Bad Gastein located in Salzburgerland, Austria. It is approximately one hour and twenty minutes south of Salzburg by car or one hour and thirty minutes by train. The ski area is based around the towns, Bad Gastein, Bad Hofgastein and Dorfgastein. All of which are included in the Ski Amade pass as well as other ski areas near by.
We stayed at the Mondi resort which is ten minute walk from the main cable car station of Stubnerkogel and a the main street with a large supermarket if self catering. If you don't fancy a walk up the steep hill, the hotel runs an on request ski shuttle service for a reasonable price, don't forget to purchase return tickets. On the return journey you just need to call the hotel to request this.
One thing worth noting that as part of the tourist tax you get a discount card and free bus travel included. But there are free ski buses connecting the areas if you need it.
12th January
After doing some research of videos available on youTube, I had decided that the B14 blue run look good for my current skiing ability, wide in parts and not too steep. We took the Stubnerkogel cable car to the middle station after collecting our passes, I had chosen the 5 days out of 7 pass, based on my first skiing holiday experience. On exiting the middle station we take u-turn to the left following the arrow for B14 and follow it down, so far so good we get to a hut not long into the ski, and didn't take the turning to the right to continue down the B14, either we missed the sign or decided that it looked too steep for a blue and continued along past the hut. We the end up on a long flat section weaving round the side of the mountain, this was a slog having to slide along rather than ski. We eventually arrive at an intersection with the B11 a red run, my mate says "we need to ski this, we can keep going on this flat bit, it isn't skiing and it's tiring".
I was very apprehensive having only tired the red slope at SnowWorld indoor ski centre in Landgraaf, the Netherlands once. What if I can't do it, what if I get stuck. My mate says "I wouldn't ask you to do it, if I didn't think you could, and if all else fails take it one turn at a time." So after a very cautious couple of single turns, I am doing reasonably well, so I keep going linking turns together and then taking a break before continuing. It is a good job it is wide and we can find a path down avoiding the nastier parts of the piste. I make it to the bottom where it joins B21 a blue run, which at this stage is a trail.
Due to our route we actually arrive in Angertal Ski center, but didn't realise it straight away. We have a break for a snack and hot chocolate, and have a review I did really well on the red, it was steep and the conditions were not that great and there were a few people stacking it, which I managed to avoid. I have had my first achievement of the year a real world red. After a break I speak to the ticket office to understand where we can get back to Bad Gastein, a couple of options were offered:
- Option one - consisted of taking the chairlift (No. 11 on the map) ski the B11 to T-bar lift (No. 21) then take the B15a back to the Stubnerkogel middle station.
- Option two - wait for the ski bus back
I opted for the bus as my legs weren't feeling the best, my mate took option one and then skied the B14 back to where we started which he really enjoyed.
13th January
After yesterdays adventure today we decided to take it a little bit easier and ski the blue B13 a one kilometre run with a 150 metre altitude difference. We took the two person chair lift opposite the cable car bottom station in Bad Gastein. The run was good with a couple of different routes to take, one was more gentle than the other, but my skiing felt off from the start wasn't really too sure why. This run is short but good for getting some practice runs in on. The only problem encountered was where it would normally join the B14 for a nice wide run in to the bottom but it was closed off due to a FIS Snowbaord event, which left a steep narrowing run in to the right of the chair lift. As everyone on both the B13 and B14 were using it, it was busy and icy. I start off doing OK but somehow manage to stack it, so move to the side and come down on my bum until I get to a point where I can stand up and walk to the bottom. I decide to call it quits for the day, after doing some reflection and discussion with my mate I decide that it is my backpack which is throwing me off, even though there isn't much in it other than my goggles, snacks and water. So I have a wander over to the shop behind the cable car to see if I can find a hip pack. I manage to find one for €30 by Fischer which comes with a water bottle, so I can test my theory and see if it makes a difference.
15th January
After a break for a couple of days time to hit the slopes again. We had finally found out where we went wrong on day one and decided to try B14 again. We head up to the middle station again and head off to the left, it was good to see where we had gone straight on has now been netted off, We assume they must have had some complaints.
I start off gingerly down the steep but not the steepest part of B14, I need to grow my confidence in real world skiing as I take it really slowly conscious of the drop to one side. Once past this I do some good skiing and enjoy the trail parts where I can ski straight and pick up some speed, this helped with protection on both sides of the piste.
As we near the end my mate warns me that due to the FIS snowboarding part of the trail is narrowed and there is a slightly steeper section which I will need to tschuss and ride it out but not to panic or try to turn as there is a run out where I will stop, before starting it I am best to scrub all my speed off. I start it in a snowplough before deciding to put my skis parallel and left myself go for it. It went perfectly as I come to a stop next to him. Now we need to do the steep section to the right of the chairlift where I had stacked it two days earlier. I managed to do it with ease. I think not having a backpack has paid off today and the hip pack was so much better.
Lessons Learned
- Work on getting parallel more this is still hold me back, I am obviously in a better position to a year ago as my legs have held up far better this time round.
- Swapping the backpack to a hip pack helped so will be using it moving forward.
- Start planning and researching runs which we will be using better to ensure we don't make any more wrong turns.
- Grow my confidence at skiing in real world conditions and prove to myself I can be safe and can deal with tricky situations
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