Alpine skiing in St Anton

Staying in Europe, its very difficult to stay away from skiing. During winters, its so much in the air, in all the discussions around you, that you end up being caught in its web anyways! I have skied before, but its always been very very patchy - a day here, a day there. Nothing concrete enough for me to say I can ski, only just enough for me to say that I can move on a ski without falling:).

Snow covered Austrian Alps

So finally I decided to go on a one week skiing trip to get adequate time to take lessons, practice and hopefully get a step further on the learning curve. Not sure if I managed to do that on this trip, but I did ski a lot in difficult conditions, so that is good enough:).

There is not much to write about a ski trip - you just ski everyday and tend to your aches in the evenings! So let me just focus this blog article on skiing and what it involves, plus a little bit about my one week skiing at St Anton.


ABOUT SKIING

Skiing is tough!! Period! There are no two ways about it. It takes a lot of time to learn the technique and get comfortable with difficult slopes. But I think the biggest thing to learn is to let go of your fear, and have the confidence to ski down in speed down a mountain! (I think that is what takes the maximum effort, and that is where I am currently stuck!)

Slope at St Anton

Ski slopes are marked based on their steepness and difficulty level. The slopes you start with are the greens, then the blues, the reds and finally the blacks. Once you can go over them confidently is the time to go off-piste, i.e., anywhere down a mountain not necessarily a slope prepared for skiers.

Its always easier to ski on fresh snow when the snow is powdery - that way there is less chance of slipping on the ice. But then the con is that when there is too much powder, there are moguls. Moguls are huge mounds of snow which get formed when skiers ski on fresh snow. They are like HUGE bumps on the snow and very tough to navigate, especially when you are a beginner. They were the bane of skiing in St Anton this time, I hated them so much! I could have skied so much better if they weren’t there, but anyways as my instructor said, this way I has already learnt to ski the difficult way!

Slope towards Stuben

An interesting experience about skiing in Europe is to see the children ski! Here in Europe, they start learning to ski at ages as young as 3 and 4 years old. So you can see these lines of kids, skiing fearlessly behind their instructors on red and black slopes - with no fear whatsoever of falling or anything else!! Even if they fall, they get up in a second and go on, without regard for what just happened. Its always very cute to see them all skiing, but it always makes me feel quite less - I really should have learnt skiing as a kid!

Slope at Lech

Another interesting aspect of skiing is how much people help you. When you are skiing and you fall (lot of times in such twisted ways that its tough to get up yourself), people skiing around you always stop to ask if you need help. I can’t stress how nice and helpful that is! There is a feeling of camaraderie and helpfulness and friendliness on the slopes, which is not always visible on the plains.

This time, I also noticed that skiing requires such a big investment on the part of the local authorities, its no mean task. The whole infrastructure all around is completely geared towards making life easier for the skiers.

Slope at Lech

The resorts are all well equipped with multiple facilities for the skiing months. There are enough restaurants and pubs and bars to keep everyone entertained in the evenings. The shops in the villages all sell ski clothes, rent skies and offer storage. Local free buses run throughout the day to help transport skiers to all the hotels around. There are even restaurants along the slopes for people to take breaks and have food/snacks.

Lifts to St Anton

There are many lifts running up and down - gondolas, chairlifts, button lifts etc, catering to different skiing levels, from beginners to advanced skiers. All routes are well marked everywhere with colours and numbers. All the slopes are regularly flattened using piste crushers throughout the day. A lot of mountains have risk of avalanches after snowfalls. So apparently every morning, explosions are ignited in the snow to create an artificial avalanche and make it safe for skiers to ski in the evening. There are regular patrols which run on all routes to help anyone in need. In fact a friend of mine had an accident, and she was airlifted with a helicopter within minutes of the accident, straight to the hospital!


ST ANTON

St Anton from lift

St Anton is quite a popular skiing resort in Austria, reachable by road from airports in Munich/Innsbruck/Salzburg or Zurich. Its a small little village located in a valley, with ski slopes all around. It must be green all around during summer, but right now it was pure white! Snow all around, on the roads, the hills, the trees, the wooden houses - a fascinating beauty in white.

St Anton at night

And at night it looked even more bewitching - with the lights switched on and all the houses twinkling in the white. Some of the houses even had their christmas lights on, which added to the twinkling against the white! It was a sight to behold and I don’t have words to explain the sight.

The village is quite small and walkable. There are many restaurants and bars to go to in the evenings. There is also a wellness centre, which turns out to be quite useful after skiing. They have saunas, swimming pools and massage options, and their sports massage is perfect after a day of skiing. They also have a curling ground there, if you are one keen to play.

The skiing around is mostly on the mountains of Gampen, Galzig, Kapall and Rendl, plus off-piste and a viewpoint at Valluga. Valluga is a mountain peak from where people can do off-piste skiing. Its a very high mountain, and has great views of the valleys all around. It was worth going up there just for the views, but the gondola was closed the entire time we were there, so that did not happen…

St Christoph

As part of the slopes at St Anton, you can also ski to the village of St Christoph and then onwards to the village of Stubens. Both these villages were very small, with barely 10 houses in each!! They looked very very cute and quite picturesque when I skied there.

Lech

If you want to go away from St Anton, you can also go and ski at the villages of Zurs and Lech. Both of them are reachable by bus from either St Anton (Bus No 92 - €4.60) or a bus from Stubens (free). The slopes at Lech were beautiful - very very wide and long, with pretty views till where the eyes can see.

There are a couple of ski schools nearby which you can take lessons from, I found them quite pricey though. The lessons for 3 days are ~ €180 and 5 days for ~ €240, in groups of upto 10 people. Private lessons are about €225 for 4 hours.

I should mention here though that the slopes in St Anton are not really geared towards beginners. The blues here are pretty steep than the blues at a lot of other resorts. In fact, sometimes our instructor would take us through the reds and blacks because the blues were steeper than them! And there are very few ‘easy’ runs. So if you are looking to start skiing, I wouldn’t really recommend this resort.

One thing I did notice about St Anton was that it looks like a popular destination for Britons. Most of the instructors were British, the people learning from them were British and even the random people we talked to on the ski lifts were British! Its like the British have taken over the resort, no wonder things are so pricey:). Especially the taxis! And there were no Indians around! At all! That is quite an achievement for any touristy place, but I guess skiing hadn’t caught up yet with 1.2 billion of the earth’s population!


ABOUT THE SKIING PACKAGE

Skiing is quite expensive, especially in Europe, when you total up the ski rentals, lift passes, expensive flights, pricey accommodation as well as costly food. This trip of mine was a group package through a travel agent which made the cost more reasonable. It was a trip with colleagues, which a ski enthusiast has taken the time and effort to book.

So we booked through SkiTotal, and the package included charter flights from London to St Anton, transfer to the chalet in St Anton, a full chalet (Chalet Elfie) booked for 24 people for the week, breakfast, evening cakes and dinner (including unlimited wine!!) and ski passes for the week. We were also able to store our skies near the ski lifts itself, which was very helpful as we did not have to carry them on our shoulders all the way back to the chalet. It all costed about 800 GBP which I thought was pretty reasonable as compared to if we were trying to book individually. Our only spending other than this was the ski rental and daily lunches on the slopes.

The Chalet we were staying in was called Chalet Elfie. Its a 4 storey chalet, with a dining room on the top floor, a lounge on the first basement and then two more levels beneath it (with a sauna on the third basement). The rooms were huge and comfortable with a view of the slopes on the mountain opposite. It can house I think about 30-35 people, but management has put a limit of not more than 24 at a time, which leaves a lot of extra room per person.

The Chalet is located on a hill, overlooking the Rendl slopes and is conveniently located on the bus route to the city centre. The buses are free and run every 5 mins during ski hours. And even if you do not want to take the bus, you can walk 10 mins down to the city centre where all the ski lifts are located.

The staff at the Chalet serving us was from SkiTotal itself. They were very friendly and helpful, and the food dished out by the chef was very tasty. So all in all, it turned out to quite a comfortable trip for us as the whole planning was managed by the travel agent and we did not really have to worry about much.


MY TRIP

We took a flight from London to Innsbruck, which is located about 100 kms from St Anton. It was a charter flight as otherwise, there are not many flights to Innsbruck from London other than in the ski season.

I must definitely mention here the landing at Innsbruck - it was completely bewitching. The plane flying in a valley surrounded by white mountains dotted with green trees, and then suddenly this whole long elongated town comes into view which extends till eternity. Wooden houses on both sides of the hill, some up the mountaintops and some at the bottom next to the river. In between you spot a church spire hovering over the other houses.

It was just so very fascinating, I don’t think I have words with me to explain it. It was one of those things which hold your attention forever - I was looking out of the airplane window and couldn’t take my eyes off the view at all! You have to see it yourself to be able to feel it. Wish I had captured it in a picture, but I was too hypnotised to even care!

Day of snow clearing up

The travel agents then took us to St Anton and Chalet Elfie where we stayed for the next 7 days. It was a typical skiing vacation. We skied everyday 9-4pm and in the evenings just had a nice time relaxing in the Chalet lounge and enjoying long dinners cooked by the Chalet cook. Some of the group went out to the village also at night, apparently it was very happening. As it was skiing season, there were also couple of events during night, one evening they had fireworks and one evening synchronised skiing. I was too tired with the skiing, but heard they were worth a trip down to the village.

Stubens

During my trip I took skiing lessons for 4 days (+1 day when I was in the wrong beginner group!!) and one day just spent skiing on my own. The days were very very hectic, I mostly skied on slopes on the Gampen and Galzig, with one day on Kapall and one on Rendl. During my skiing I also went to the village of St Christoph which was like a picture postcard! They were very hectic days and by the end you are completely exhausted! I did manage to not fall too much this time which was quite good:). I mostly skied on blue slopes with some reds and blacks here and there. The moguls were the toughest to deal with though!

Lech

The last day I skied on my own, when we skied all the way to the village of Stubens. It was nice to find your way across multiple mountains, ski on new slopes and reach Stubens. From there, we took a bus to Lech where we skied the rest of the day. Lech was a pretty town too, and worth spending a day exploring its wide long slopes.

Route 17 to Stubens

My favourite slopes over the weekend were 36 on Kapall, 1+4 “Happy valley” from Galzig to St Anton, and 17 to Stuben. Plus 62, 34 and 35 at Lech. Also, of the days I skied, it snowed for 3 of the days and the other 3 days it was the perfect weather with clear skies and a bright shining sun. It made such a difference to my experience, skiing on a better weather day rather than with wind and snow coming at your face and blocking your sight!

I do hope what I learnt during this week will stay with me, but I do feel that this time I got a real feel of what skiing is all about. Was fun though tiring:).


EATING

Mooserwirt

Most of the meals we had were in the chalet itself other than our daily lunches which were in the restaurants on the slopes itself. They were pretty functional, just providing meals in between skiing. All of them were pretty expensive though! We went to Gampen cafe, St Anton Cafe, Lendl cafe and Mooserwirt. Of these only Mooserwirt was worth writing home about. It was a nice happening restaurant which would start gearing up towards the evening when skiers would stop there for evening drinks (Apres skiing).

Other than we we went up a restaurant, Bifang Alm for dinner one day, in a piste crusher! They drive you up a red slope in a huge vehicle which is used to create the ski slopes! It was quite a ride, but not really worth it for me as I don’t eat meat:(. But if you do, its definitely worth it!


TIPS

Anyone going skiing, please use this app called ski tracker. Its a great way to keep track of your skiing - it tracks your routes, times, speeds etc and a must have for any ski trips!

London Weekend Getaways - 2

Adding onto the list of ideas on what to do in and around London, here is some more information on places you can get out to on a weekend - Cambridge, Cotswold,  Seven Sisters, Windsor, and Country Houses like Ashdown Park, Lainston House and Pennyhill Park.

Cambridge

Cambridge is a quick 50 mins ride from London Kings Cross (on a fast train), and a great way to spend a relaxing day in a student town, with a slower pace than London. I have been to Cambridge before, but last year I had to go there a couple of times for work and was impressed with how easy it was to get there!

I took a quick walk after work around the student town just to soak in the feeling of the old buildings around, the student vibe of the place and totally loved it. Even so near London, it felt like such miles away! It was winter when I was there but would definitely recommend doing punting on the river - maybe this summer?

Cotswold

We spent our anniversary weekend last year in the Cotswold area, in the village of Bourton-on-the-water. Funnily enough I have been to Cotswold before and had ended up staying in the same village even last time - I need to change it up! Anyways, again it was a quick ride away from London, a 2 hour train from London Paddington, get off at Moreton-on-Marsh and take the frequent public bus to Bourton.

Bourton-on-the-water

Bourton is a very picturesque little village, with its yellow houses, around the little stream which runs through the middle, lot of eating places and shops all around. You can cover the whole village in 5 mins, but the beauty of Cotswold actually lies outside its villages.

Of the two days we were there, the first day we just walked around the village, went up a hill and then came down, then walked in the other direction through some random fields and then were back in the village to explore the local craft and antique stores. Not surprisingly, even just walking around aimlessly felt so very relaxing compared to the running around we do in London. (Tip - 3G/4G does not work too well in such parts of the country. So before you leave the hotel, have in hand the walk you are going to do. Else you might just walk around randomly without clear directions (like we did)!)

The next day we did one of the walks around the village- from Bourton to the village called Little Rissington and then onto Great Rissington. The walk was for about 2 hours one way, and was sometimes well marked, while other times you just had to figure out which way to go.

Our trek:)

We jumped over fences, walked around lakes, waded through muddy fields, went up and down hills and basically had a very adventurous day! There was no one on the walk as it wasn't the time for Cotswold walks. Also, it wasn’t as comfortable a day as it was rainy and we got out boots full of mud. In sunny summer weather I am sure, it would be lovely. Though I enjoyed even now, it felt almost like a mini adventure:).

Of the villages, Little Rissington barely had 10 houses, so there was nothing to do there. However Great Rissington had a pub called Lamb Inn which provided us something to eat after the long treacherous walk! And also the energy to walk back:).

Bourton

In Bourton, we stayed at Cheltam House which was a small hotel right in the village. It was quite average actually. But the food options there were nice. For dinner we went to L'antara in the hotel which was nice. As was Croft which we visited for breakfast - right next to the river. Since we were coming back on Sunday, the public buses were not running and we found it tough to get a cab till Moreton-on-the-Marsh. It felt like such a different place, very tough to sometimes imagine that there are places where you can't just Uber it:).

Seven Sisters trek

The Seven Sisters trek is near the city of Eastbourne on the south coast of London, and part of the Seven Sisters Park. Its called so as the trek goes up and down seven white marble hills (sisters) overlooking the sea.

Eastbourne

We took a train from London Victoria till Eastbourne which took about 2 hours. Then we started on the trek just out of the station. It starts going up from Eastbourne, giving panoramic views of the town on the sea, and then goes up and down the seven hills.

The seven sisters, in white

The trek offers breathtaking views of the sea and the greens on the other side. The weather makes a lot of difference to the whole experience - when we went it was sunny and warm and so we loved it. You can even take breaks during the trek as there are a couple of restaurants on the way to have a quick bite. You also pass by Beachy Head which has historical relevance for UK’s World War history.

We finished the whole trek in about 3-4 hours, and then took the bus from the Seven Sisters Park back to Eastbourne (12, 12A or 13) to get the train back to London Victoria. Its a definite recommend for a quick trip outside London.

Windsor

Windsor is a very nice option if you just want to get out of London quick! Its just under an hour from Paddington - take a train till Slough and change for Windsor. The train from Slough to Windsor is exclusively to take tourists to the royal abode!

Boating on the Thames

This was my second trip to Windsor, so I did not explore the palace. But I still loved it just for a charm of being in a nice little town away from the madness of London. The Thames flows through Windsor and one thing I would suggest is to take a boat and run it on the river. They allow you to rent boats for about £25 which I think is pretty cheap.

Windsor castle

Rest you can also take a walk along the Thames - its got green parks which give quite a lot of introspection time. Or else just eat at the many restaurants all along. A definite recommend for a quick saunter outside London.

Windsor

COUNTRY HOMES

The next three getaways are all typical English countryhouses around London which offer a nice weekend away, in the lush suburban green lands, with a couple of activities for you to keep busy. They are pretty expensive I must say, but a nice option if you are willing to splurge within the UK:).

Ashdown Park

I spent almost a week in Ashdown Park and was impressed with the place - quite a huge old countryhouse, with a big abbey in between where we had dinner. I took multiple walks in its grounds, and they were pretty, going up and down through woods and forests! The rooms were not as impressive though as the other two!

Lainston House

Lainston house is located near the city of Winchester, and takes about an hour from London Waterloo. You need to get off at Winchester and take a 5 min cab ride to the house.

Its a nice house, with green gardens all around. But what I must definitely mention about the rooms in Lainston House is that they are the biggest rooms I have ever seen in a hotel!! Almost the size of our house in London! The area around looks fun for walks, though its a pity I went there in the winter:( and was busy the whole day!! Also you can always visit the Winchester cathedral when you visit there, another thing I did not do.

Pennyhill Park

Pennyhill Park is located about an hour from London Waterloo. You need to get off at Sunningdale and take a 15 min cab ride to the house.

Its a luxurious hotel again, with huge rooms, outside pool area, a big spa, tennis courts and a golf course within its grounds. Its very popular for weddings apparently. Again, the rooms were spacious and tastefully decorated. And it felt very very English, with fires burning in every room and loads of seating area in the main area to just sit and relax.

Bailiffscourt Hotel and Spa

Climping Beach

Adding onto the list of country houses, I spent 3 days in Bailiffscourt Hotel and Spa in Dec this year (2015) on an office training.  It wasn't the best time of the year for sure, but still a memorable experience. It is located very close to Brighton, near the village of Littlehampton, and it takes about 2-3 hours from London to reach there. Its 5 mins walking from the Climbing beach, which may be good in summer. The stony beach held no sway for us in the winter though

Bailiffscourt

Bailiffscourt was definitely not as luxurious a countryhouse as the others above. In fact it didn't even look like a countryhouse!! It looked more like a farm:). But its location, amenities and affordability definitely make it a good weekend choice. The accommodation was all spread out across multiple small buildings and the rooms were all very spacious and pretty. The beach is not much to write home about, but then it IS a UK beach:). There are two swimming pools in the property, both heated, one outside and one inside. And of course a proper spa and gym etc..

It is definitely a great place to spend a very relaxing weekend away from London. One thing which helps (or maybe not) is that the phone signal there is very very weak. So if you really need to be away from everything, this is the place to be! The overall grounds are also pretty though we did not get much of a chance to explore around. (Somehow I have gone to all the countryhouses in UK in the winter when walking outside is never the preferable option. How sad is that?)