by It’s the end of the day, the light is flat, and my carved turns have morphed into controlled slides. Mentally, my lifeless corpse has already collapsed on top of a fluffy towel in a steamy sauna. I skid hard and stop next to my husband, the wonderful one who suggested “one more run”.
“The snow is better near the edge of the slope,” he says. “Why do you always ski in the middle?”
“Oh good, more advice,” I think.
Sound familiar?
Whether you’re a blue-collar couple or helicopter veterans like us, a ski trip means different things to different people. The reality of skiing à deux is almost always a balancing act – which has sparked arguments to the contrary. Mine field of different speeds and strengths, map reading fracas, and different desires to stand DJ Otzi longer than you can hold your breath. Along with canoeing and ballroom dancing, skiing together may require more patience than landing on the surface of Mars. So why do it?
Because this story will end happily.
It’s a ski holiday – but it’s not just about skiing. A holiday is indeed a spiritual land – a chance to learn new things, create shared memories, make each other happy. If you take a holiday together – part ski, part city – you’re sure to enjoy high-altitude excitement along with a dose of cultural enrichment. Vive la difference with this four-step plan for success – and just one extra change of clothes.
Step one: Choose the right option
For us, the Austrian province of Salzburgerland ticked all the boxes. Culturally, its capital Salzburg is a bijou gem dotted with Baroque cathedrals and Mitteleuropa cafes.
Mozart is a bit of an industry here and every year his birthday on 27th January is celebrated with a week of around 60 events attended by 25,000 music lovers (about a tenth of the summer festival counterpart, making the winter even more attractive). Eager to join them last winter, we booked tickets for the wonderful Vienna Philharmonic, for what we both agreed would be a welcome change to the alpine blast of oompah-pah Schlager music. Visiting Salzburg also gave my husband the opportunity to explore the town where his father was born in 1928.
Then there was finding the perfect ski resort to add to our top game in the city – luckily the province has 66 options. Including Bad Gastein, which is located just 90 minutes away from the capital by direct train. Sold on its Belle Époque beauty, there would be no cramped transitions or rows about who was driving.
Step two: Don’t be afraid to call the experts
“Men want to play with their toys, their cars, their skis. They just want to go fast,” explained Werner Scancin, our ski guide. The Gastein Valley’s 200km slopes across several areas – Bad Gastein, Hofgastein, Dorgastein and Sportgastein – make it an easy choice for the modern visitor – and there’s more to it.
From the 18th century, it has attracted the likes of Goethe and Kaiser Wilhelm to take its thermal waters and breathe the clear alpine air. True to form, Werner and my husband were far ahead of me breathing deeply but I didn’t mind. With stunning views as far as the Grossglockner and the Black Forest, I took in my free-spirited Empress Sisi and indulged her happily.
When the Schlossalmbahn lift took us to the top of the 10.5km long Hohe Scharte, the longest run in the region, Werner stopped to share his advice on marital harmony. “Men may grow old, but they remain children. If the man is only too good in his own mind, tell him you want to hire a guide.”
Wise (if slightly self-serving) words. I have taken many private lessons over the years, including some excellent one-woman clinics, to great benefit. As Werner said: “Men tend to overestimate their abilities and women tend to underestimate them – and men are often reluctant to hire a tutor.” There’s no doubt that a few hours of partnering with a trained professional builds confidence, sharpens skills and is just good fun. After all, who needs the pressure, except on those ski edges?
Step three: Agree on each other’s plans
From our sun deck chairs at the Angerblick hut, we stepped into the eternal postcard of the Austrian Alps. For me, this storybook perch was a destination unto itself. For him, it was a pleasant diversion from a day of skiing. We split the difference as midday clouds began to gather, heralding an afternoon of aquatic wellness back at the hotel. (Okay, I plotted and, as per our agreement, he agreed.)
Austria’s centuries-old wellness culture is alive and well in the Gastein Valley. Unlike most accommodations, our Hotel Das Goldberg was ski-in/ski-out as well as a spa extravaganza – a pursuit the Austrians have elevated to an art form. Whatever might be fractiousness on the slopes, it was to put right in the gold mine sauna 46ºC light-brown degree. Built of 420,000kg of rock lifted from the nearby massif, it is a cocoon of heat and humidity.
Step four: Be flexible
Après ski – literally, anything after skiing – it’s an opportunity to a) try something unusual, and b) try something that at least one of you is interested in. Our evening forest bath started at the mouth of the Angertal (Anger Valley in English). Led by local hiking guide Theresa Sommerbichler, she shared her encyclopedic knowledge of all things flora, including walking among the terpenes – substances that trees release that are thought to activate the immune system and prevent disease. different. “Kind of a waste without the dog,” my husband said as we left. After an hour of stress-reducing tree activity, he inhaled the essential oils and drank the Kool-aid (in this case Nettle Tea) and was ripe for the next assault: a romantic sleigh ride.
After three days of skiing, it was time to change gears. A few hours from Bad Gastein, Salzburg’s annual Mozart Week was in full swing and there was only enough time for a walking tour. There is the Strudel Tour, the Stube Tour, the Church Tour, there are even mapped-out beer tours.
Local guide Sissy Schur brought the trials and tribulations of child descent to life on our Mozart Tour, adding new elements to the upcoming concert. Frau Schur even accepted our hunt for my husband’s ancestor’s grave, appropriately located in one of the ornate arcades of the snow-dusted St. Peter’s cemetery, low in the shadow of Salzburg’s massive 11th-century Hohensalzburg fortress.
History is complicated but our last evening was simple, pure pleasure. An early dinner at Gasthof Goldgasse (signature fried chicken soaked in milk from 1719 and light Salzburger Nockerl for pudding) wrapped up just in time for the great moment at the Great Hall. Conductor Robin Ticciati and pianist Maria João Pires weaved Mozartian magic with the Interlude Music of Thamos, King of Egypt, and the Linz Symphony.
Nothing can beat that together. Except, perhaps, one more run with my beloved.
How to do it
The next Mozart Week will take place from 25 January to 4 February 2024. Hotel Das Goldberg in Badhofgastein offers doubles from €195 (£168) per person per night, full board. The Stein Hotel in Salzburg offers doubles from €150 (£130) per person per night, B&B. Fly from London Gatwick to Salzburg with British Airways from £45 one way, based on return fare, valid until January 2024.
Bus operator between Salzburg Airport and main station every 20 minutes, daily, from less than €5 (4.30) per adult. Book rail transfers between Salzburg and Gastein via Austrian Railways one-way from €38 (£33) per person.
Leslie Woit and her husband were guests at Salzburgerland, Gastein, City of SalzburgHotel Das Goldberg in Badhofgastein and Hotel Stein in Salzburg.
