Austria - Bad Hofgastein - Ski Season 2012/13 draws to a close _ April 2013

A Season to Savour - 6th April 2013

The day the Graukogel closed - 31st March - half a metre of new snow!

It is the 6th of April and 7pm and I have just looked out the window into the gathering gloom. A large group of skiers is heading down the home run to the village. I imagine they have been celebrating the penultimate day of skiing in a hut on the Schlossalm. They probably have seen the weather forecast for tomorrow and have decided to finish tonight. Skiing after 5 pm when the piste-bashers are doing their work is not terribly sensible. These days the machines often pull themselves up the piste with a cable anchored to a tree. It does not take a vivid imagination to visualise what happens if the ski's go under the cable and some part of the anatomy hits it shortly afterwards.

So the season that opened on the 7th December is now drawing to a close. The volume of snow this winter has not been that great but low temperatures have kept the snow firmly on the ground. Conditions this week have been perfect with very few skiers taking a share of the pistes.
Some of the Restaurants are already closed and the staff are taking the opportunity to hit the slopes. I was surprised to find that one waitress, known by us affectionately as the 'the Madonna with big boobies', is an actually a closet snow-boarder! Sometimes the whole team from a Mountain Hut can be seen skiing together, you'd think that after 4 months working together they would have had enough. That is plainly not the case.

The place to ourselves - Feldinghutte

Sportgastein - potted palms in the sunshine

Skiing with an Austrian friend this week has been both good fun and a little arduous. After 30 - odd consecutive days of skiing my legs are starting to scream for a rest. Franz has a superior technique and seems to glide over and through the snow whereas for this English skier it is more of a fight. My Salomon Mustangs are probably a bit long which is great on the ice but a bit of a struggle on the sloppy lower slopes on the Home Run. Have enjoyed skiing on them though. My planned purchases for the season were a new helmet and goggles but, in fact, I bought neither. Instead I had to buy new poles when one broke, bought new gloves to deal with cold, a new pair of ski's (second hand of course) as the old ones were getting soft and a new jacket as the old one started to fall apart. If you ski about 11 weeks a year I suppose you can expect a bit of wear and tear.

A window on Gastein

It has been a very sociable season. When we first had the apartment we would just turn up for weekends and I would often ski on my own. Now, with other English and Welsh friends, visitors from home and our Austrian friends and TW doing more downhill its rare to have a day in solitary. We also now know a lot of the staff in the mountain restaurants so we are made welcome on our many coffee stops and meal breaks.

Tom testing his Kaierschmarrn

Austrian Mountain food is pretty simple - usually. One of TW's favourite Austrian dishes is Kaiserschmarrn. It's a chopped up pancake which was apparently made for the Emperor by his Mistress. It means the 'Kaisers nonsense' apparently. It looks a bit too tricky for me but TW and Tom have now been trained to produce this nonsense by Maria, Franz's wife.

Nephew Tom with TW on the Haitzingalm

Plenty of snow in late March!

If you catch the ski bus every day you get to know the drivers. We know Wolfgang the best, we get a morning salute as his bus pulls up. We see other drivers at the band concerts that feature regularly at the Kursall. One driver did me a special favour when I was heading up to Sportgastein early one morning. I was a bit late and was going to miss my connection until he radioed head and asked the other bus to wait for me in a Bus Stop.

End of season skiing in Bad Hofgastein

And the final day on the Schlossalm - visibility is down to nil and it getting worse! 

We gave it a good go but we were beaten by the mist and headed for the Haitzingalm for a final coffee. It was empty of guests and the owners had started their end of season clean-up. We were made welcome and chairs were taken off a table. The best coffee on the hill with a tasty nutty chocolate was delivered. Tom, the owner, supplied a complimentary schnapps - Prost! See you in the Summer!

Back on the bike in the Gastein Valley in April

England - Cornwall in February 2013

A week in St. Ives in February 2013

Porthminster Beach

February is not really the best time to be in Cornwall but it is certainly OK for wandering by the seaside. The coldest and longest winter for a while kept us inside more than we would have liked. Mind you, if you are staying at Sapphire in Carbis Bay it is not a hardship. Found the cricket from New Zealand on Sky, pity its not on our 'council telly' at home. Plenty of wheels on board in the car but no room for the bike this time as we needed to bring a variety of accessories for TMIL. Not sure which is harder, pushing the wheelchair over the cobbled streets of St. Ives or pedalling around to Mousehole?

TW and TMIL scan the beach from Sapphire

What's for Dinner - Sapphire in Carbis Bay

Coast - TW striding towards Hayle

England - Sussex by the sea in February

Out and about in Sussex

Bosham is a small village on an inlet of Chichester Harbour. Nice place for a wander on a cold day in February.

Up the Creek at Bosham

Holy Trinity Church Bosham

Pub on the creek - The Anchor Bleu

Chichester Cathedral

Chichester Cathedral

Chichester Cathedral

Through a stained glass window

Bad Hofgastein - Saturday is changeover day

When the tourists go home and the new arrivals turn up

TW getting ready to go.

View to the Graukogel from the Baerstein Alm

Sunny and cold

When you are here for a while it gets to feel like Groundhog Day. Every Saturday morning people are packing their cars and the coaches are loading up - its changeover day! That should mean that its going to be quiet on the piste. However, if it is sunny, and the snow is good, the villagers are going to be out in force along with various ski clubs from miles around.
As the skiers are Austrian they are, by definition, going to be good and will probably be fast. There will nearly always be local ski races on the Haitzingalm piste on a Saturday Today they were racing ski-bobs on the steepest run. There is normally a quiet period on the slopes in the morning when the World Cup Downhills are on and the locals dive into a local alm to watch the race. This week the race was from Kitzbuhel and the Haitzingalm was noisy with disappointment. The Austrian racers fared badly and the French triumphed.
On a sunny Saturday its probably best to head for one of the outlying ski areas like Sportgastein at the end of the Valley or the standalone ski area on the Graukogel but today we had a good, proper Austrian Ski day up above Bad Hofgastein. Look up the Hill before moving off! And look out for what is behind you!

Max the cat does not like to be disturbed in his hanging basket

Bad Hofgastein - my Ski Technique under the microscope

On the Piste - House for rent above Angertal

I think I can ski around the mountain pretty well and have have developed a method that seems to suit me and is pretty economical. I tend to go for the steepest part of the piste and go at a good pace.  The other day, by chance, we met a couple of people from Marlow having lunch in the Felding Hutte. Turns out they are good skiers and used to be ski instructors in an earlier life.
I spent a day skiing with them in Dorfgastein. They volunteered some comments on my skiing.
My pole planting they described as like windscreen wipers, apparently this is not good!
I do not lean forward enough and am too upright.
I do not properly complete my turns.
I need to edge the ski's more by angling my ankles.
Oh, and I ski too fast. I need to use more of the piste and spend longer on ski's and less time on the lifts.

Grossarl - over the hill from Gasteinertal

Oh well, not much to worry about then! So if you see someone doing neat turns at moderate speed on the pistes of Bad Hofgastein - it will not be yours truly.

Have to say I have taken their comments on board but whether this old dog can learn new tricks is debatable.

Ski bikers - MTB'ers are hitting the slopes

It's all go at the Junge Stube on a sunny Sunday

January snow loads the trees in Bad Hofgastein

It is not all downhill in Sportgastein. Langlauf in the valley

Looking down on Grossarl on a sunny morning

Bad Hofgastein in January 2013

The Angertal Snowman

On the Graukogel Mountain 11th January

Snuff Machine in Bad Gastein

The snuff machine is a 'must to avoid' in Austria. Firstly, you have to position your nostrils over the machine and then the operator of the machine sets it in motion. There is normally a loud bang at the moment when snuff is fired in a jet straight up into your sinuses. This is a particularly fine Schnupfmaschine at the Graukogel Middle Station.

A little hut on the Graukogel in Bad Gastein

Sunny Sunday in Gastein - 13th January

Looking down on Bad Hofgastein

New snow cannons above Bad Gastein

There was a time when the the first week in January was a quiet and cheap period to come skiing but that was before the Russian ban on Christmas was lifted. They work to the old Julian Calendar so their Christmas is 13 days late. This means there are three 'peak' weeks, Christmas, New Year and Orthodox Christmas. Happily the revellers have returned home. Today, the Austrians were out in force, recapturing their mountains, and there was a jolly atmosphere about the place. Mind you, it helps when the sun is shining and the ski conditions are excellent. One of this seasons innovations is the planting of Snow Cannons on the west facing slopes above Bad Gastein. In the summer we saw them constructing a huge reservoir and today that water has transformed the skiing on the sunny and exposed pistes. The steep reds test the technique and the cruising blues are good for the less confident. We may have the Swedes to thank for the improved conditions. They own a number of Hotels in Bad Gastein and it is a popular destination for Scandinavians. Allegedly the Hotel Owners complained about the snow conditions and threatened to sell up if they were not improved. Whatever the reason, we certainly have another decent area to ski in.

Austria - There is no place like Alm in Bad Hofgastein

Mountain Restaurants 
One of the great delights of a holiday in Austria is to drop in at a mountain restaurant. Put the gloves on the stove and warm up with a hot soup! Bad Hofgastein is well endowed with excellent eateries.

Baerstein Alm 

Summer view at the Baerstein

At the top of the Schlossalmbahn train at Kitzstein turn left and about 400m on the left is the Barstein Alm. Non-skiers can walk down. When the conditions are right you can also ski down on H4. In 2011 the lack of snow has meant that this has not been such a regular haunt.

Nice family run house with great food. Off the main routes so a bit quieter and well worth the diversion in high season. Friendly waitress service which, apart from anything else, avoids carrying a tray wearing ski boots on a wet floor! That's probably more risky than ski-ing. Deer is very good here when it is on the menu. The schnapps is a bit special, schh! secret recipe! Has accommodation. To us it almost feels like we are visiting someone's home. Particularly nice in Summer as it is on some of our favourite walking paths and on a regular bike circuit.

Kleine Scharte Lift station

A large restaurant with service and self service areas at the top of the cable car. There's a large sun terrace up there. Ideal if you are meeting a non-skier. There is also an outside bar. Open all year.

Hamburger Hutte

Just to the right of the 6 person Weitmoser chair, lots of character. Traditional food with good service. Can get busy when the large Scandinavian groups are in residence. On sunny days, there is often a queue outside, where there is a snow bar, but seats are available inside. Waitress service inside. Closed in summer. Has accommodation.

Weitmoser Schlossalm

Large self-service or waiter service restaurant on the busy ski junction just to the left of the Weitmoser chair as you take the ascent. Food is good with some interesting dishes. There is normally a special dish in a massive pot on the counter. Very comfortable inside, our favourite spot is a turret on the far left of the entrance that overlooks the chair-lift and town. Has a large sunny terrace. Closed in summer.

Feldinghutte

On the run down to Angertal on H31/H32  friendly family run spot with an Austrian feel. Often has music outside on the large terrace. Not a big menu but plenty of variety particularly for veggies. Great inside when there is a World Cup ski race on the telly. Easy walk up from Angertal for non-skiers or Langlaufers, there is path up from the top of the beginners T-bar. Has Apartments, closed in Summer.

Hirschenhutte

Just above Angertal on B20 and also easily reached from the cross-country loop. Very cosy and worth a look in. Food and service is good. Closed in Summer. There is a sister restaurant, the Waldgasthof across the piste that normally has more space but a little less atmosphere, open in Summer.

Hofgasteiner Haus

Simple food. Not pretty on the outside. Off the main route so it doesn't get too busy. To get there from the top of the Sendleiten chair just turn left and follow the signs. Waitress service. Mixed reports on the food this winter. Open all year. Stay overnight and get your baggage delivered by a piste basher.

Haitzingalm Hutte

At the bottom of the Kleine Scharte chair and the top of the Haitzingalmbahn chair so it is in a really good position at the side of the Piste. Large terrace, and can get busy in season. Now has a big conservatory on the side. Not a large menu but healthy portions. Spaghetti is particularly good. Service is fast, friendly and efficient. Favourite place for a coffee stop, it comes with a nutty chocolate and a glass of water. A good place to meet other skiers as all abilities can get here.  Run by a nice couple, Tom and Waltraud, lots of locals use the place. It is also the place where we go most often when we are skiing. Open during the summer when the weather is fine.

Brandnerbaur

Ski down to the farm! On the right turn at the bottom of the H2a run down from the Aeroplanstadl. Family run and friendly. It is not too busy and well worth taking time out. It's closed in summer but they also have a hut (Brandner Hochalm) high up in the summer pastures - love it. Has rooms.

Aeroplanstadl

On the junction of H2 and H3, the Aeroplan is busy throughout the day, particularly popular as an apres-ski place. Self-service food, they have pictures of all the dishes on the menu so avoids surprises. Bit of a food factory and needs to be to keep up with demand, particularly in High Season. Impressive Apple Strudel. Good draught beers.

Kitzsteinalm

Large middle station restaurant on the right of the Kitzstein train and cable car station. Popular with the ski schools but not a place we visit.

Berglift Restaurant

In the valley at the bottom of the Schlossalmbahn Train alongside the lift station. Very good value and service with excellent traditional Austrian food. Very wide selection on the menu. Tyroler Grostl is particularly good. They usually have a good value lunchtime special menu. Also has an outside bar. Waiter/waitress  service.