By Rob Freeman, author of Snowfinder Austria
Tirol is the province most obsessed with skiing, boasting a catalogue of world class resorts, including regular stops on the World Cup circuit.
St Anton am Arlberg is the cradle of skiing, where the first ski club and first ski school were formed. It is where Hannes Schneider revolutionised the sport before taking his ideas around the world.
Ischgl has high-altitude skiing that links with Samnaun in Switzerland – as well as being the biggest party village in the Alps.
Atmospheric Kitzbuhel is home to the most famous World Cup downhill race, the Hahnenkamm. Innsbruck, twice host of the Winter Olympics, is where you can gaze at some of the toughest runs in the world from the city centre.
Lofty Obergurgl, the highest parish in Austria, has one of the longest ski seasons in the Alps. Snowsure Sölden has linking three peaks and a glacier.
Mayrhofen is one of the most popular resorts with British skiers. The Ski Welt, one of the biggest inter-connected ski regions in the world, linking a dozen villages, including Söll, Ellmau and Westendorf, with a mouthwatering array of runs.
Alpbach is sometimes dubbed Surrey on Snow because of its close British connections. It has 5 fabulous glaciers, including Hintertux and Stubai, with skiing and boarding all year.
Find out more about the Austrian Tirol.
Vorarlberg, the most westerly province, is home to ultra-fashionable Lech and Zürs, the haunt of stars and royalty, and all part of the Arlberg ski circuit.
Then to Salzburgerland, where Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Zell am See, Bad Gastein and Obertauern rate with the best in terms of snow reliability, extent and variety – as well as the liveliness of their après-ski.
Styria has Schladming, famed for its World Cup downhill course and where downhill star Hermann Maier attended ski academy.
Austria's southernmost province, sunny Carinthia, has a clutch of fabulous resorts including Nassfeld, Heiligenblut and beautiful Bad Kleinkirchheim, home resort of Austria's sporting great, Franz Klammer, he of the 1976 Olympic triumph in Innsbruck, the most thrilling and daring downhill drama of them all.