Despite the fact I’m from Australia, I am an avid skier. So skiing was on my list of ‘must-dos’ for winter. Unfortunately, I seem to have shacked up with the only Austrian who ‘doesn’t really like skiing anymore’. An oversight on my part. However, he was still willing to take me, given he knew how much I loved it.
Sadly, we were so busy sorting out Visa issues and participating in Christmas/Holiday events that we didn’t get much skiing in. Still, there’s a vast difference between skiing here and skiing in Australia.
Skiing in Australia:
- Wake up at 4am
- Drive 4 hours with a stop at a ski shop to spend an insane amount of money on hiring equipment
- Drive at least half an hour up a mountain
- Pay entry fee and chains
- Park 20 mins away from the slope and walk back or wait 20 mins for a bus
- Pay a ridiculous amount of money to ski for a whole day on a mountain of slush
- Spend at least $20 on deep fried slop for lunch
Skiing in Austria:
- Wake up at 8am
- Drive half an hour with a short stop at a friend’s place to borrow equipment (everyone owns it here)
- Walk 3 metres to the top of the slope and spend $30 on a lift pass
- Have options to ski from 2 hours to a full day
- Ski on actual, cold snow
- Eat an entire meal, including schnapps for 10 euro
Apres ski, anyone?
Next year we’re definitely planning a trip to one of the bigger resorts. I imagine I’ll be speechless when I see how much snow is there!
an aussie in austria 
3 thoughts on “The ultimate Austrian winter sport – Skiing”