Postcard from Alpbach

Hi Doug, I have been going to Alpbach for 30 years now and although it has grown a bit in size, it is still the most special place in the world......feels like we are going home every time we get to the bottom of the valley. We stopped using a tour operator many years ago as the locals are so helpful and if you need doctors/dentists while you are there they are really easy to get hold of. Flights to Munich are easy and Four Seasons taxi service is very good and not massively expensive.

Sounds a lively little place. How much skiing is there?

It is a village, and there are 3 ski areas. It is not the vast area that France is, and that is the reason so many people return year after year - it has that special Austrian 'Gemutlichkeit' - which if you have been to Austria you will understand! However this summer they are building a new gondola link over to Auffach which will double the size of the resort - I hope it does not spoil it.

Not everyone wants to ski miles and miles every day - Alpbach is nice and compact, everyone is very friendly, in all the shops and bars and hotels, the lift attendants and fellow skiers, and the tourist board are very helpful - and I for one was very sad to leave.

Alpbach is very special, let's keep it that way!

I just looked at a piste map and it has less skiing than Niederau!
You're right, its not a place for people who want to ski all day, and I'd imagine you can ski every run in a morning.
I'm not sure I do know what you mean about the Gemutlichthingy.....I find Austria friendly and with a special atmosphere that you don't find in France, so maybe thats what you mean?

You'll be pleased to know I don't think I'll be making a trip there, not unless I am touring the Alps for a month or so.

Glad you like it though, as its good to find somewhere you feel at home in sometimes.

We managed to ski from 9.30 - 3.30 most days when the visibility was good (we had 3 'bluebird' days!). It is not for those who want to ski miles and miles of different pistes, it is more for those who are happy to ski the same or similar runs all week, gradually building up confidence, perhaps trying a bit steeper or faster, practising different things, and stopping to enjoy the views, and certainly seeing the same happy people from all over Europe on the slopes as in the village. Yes it is probably the same size area as Niederau, Oberau and Auffach put together, but there is nothing wrong with that at all - and like Ness Wood above says, she has been going for the last 30 years, so that says something to me!

Gemutlichkeit - there is not a direct English translation, the nearest we have is 'cosy', the Danes also have a similar word 'hygge' for when something is nice, cosy and relaxed.

Stick to France if it suits you, and leave Austria for those who enjoy it and keep going back! I know we will.

dgou wrote:

Stick to France if it suits you, and leave Austria for those who enjoy it and keep going back! I know we will.

I enjoy Austria massively.

But Alpbach would be too small for me to go for a week, as that's what we do when we ski - take a week somewhere, so it needs to have extensive terrain for us.

Pleased you've found your own little cozy paradise though.

When I was in my early days of skiing we went to ellmau. Great little resort in ski welt. We stayed in a small, 4 bed, pension. Really homely

I just wish that kind of thing could be replicated in the big resorts in France

Great when you find places like that!

Iceman wrote:When I was in my early days of skiing we went to ellmau. Great little resort in ski welt. We stayed in a small, 4 bed, pension. Really homely

I just wish that kind of thing could be replicated in the big resorts in France

Great when you find places like that!

There are halfway houses between the 2. Its called Serre Chevalier.