Slopes of Schladming: Learning to ski in the mountains of Austria

Thinking about booking your first ski holiday? From what to pack, to tips for taking to the slopes, Anna O’Donoghue has all you need to know

Anna O'Donoghue got a crash-course in skiing in Austria

With the first glimpse of the slopes, panic began to set in. Thankfully, as one does in Austria, it was to the soundtrack of the Sound of Music, so it didn’t seem so bad: ‘Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright-coloured ski pants and warm borrowed mittens.’

I always pictured myself fulfilling my Ned Flanders skiing fantasy one day. Still, over the years as friends dropped the fancy terminology such as ‘Aprés’, ‘fresh powder’ and ‘off-piste’, I began to feel overwhelmed.

Along with the fact that any suggestion of a ski trip was frequently met with the same humorous reaction as my mother had when I told her I was hitting the slopes, “I just can’t imagine YOU skiing”.

Let’s just say I’m not the sporty type but if 2020 taught us anything, it was just to go and do it.

Located in the northwest of Austria, just an hour from Salzburg and the birthplace of Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the former mining town of Schladming. Nestled among the famous Dachstein mountains, it showcases scenes straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie and even has the history to write the script. The remains of the city wall, gate and perfectly preserved traditional buildings, such as the Bruderladenhaus, are all nods to its character and 700-year heritage. 

As we arrived, the sounds of bustling shops, restaurants and the famous Aprés-ski rang through the town. It wasn’t until I turned one corner, just metres from the town hall, that all fell silent around me. There it was ... the foot of the famous Planai downhill run, the enormous ski slope in the centre of the town. Its sheer steepness and overall vastness took my breath away. It was beautiful – towering majestically but casually alongside the local supermarket, hotels, restaurants and bars.

866m higher than Carrauntoohil, Planai is one of four adjoining mountains in the ski area, which includes Hauser Kaibling, Hochwurzen and Reiteralm, connected under the name Schladming-4-Mountain-Swing and is accessible via the local lift ticket.

For what seemed like the 100th time, I ticked off my packing list in my head to make sure I had all the beginner’s essentials. This included a minimum of 3 layers:

• A full body base layer, which is your thermal layer.
• A mid-layer, this could be a fleece or thin wool jumper. Avoid cotton here as it absorbs sweat which will sit on your skin and begin to freeze.
• A water-resistant ski jacket and salopettes – which is a fancy word for ski pants, something I learned when I arrived to my cousin’s house to borrow everything listed above. Finally, there are snow boots (to get around town when you’re not in your skis), ski socks, gloves and goggles. All other equipment, such as skis, ski boots, ski poles and a helmet would be rented.

Meeting the resort manager, Kevin Cusack, changed the tune to my musical soundtrack very quickly. His quick Irish humour, reassurance, information and advice left me feeling if this young man from Co Meath can zip up and down the mountain, so can I.

Tritscher, a ski school and rental shop, was located just 600m from our hotel and across the street from Planai’s cable car. I must have looked like a deer in headlights entering the shop, but the staff took their time to make sure all my equipment was comfortable and fitted to my body. Before I knew it, I was suited and booted and desperately trying to copy everyone’s actions, acting like I’d walked on skis all my life.

The Alpine Skiing World Championships were held in Schladming in 1982 and 2013, along with the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2017, which means winter sports are very much engrained into the essence of the town and its energy really reflects that. Hosting these events means a lot of investment has been put into making the facilities, viewing platforms and ski lifts state of the art. It is something I believed I would never get to experience.

I presumed I would spend all my time in the kiddie’s area part of the ski school at the base of the slopes, but Planai’s beginners’ area is located halfway up the mountain. This tends to be rare for a ski resort and a huge plus in my eyes.

Going up on the gondola, we were accompanied by a group of children between the ages of five and six, chatting amongst themselves as if unaware of their magnificent surroundings. My gut instinct was to follow their lead as I exited the lift, but they left me for dust, zooming down the nearest slope. Our ski school instructor, Oliver, led us to the beginners’ area while skiers weaved through and around our orderly penguin line. Cue a few hours of learning how to stop and start, hearing the words ‘snow plow’ and/or ‘pizza’, I surprised myself by not falling over once. 

Impressed, Oliver announced that he was happy enough to move us on to a blue run. With a high proportion of runs rated red, Schladming is heaven for intermediates. The mix of blue (19), red (44) and black (8) runs is perfect for intermediate skiers and boarders, though us beginners and advanced practitioners are also well-catered for.

*SMACK, BANG*. Yes, you guessed it. As if it was in slow motion, I was headfirst into a nearby off-piste area.

Anna O’Donoghue takes to the slopes as a first-time skier.

“The only way to learn is to fall,” Oliver tells me as he helps me up – all the while holding a calming smile. Did it knock my confidence? Yes. But was I afraid to fall again? No. Well, maybe not as dramatically next time. As our ski school was on the mountain, we were able to join the other skiers for Après-ski in Onkel Willy’s Hütte, located at an altitude of around 1,800m near the summit of the Planai. This is one of many bars and restaurants located along the Planai before you hit Europe’s largest Après Ski hut, Hohenhaus Tenne at the base.

For those not in the know, Après-ski is a French term from the 1950s which literally means “after ski” and is defined as a “social activity (at a ski lodge) after a day’s skiing”. It was the perfect place for my burning shins and bruised ego to go and recuperate. I don’t know if it was a mixture of the hot chocolate and rum, the astonishing views or laughing at my fall with our group of skiers, but all I could think about was getting back on the slopes. Is this what the skiing bug feels like? Had I caught it?

When the sun goes down in Schladming, the slopes heat up with night skiers looking to keep their adrenaline pumping after hours, and I can see why. Every evening from Monday to Saturday, ski runs on the Hochwurzen mountain are freshly groomed offering skiers the unique opportunity to slice through the snow until 11pm. The family-friendly mountain of Hochwurzen is accessible via the resort’s ski bus, free of charge, and is also home to its tobogganing run and hiking trails.

Tobogganing was never something I heard friends who had been skiing discuss, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

‘Feel the Rhythm! Feel the Rhyme! Get on up, it’s toboggan time!’ replayed in my head as I collected my helmet and sled from the rental shop, located at the entrance of the Hochwurzen. This time there was no Oliver to instruct me, just the open 7km natural toboggan run, which is one of the Alps’ longest.

After discovering how to steer and brake, I found myself sitting back, inhaling the beautiful natural surroundings of the picturesque Alps. ‘Freeing’, ‘peaceful’ and ‘thrilling’ were never the words I would have associated with tobogganing, but the ride from the summit to the base was a real ‘pinch me’ moment. Along the route there are four rustic cabins/huts to eat and drink before, after or during the toboggan run. According to my fellow tobogganers, stopping and paying one or two a visit along the way was all part of the experience. Don’t mind if I do! 

The Hochwurzenalm bar and restaurant is the second stop along the route and one of the most picture-perfect-postcard places I’ve ever been to. The family-owned restaurant offers delicious home-style Styrian cooking, which is local to the area. In 2019, the Almkulinarik project was introduced, run by famous chef Richard Raunch. This is a project in which Raunch, known in Germany for the TV cooking show, Küchenschlacht, developed a special Alpine-style dish for 15 selected huts in the Schladming-Dachstein Region, including Hochwurzenalm. Each hut offers a different dish, and all are developed with the input of the individual hut owners. If Aprés-ski isn’t your thing, ticking these selected huts off your list is a culinary experience you’ll never forget; not many food trails in the world require you to toboggan to the door.

Sitting outside the restaurant, close enough to the run to feel the breeze of skiers zooming past, was the highlight of my trip. The scenery of the snow-covered landscape triggered the replay of the same Sound of Music soundtrack I entered with. This time there was no panic, just peace – apart from a few noisy goats outside in a pen. Yes, lonely goats, on a snowy Austrian mountain. Just call me Maria Von Trapp.

We took a hike behind the log cabin to explore the terrain. I was hooked: the adrenaline of the skiing, the peace of the mountains, the magic of the surroundings and the abundance of activities left me wanting more. I may have another dozen lessons and half a dozen falls in my future but now I truly understand what Schwarzenegger meant when he said, ‘I’ll be back’.

• For more information, see topflight.ie or your local travel agent.
• Anna travelled to Schladming with Topflight, She stayed at the 3* Hotel Neue Post located in the centre of Schladming.
• Topflight offer seven night holidays to Schladming, which will operate from December 24 with the final departure of the season on March 11 for St Patrick’s week.