Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Equipment Hire
Skis (downhill, cross-country, telemark), snowboards, boots, poles and helmets can be
cross-country ski rental costs around €28/127 per day/week, or €34/158 for top-of-the-
range gear. Boot hire is around €16/61 per day/week. With Intersport, children 14 and un-
der pay half-price, under-10s get free ski hire when both parents rent equipment, and you
can ski seven days for the price of six.
Ski Tuition
Most ski resorts have one or more ski schools; for a list of regional ski schools, visit
www.skilehrer.at
(in German) and click on 'Landesverbände'. Group lessons for both
adults and children typically cost €70 per day (two hours in the morning, two hours in the
afternoon), €200 for four days and €260 for six days. The more days you take, the cheap-
er it gets. Private instruction is available on request. Kids can start learning from the age
of four.
TOP SLOPES
Cruise, carve, party and quake in your boots at some of these top spots:
»
Top descents
The Streif (
Click here
), part of the epic Hahnenkamm, is Kitzbühel's king of scary skiing.
Mayrhofen's Harakiri (
Click here
) is Austria's steepest run, with a gradient of 78%. It's pitch-black and there's
no turning baaaaaack…
»
Top family skiing
Filzmoos (
Click here
) for its uncrowded nursery slopes, chocolate -box charm and jagged
Dachstein mountains. Heiligenblut (
Click here
) is refreshingly low-key and has a ski kindergarten.
»
Top snowboarding
Mayrhofen (
Click here
) is a mecca to free riders, and some say it has Austria's most
awe-
some
terrain park, Vans Penken.
»
Top après-ski
Join the singing, swinging, Jägermeister-fuelled fun in St Anton am Arlberg (
Click here
)
, Aus-
tria's après-ski king. Wild inebriation and all-night clubbing are the winter norm in raucous rival Ischgl (
Click
here
).
»
Top glacier skiing
The Stubai Glacier (
Click here
) has snow-sure pistes within easy reach of Innsbruck. Head
to the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier (
Click here
) for pre- and post-season skiing at 3203m, with arresting views of the
snowy Hohe Tauern range.
