6 Te Travel Guide Piste time
A boldly revamped spa hotel and ever- expanding linked ski areas mean Austria’s resorts are winter-ready. Words: Nick Dalton
THE BIG MAKEOVER: Naturhotel Forsthofgut Tis fourth-generation family-run hotel on the site of a 400-year-old farm has spent more than £10m reinventing itself while the slopes emptied as a result of the pandemic. An hour from Salzburg, the traditional, chalet-style hotel now sees itself reflected in the extraordinary timber-and- glass Lakehouse addition, home to contemporary loft suites with rustic mountain touches — all old wood, stone and loden (a heavy wool fabric) with the finest leather. Tere’s also the Mizumi restaurant (Alpine-Japanese
fusion using ingredients from the organic farm), which overlooks a steaming onsen-style hot pool and a summer swimming lake. Tat’s along with the hotel’s two other restaurants, a market-style breakfast buffet and a fine-dining venue, where ‘R50’ is champion (meaning ingredients are sourced from within 30 miles). Tere are adults-only and family spas and a 70ft indoor pool. Te piste, in the mighty Skicircus area, flashes past the door to the gondola, heading for Saalbach, just below. And the hotel not only has its own toboggan run but also a wildlife park, with snowshoe treks among the local deer population. Double rooms from €380 (£320), half-board.
forsthofgut.at
CHECK IN, SKI OUT: Austria’s NEW alpine hotels KRAFTalm, Itter: A grandly subtle new creation on the site of a century-old mountain hut. Te hotel sits at 4,450ft by the Solvista lift in the Tirol’s SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental ski area. Te 29 rooms have cool designer touches, while the spa has an indoor/outdoor infinity pool, sharing the mountain panorama of the glass-walled sauna. Tere’s modern Alpine food on offer in the restaurant, too. Doubles from €280 (£235) half-board.
kraftalm.at Sport & Spa Hotel Strass, Mayrhofen: One of Austria’s biggest ski hotels, and a popular hub for the Snowbombing clubbing festival and Altitude comedy festival, Sport & Spa Hotel Strass has transformed more than 70 rooms. Its wellness area has been revamped and its twin spas now share an indoor-outdoor pool. Crystal Ski has seven nights from £854, half-board, including flights and transfers.
hotelstrass.com/en Carpe Solem, Rauris: Rauris (only 20 miles of piste but topping out at 7,200ft) is an hour from Salzburg, and this 79-apartment resort is right beside the lifts. Opened in July 2020, it has a heated infinity pool in a spa with saunas, infra-red cabins and an ice grotto. Rooms are contemporary and there are links with local producers for self-catering. Apartments from €120 (£100) per night (one bedroom, sleeps four).
alps-residence.com
BIG THINGS FOR THE SLOPES Austria’s innovative ski chiefs went into lockdown with a dream: making the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn area Austria’s biggest lift-linked ski terrain. Te lakeview resort of Zell am See was to be seamlessly connected, creating a ski paradise of 253 miles of piste. All was underway in December 2019: the second section
of the plush 10-seater ZellamseeXpress gondola, all the way to the valley floor, opened with fanfare, connecting the Skicircus to the top of Zell’s main Schmittenhöhe area. Te plan was for a lift to take people back again, but works were thwarted by financial problems caused by pandemic-enforced lockdowns. Te swish new gondola is now open, with visitors now
able to sample the resort’s full offering this winter. What’s more, it’s a fun journey to the top of the slopes, with a gondola wi-fi sound system, so you can turn your cabin into a personal jukebox. Tis makes the region some 80 miles bigger than
Austria’s largest ski area, St Anton’s Ski Arlberg, connecting the vast, easy-going pistes around pretty Saalbach to the ornate lakeside town of Zell, with the 10,500ft slopes of the Kitzsteinhorn glacier next door. With the gems of Austria’s ski regions shining brighter than ever before, now’s the perfect time to tick the Eastern Alps off your winter travel wishlist.
saalbach.com
First published in the National Geographic Traveller (UK) 2021 Winter Sports supplement. Read the feature in full online at
nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
THEMENBILD, Winter in Austria PHOTOGRAPH: EXPA PICTURES © JFK
Promotional Content • Saturday 17 September 2022
Austria’s biggest lift-linked ski terrain, Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn PHOTOGRAPH:
MIRJAGEH.COM PICK OF THE PEAKS
Saalbach: The peak of intermediate skiing with cruising runs valley-long: a perfect, unhurried spot with plenty of huts for lunch. The pretty town has a beguiling onion-domed church and lively nightlife.
Hinterglemm: Saalbach’s sister along the valley, with lots of low-level lifts for beginners tucked away below the runs most visitors take on a day out.
Leogang: A village with easy access to the main circuit but with fabulous long, wide, uncrowded runs. Many visitors feel no need to stray beyond the resort.
Fieberbrunn: This quiet market town at the very edge of the Skicircus often offers great-value holidays. The Streuboden gondola heads high for long, easy slopes away from the busy main circuit.
Zell am See: A beautiful lakeside town with views from the slopes over the classical rooftops and the icy blue waters. Plus, a waterside promenade, posh shops, elegant restaurants and an extravagant casino.
Kaprun: This village on the outskirts of Zell is a resort in itself. It’s centred on the high-altitude Kitzsteinhorn glacier with big, open runs for all levels and a funicular at the top.
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