Austria's Alpbach Valley a ski mecca

Dec 8, 2009, 9:28 GMT

Kramsach, Austria - Erika's first efforts in the ski area were shaky. She made nice, sweeping 'snowploughs' coming down the practice slope, but the last turn went badly and she fell.

A resident of Nuremberg, Erika had resolved to take her first skiing lessons at the ripe age of 55. 'I want to be able to ski with my husband at last,' she explained. Tony, her skiing instructor in Alpbach Valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol, helped her to her feet and spoke to her reassuringly.

'Just relax and concentrate on what you've learned,' he said with perfect calm. 'Calm' is the watchword in Alpbach Valley, where there is plenty of space for skiing.

It was Day 4 of 'Skiing Lessons 45+.' Eight tyros were gathered at the resort of Kramsach to learn how to ski -- at their own pace, with a patient instructor and to have fun.

'We actually had cross-country skiing in mind,' said Hans, a 64-year-old from Germany and the oldest participant in the course. Curiosity triumphed, however. Gitte, Hans' wife and two years his junior, was also on skis for the first time in her life. Like her husband, she quickly got the hang of it.

The beginners had a slope all to themselves in Kramsach, which is how it is meant to be. 'We don't have a big network of ski lifts, but we've got a gently sloping hill in a quiet area for beginners,' said Leo Meixner, spokesman for the regional tourism association.

The idea behind '45+' is to group novice skiers who are middle-aged and older, let them learn at their own pace and -- once they have mastered techniques like the 'snowplough' -- turn them loose on Reith, a larger skiing area nearby, between the Zillertal and Wildschoenau.

'All that beginners need to bring with them is their underwear,' Meixner said. In Kramsach they can rent skis, ski boots, ski pants, an anorak and gloves.

Totalling 53 kilometres of pistes, Alpbach Valley is very different from the record-breaking Zillertal nearby, which boasts nearly 700 kilometres of pistes, Austria's steepest ski run and year-round skiing at the Hintertux glacier.

Tourism officials in Alpbach Valley are not aiming at superlatives, though. They offer a leisurely ski area to a niche clientele -- beginners 'in the prime of life,' for example, but mainly families.

The idea has been a success. No-longer-young beginners have been coming for almost 10 years now, and the area is also a popular destination for many families from Germany, Belgium, Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Recreational skiing started in the Alpbach Valley in the 1960s. 'The first lift in Kramsach was built with old American tank engines,' Meixner recalled. There are 21 lifts today and you seldom have to wait for one. Most of the pistes are classified 'blue,' which means they are easy.

'But good skiers aren't bored here, either,' Meixner said. 'There are black pistes as well' -- along with space for everyone. 'That's the difference from large ski areas, where people are pumped up the mountains and then hit a traffic jam. The pistes don't get wider just because there are more lifts.'

People who want to take a day off from skiing or snowboarding can find a host of things to do in the region's ten municipalities. Kramsach, which lies 520 metres above sea level at the foot of the Alps' Rofan Range, has hiking trails and the open-air Museum of Tyrollean Farmhouses, for example.

Prized for the unity of style characterizing its wooden buildings, Alpbach is known as 'Austria's most beautiful village.' Tourists in Rattenberg, home to about 400 people and Austria's smallest town, can explore castle ruins and museums, or watch glass blowers and polishers at work, as well as glass engravers and painters.

For holidaymakers preferring more action, the possibilities include snowshoe hikes, carriage rides, guided cross-country ski tours, tobogganing, archery, ice skating, mountain lodge parties and night-time lantern walks. Time in the Alpbach Valley can be spent enjoyably even without a ski pass.