 Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks for all the pre-visit info offered by various Snowheads. As promised, the report.
We flew into Salzburg (EasyJet) and drove a hire vehicle to Bad Gastein. It's a straightforward run, ~ 60 miles, a lot of it on motorway. It got a bit hairy on snow-covered narrow roads towards the end of the Gasteinertal valley but thank heavens for winter tyres, it would have been difficult without them. Once there, the main lifts were easy to get to by car or local ski buses (free if you have a Ski Amade pass). There are plenty of ski hire shops around Bad Gastein. Sport-Schober is the one at the base of the Stubnerkogelbahn, very swish but pricey! There were plenty of others around offering deals, we got ours at 10% discount for group hire at Lederer. So shop around a bit for the type of kit you want at a reasonable price.
Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein: main lifts are Bad Hofgastein (Schlossalmbahn), Angertal, Sportsgastein, Bad Gastein town centre (Stubnerkogelbahn) and Bad Gastein (Graukogel). Sportsgastein was closed most of the week so we didn't get to it.
Easy parking at Bad Hofgastein. A funicular train and two large aerial tramways take you to near the top. I'll endorse what others have said, the H3 back to the middle station is a lovely cruisey blue for a warm up. The H1 is a brilliant run when the weather is sunny. It is long, but with spectacular views. Everyone who did it loved it. There are plenty of other runs to keep you amused, some going down to Angertal.
Angertal is reached by driving a long narrow-ish road from Bad Hofgastein. The was regularly ploughed and gritted, so not too bad a drive. Car parking was OK, not as large as Bad Hofgastein from what I could see. There is a good range of pistes accessible on both sides of the valley. Some of the blue runs, eg B21, are roads and flat-ish, would be graded green in France. Steer clear of them unless you like energetic poling. The snowboarders amongst us took one look and headed off elsewhere. The rest of us had to get off it halfway down and onto some better gradients. For meeting up, the restaurant at Angertal ski centre was good, still seating space at 12.30 on a Sunday and food at reasonable prices.
At Bad Gastein, the Stubnerkogelbahn is a gondola that goes to the top of Stubnerkogel via a middle station. There is a suspension bridge and viewpoints worth looking at it. The best skiing looks to be to the Angertal side of the mountain, but we were coming down the Bad Gastein side late in the afternoon. No one liked the runs down. There is only one main piste from the middle station to Bad Gastein, it is narrow in places and icy from heavy use, so there were traffic jams from nervy beginners going along the narrow sections.
Graukogel is a bit of a hidden gem. It hasn't got many runs, so it is quiet as people seem to shun it. It is not ideal for complete beginners as there is only one blue and that's not accessible directly off the chair lift, but once on it it was lovely. There is some car parking space, but a ski bus stops right outside. There are three restaurants/bars, one at the bottom, one at the middle station and one at the top. They are small, so don't wait until peak time before deciding on that beer and wurst. We enjoyed it so much we did a second day there.
Bad Gastein maintains the nature of a postcard-picture small Austrian town, mostly built on the sides of the mountain. It is a spa town with geothermal springs, so many visitors other than for snow sports. There is a large supermarket size Spar in the centre for essentials, and a couple of holes-in-the-wall for euros. The parking on the road side is pay-and-display with regular warden checks, even on Sundays. Can't report on any 'Apres Ski' in the centre; we were happy with some beers back at the hotel and a good night's head down for skiing the next day.
Note Saturday is the main 'changeover' day, so the traffic towards Salzburg gets very slow.
Would we go again - absolutely.
SPK
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