Spring Skiing in Austria

A room with a view. The view from our hotel room.

Are you still hoping to get your ski on before the springtime sun melts the snow? If so, head to the Austrian Alps where the ski season lasts until the end of April. Austria is a great place to enjoy the last of the season’s snow and a glass of what some argue is the best glühwein in the Alps.

Lech

A river runs through the picturesque alpine village of Lech, with its traditional chalet style buildings and lush pine forests. Formerly a poor farming village, Lech is now a five-star ski resort, and a popular haunt for a rich and famous clientele such as the Dutch and Jordanian royal families, Boris Becker and Vladimir Putin.

Skiing

Lech has 110 km (68 miles) of runs, 34 lifts that connect with its neighboring ski resort Zür. Though Lech gets twice as much snow as other nearby resorts, the runs are more suited for intermediate level skiers. For those looking for more challenging runs, a pass which can be used at other area resorts such as St. Anton and Rauz, that are accessible via a free ski bus.

Miss P conquering the slopes.

The girls spent the week in ski school and were perfectly content. The instructors spoke English, and though many of the other children in the school did not, they managed to make friends despite the language barriers and most importantly, they improved their skiing. Not enough, however, to win a gold medal in the race on the last day of ski school. Miss V is already making a plan to dominate next year.

Miss V demonstrates her skill.

Non-Skiing

For the non-skier (that would be moi) Lech has some of the better options I’ve seen, the most impressive being approximately 20 km (12.5 miles) of foot paths along the ski trails. Hiking these trails gave me another vantage point from which to view this beautiful town and it also helped me be a better ~~helicopter~~ mom allowing easy access to where the ski school, thus making it easier to ~~spy on my children~~ observe my children’s progress.

Totally “tubular”.

There were also horse drawn sleigh rides, and an insane toboggan run. At least the 1.2 km (1 mile) long and very steep run, looked insane. My girls didn’t have the nerve to do it. They were, however, all over the snow tubing track. You’re taken up the slope on a drag rope then fly down the run in an inner tube while loud music thumps in the background.

The charming Hotel Kristiana

Accommodations

Though there are a number of ski-in, ski-out lodgings in Lech, our hotel, Kristiana Lech, was not. Located near the city center, it was just a 5 minute walk to the lifts, though we took the bus that stops right in front of the hotel once or twice to prevent being late for ski school. Hotel Kristiana Lech also has wonderful panoramic views of the mountains and a la Carte Kristiana is the hotel’s elegant restaurant that offers a culinary experience that rivals any found in Michelin starred restaurants. They also happily prepared more child-friendly fare the girls. The hotel’s other restaurant, Kaminzimmer, is a more casual setting where you can enjoy fondue – cheese, chinois and chocolate.