
In addition to this, there is a drying room and a ski room which were really handy.
Thanks again to Ben, Angela and family for making us feel very welcome indeed. We had a fantastic week, really hope we can return at some point in the future. I’d definitely recommend Haus Susanne and the Radstadt area. I’d especially recommend winning a free stay in a competition.
James
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great report James - weren't you lucky winning the prize and then enjoying the trip.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks for the report. It does whet my appetite for this area. Haus Susanne is also on my list. Hopefully in the near future
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Stayed with Ben and Ange in Haus Suzanne a couple of years ago. They are great hosts and really made us welcome. Great skiing area as well.
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