Tell me all about skiing in Austria

[Alpywest]

Only been to France previously doing catered chalets, we will be staying in an all inclusive kinder hotel and it all looks quite different!

I usually like to ski in the morning with our group, have an odd private lesson, then meet the kids after ski school for lunch and hang out with them in the afternoon while the more serious skiers go back out.

Hopeful bump!

It does look very different to the concrete jungle that is most French ski resorts. I've been to Austria skiing many times and I love it. The people are friendly, the places are clean and well organised, the ski facilities are very good with lifts etc modernised frequently and it does get busy, but not usually nearly as bad as in French resorts. The buildings are lovely too, the skiing is often centred around existing villages rather than the purpose built resorts you get in France.

You'll love it.

Thanks this sounds lovely! Do you have any experience of the ski schools and adult instruction too?

I mainly ski in France but skied in Austria once. It was a LOT of fun. Much more schnapps and loud europop being played at all the mountain restaurants. And prettier too.

We only don't go because it tends to be more hotel based as opposed to chalets and self catering. Also, we go at Easter so go to the big, high, French resorts. Usually Tignes.

Ski schools in Austria tend to do all day group lessons for the kids with supervised lunches on the mountain, and all day group lessons for adults too if that's what you want. Otherwise private lessons are 2-3 hours whenever you want them.

The children's instructors will all speak English (and several other languages - most will be Dutch or Scandinavian) and are all specilaised in teaching kids, and the groups seem to be much more fun than the ESF boot-camp style of instruction. Adult lesson will be focussed on whatever you want to achieve, and again, the instructors will be from all parts of Europe and occasionally from Argentina or Canada if they have European family connections and can get a working visa. All will speak English.

Which kinderhotel are you going to? Some are attached to working farms. All will have their own resident staff who will organise activities for the children and there will often be transport arranged to get the kids to ski school if that is needed.

Ski school was 10- 3 with an hour fir lunch (we kept them in the school for lunch as it was a quieter private dining room rather than the busy restaurant)

I’m not sure if KinderHotels lay on lessons & things in which case they may work differently (like Club Med operate their own ski school which is included in their package price). If you’re in then normal lessons then, as others have said, its a very different experience to France as ski school is 10 - 3 and includes lunch on the slopes. Ours were teens so the later morning worked well for us and I did enjoy not having to do the breakfast/kit/boots/lesson rush but we did feel as though we were missing out a bit on doing some early runs. We did go out one morning before ski school but were constantly worrying that we wouldn’t get back down again in time so only did it the once. Then, in the afternoon, by the time we’d been for a coffee, going out again seemed a bit too much hassle. It was just a very different tempo to France where we get the lessons done in the morning, have a long lunch and then go out again for a few hours. I also found the lunch system a bit bizarre but was also in awe of the instructors. You pre-pay for the lunches and this gives you a daily token (which you then hand back to the instructor) which gets you a standard kids meal in various mountain restaurants. DC2 was in his element having chicken nuggets & chips for lunch every day except once when he decided to try to spaghetti bolognase. Meanwhile DC1 found the menu really limiting and liked the look of some of the other meals. Technically, she could supplement her token and get something else and, being a teen, she had her phone and bank app with her but the instructors always talked her out of it, even when we’d asked them to let her do it. Adult lessons were the same except that we did get to order our own lunch. I did look on in awe one day as I was having lunch as a male ski instructor in his early 20s skilfully managed a group of about 8 kids the youngest of which looked about 5 and the oldest about 10 and only a few of which spoke German or English (in which he was also fluent), dealt with dietary requirements, helmets, scarves, gloves etc and loo trips (getting the female instructor from our group to take the girls in his group down to the loo). Whilst he did a brilliant job, I did wonder how much a couple of the children who didn’t speak a mutual
language were enjoying themselves, if they had a clue what was going on and if the lunch break in particular was more miserable for them than just having a ski lesson (IYSWIM).
Personally, I found the slopes where we were (Lech) too steep & narrow compared to the wide slopes of much of the three valleys. I particularly hated the so called blues into the resort which I swear were blues simply because they didn’t want all of the less skilled & competent skiers to get the lift down the last slopes! We went at Easter and it was really warm so, by the end of the day, they were a horrible combo of slushy moguls. But DH and the DC loved the slopes. And, having switched groups mid-week, I had the best instructor ever and suddenly got the hang of a couple of things I’d never quite grasped before. Lech itself was gorgeous and we found the quality and variety of food in the resort and on the mountains much better than we’d had on various trips to France.

I absolutely love Austria for skiing but for an all round holiday prefer France. Pistes and lifts are brilliant in Austria - high up glacial options (we always ski for Christmas) and crazy mountain huts for apres. But it’s all hotels, quite formal meals or self catering and rather canteen like dining. And not much else to do in resorts. I like France for food, drinks, bars and restaurants experience of things to do with kids - swimming etc. I also find Austria much more expensive but can do same level of nice accommodation and easy jet flights cheaper in France.

I don't recognise the description of Austria being "all hotels, quite formal" - there are plenty of self-catering apartments and most ski villages now have apartment hotels where you can choose to self-cater some nights or eat at the hotel restaurant (or eat out) other nights.

As for there being "not much else to do in resorts" - where I ski most of the hotels and even some of the holiday apartment blocks have swimming pools, saunas and "wellness" areas, and there is a public pool as well. There is ice skating, horse-drawn sleigh rides, bowling, a tree-top walk, and a couple of floodlit toboggan runs. Prices are about 20% lower than in France and the quality of the lifts, infrastructure and accommodation and the level of customer service is just better than in France.

We now only go to Austria. My kids didn't get on with French ski instructors. Charming Alpine villages Great restaurants in the mountains. Infrastructure is way above French. We stayed in self-catering and half board, all were pretty good.

There is huge variety within Austria, so your intended destination matters. In general, though, there is much more charm than in the modern, purpose-built French resorts, more sense of hospitality and they are nicer to young children. Austrian ski schools seem to be kinder and jollier than ESF. I wouldn't suggest everywhere in Austria is equally good for families- for instance would avoid Ischgl (fabulous skiing and infrastructure but more adult party town than family-centred) and Kuhtai (snow-sure, but steep, icy and REALLY cold).
Where are you planning to go?

I absolutely prefer the mountains and terrain to ski on in France and Switzerland e.g. Chamonix, Andermatt, Davos but I have to say the holiday experience as a whole I much prefer in Austria. Since having our kids who are now 9 and 12 we've preferred Austria and self catering apartments. It's so relaxed and immaculate accommodation wherever you go. Much more for your money than in France I think. But we don't go for ski in ski out places as they are a complete waste of money in my book. You might think you avoid the queues but honestly how long does it take you to get down a mountain run? 10 mins? Then you're at the back of the long queue anyway.

In Austria I think the ski schools are much better at teaching kids. But I couldn't say that for certain all I know is that last year when we went to Val di Sere there were lots of kids (mainly Brits but don't think that matters) charging around and pelting down the slopes with very little control like they hadn't been taught properly. I know they have levels in France and is all about getting the next grade, like a swimming badge but in Austria its very different. Much more focus on techniques. The use of poles is another thing that comes to mind my youngest son is 9 and I just realised he has never skied with poles and he can ski to a very good level and has been off piste with us. I am not sure if that is common or not in France.

Also there are plenty of things to do in Austrian resorts, pools, wellness, sledging etc.

I'm with Myvividfox. Austrian ski schools are great, with friendly instructors. ESF reduced my daughters to tears. And all day ski school means you don't need to come back at lunchtime. In Austria, in contrast to France, the locals don't obviously hate you. And you have quite nice and "gemuetlich" 4* hotels with pools, hot tub and decent half board, which aren't really available in France.

Love skiing in Austria. We found with ski schools for our kids found the French concentrated on style and the Austrian on speed and stability. You may eat a fair amount of pork in a week but the cosy huts make up for it.

There are no greens, so blue covers quite a wide range. The blacks aren't normally that steep either, but we go to Switzerland a lot where the blend are really black! Eat Topfnudeln (jam dumpling with custard), kaiserschmarn with plum jam, and spätzli. Drink skiwasser which is just raspberry squash but the best thing after skiing. I find piste behavior better, at least in areas with not too many Brits.

Wow some great tips, I had no idea and it does sound very different to France, all sounds very positive! I like the sound of tree lined runs and a variety of activities.