'Ow wow, snowy mountains!' my friend said as we entered Austria and were driving around to our location. After living in the mountains a couple of years, but also after a lot of skiing trips here and there I had a little bit of a different interpretation of the mountains. Yes, the tops has snow on there, but the slopes down had a muddy colour or were even more than green.
It had been warm over the last couple of weeks in Austria, way too warm. When percipitation was coming down, in the lower regions it would mean that rain would be falling in stead of snow. And rain is even worse for the snow deck next to warm temperatures.
So I wasn't too sure on the conditions what we would find. But once going up on the mountain, the snow was glorious and there were packs of it!
Salzburgerland and Gastein
In the south of Salzburgerland lies the Gastein skiing region which is a valley with a couple of towns in there. Dofgastein, Bad Hofgastein, Badgastein and Sportgastein are all in here. Some of the towns are connected with slopes, for some town you have to take the skiing bus which always drives around for free to hop on and hop off.
The skiing pass is a part of the Ski Amade option which you can also use for a whole region of other skiing towns, 900 km in total which is a crap load and way too much for a lot of people.
It would be nice if there would also be a pass for just the Gastein region, which is enough for most people. This is convenient, but it also really drives up the price to 70+ euros per day. Not cheap! Buying online in advance can make it a lot cheaper though. But with this kind of snow it can also make it a bit of a liability.
Green green green
Because yeah, on top the conditions were good. Visuals were good enough even though there sometimes were also some cloud and even some snow on the top. The snow was fluffy enough and the slopes were well prepared.
But going down to the middle statuion and beyond the snow was starting to get more slushy and I decided to not return to the town on 900 meters altitude again by ski, just for safety reason. Slushy snow is heavy, and so it also is on the knees.
You can see really well in the distance on where the snow line decided to stop for a bit. Sure artificial snow is produced here for the slopes down, but you also need below zero temperatures to produces snow. And it was more like +8 on the tops of the mountains.
But those views though! <3
Love the low season
This week in the Netherlands it is vacation which means a lot of people are flocking towards the Alps to also catch some snow. The main reason for me to never ever do that, is that is just way too crowded. Lines at the lifts, lines in traffic, and also just too many people on the slopes.
Not in the week when I was there. It was low season and I didn't have to wait for anything a single time. Also on the slopes it there was hardly anyone and that just felt a lot more relaxed.
I love just looking around while chilling in the lift up!
And yeah it was bit clowdy and there was some overcast, was that a thing? Nehh, there was still enough contrast to see decent. One of the problems above the treeline is when there isn't any contrast. The white snow starts in with the white sky and you have no idea of depth anymore.
As you can see on this little minion: you can spot the white on the white right? :D
So yeah, I was very fond actually of the Gastein region in terms of tranquility. You could also find this back in the nightlife and apres ski situation. It is also not really crowded there, which is a pro and a con at the same time. You have a beer fast, but not a lot of people to have a beer with haha.
But in terms of value for ski, affordable housing and decent snow: Gastein region is a nice go-to place!