Why ski in ... Austria?

By Rob Freeman, author of Snowfinder Austria

I'd taken a friend skiing for the first time, to Austria. And he had been bitten by the bug, his life had changed. But there was one problem.

“I'm all right on the slopes,” he told me. “But I'm scared every time I walk down the street.”

“Why on earth is that?” I asked.

“Well, I'm afraid to catch anyone's eye,” he said. “Every time I do they say hello, invite me into their house and out comes the schnapps. I'm legless by mid-morning.”

I could see his point. There is something that Austrian ski villages do better than any others: hospitality. It's in their nature. They love to see people having a good time.

An Austrian resort might not necessarily always outdo its French or Swiss counterparts on altitude, snow and the range of their slopes. But on atmosphere, charm, warmth and friendliness (the combination of which amounts to that untranslatable word, gemütlicheit) they are usually in a different league.

And après-ski, although a French term, is an Austrian art form. Many mountain huts (après-ski here often begins up on the slopes) are home to extreme partying.

Ask fans of Austrian ski villages what they love about them and you'll soon be knee-deep in clichés – the picture postcard scenes, the timbered houses, the schnapps and the gluhwein, the best après-ski and the coolest nightlife.

But, actually, there is also some of the best skiing and boarding in the world. And remember, skiing for many Austrians is not merely a pastime – it's a way of life, their national sport and the basis of the national economy. They know how to make sure guests come back time and again. It's too important not to get it right.