Reviews
A real SKI holiday
Going on a SKI (Spending the Kids' Inheritance) holiday has become the trip of choice for many newlyliberated
parents. With her children off her hands, Cathy Edson literally slopes off
IAM far from dead, either physically
or mentally, so the prospect of a
holiday for me rather than everyone
else in the family was quite appealing
and what better than a
fresh challenge to go with it. Austria's
Ski Amadé offered what I needed, clean
air and the chance to learn to ski in an
adult-only environment. Sure, there
were kids around, but none were part of
our group.
The beauty of Ski Amadé, is that it is
large enough to offer something for
everyone, both on and off the slopes.
Saunas, facials, therapies and treatments
would all form part of my break.
Ski Amadé is serviced perfectly by
Salzburg airport, a good place to fly into.
It is close to some of the best skiing and
transfers are both inexpensive and
frequent.
Being where it is, the Ski Amadé area
attracts much of the early season snow
and keeps it well into late spring. Even
the last season, which has seen much of
Europe relatively sweltering, there was
good skiing to be had in places such as
Wagrain.
But let's look closer at this Learn
to Ski package. It operates via
specific hotels in the region but
that doesn't mean top dollar
pricing. Many of the hotels are
very reasonably priced while
offering a very high level of
service. The core of the scheme
is that if you don't achieve your
goal of learning to ski in the
time you are there, Ski Amadé
will refund all of your lift
ticket fees, all of your ski
rental fees, all of your tuition
fees and up to 50 per cent of
your accommodation costs.
That is a fabulous deal which
cannot be beaten.
Of course, there are
conditions attached: if you
make no effort to learn to
ski and look upon this as
a route to a cheap holiday
then you will dip out,
equally if you
progress really well
and suddenly get
bad on your last day
that will not count
either, neither will suddenly developing
sneezes on your last day (broken legs do
count, but they are very few and far
between).
My instructor was the lightly-tanned
Finn, a local lad who had skied the same
hills since the age of two. Being blessed
with patience by the bucket load he
helped me progress quickly from simply
standing up (not always that easy),
through simple ploughing to amateur
gliding level in days. Let's be realistic, we
wouldn't expect World Cup standards in
week one.
Good equipment meant I was cushioned
from the aches and pains suffered
by the ill prepared. Clothing from
Tsunami and Columbia and boots from
Head meant comfort and protection at
all times to such an extent by the end of
the week I was more at home in ski gear
than out of it.
But for this week I was on the
up and up, showing off my
new skills on the slopes and
booting my hubby off to the
bar while I allowed myself to
be pampered in the spa.
This is what life should
really be about.
To take advantage of
the Learn to Ski scheme
you need to book in advance
via the Ski Amadé
website, so it favours independent
travellers
more than package holiday
makers.
Wagrain has cosy restaurants
and bars, welcoming
people, great links to neighbouring
ski areas and miles
of milky white ski slopes.
Next to the lift station is
the Sportshotel, a fourstar
haven for the ski fraternity.
With a complete
spa, wellness,
swimming and general
hospitality
areas, it leaves no
boxes unticked.
This is far from the
only hotel, but so
convenient when
carrying skis.
When it comes to skiing, you can stay
in the village area or head in the direction
of Alpendorf and Sankt Johann, or
opposite towards the home of Herman
Meier, Flachau. Both offer some great
runs and a range of slopes to accommodate
all levels of ability. Better still there
is a huge selection of on mountain huts
(cafes/bars) to take refreshment in.
The Ski Amadé is a co-operative of 25
ski resorts within five areas, each has its
own character and individual appeal
and each offers a unique opportunity to
sample a different taste of Austria. The
single ski ticket opens the door to all
areas so there is no reason at all not to
experience the best in European skiing.
In all there is 860km of pisted runs
open to all spread over easy, moderate
and expert terrain.
The Learn to Ski programme is quite
unique and a testament to Austria's confidence
in its own product. As well as offering
an opportunity to enjoy winter
sport and the bonuses it carries, it also
offers participants the chance to discover
some of what is still the best in
Europe.
This has to be an ultimate opportunity
to reinvent a life for yourself in safe
yet exciting surroundings. And for once
in your life doing something just for you.
TRAVEL FACTS
*Low cost flights to Salzburg are
available from many UK regional
airports
* Transfer times from Salzburg
vary from one to two hours
* Full information on Ski Amadé
is to be found at
www.skiamade.com
* Cathy Edson was a guest at the
Sporthotel in Wagrain see
www.sporthotel.at
* Skis supplied by Rudi Huber
* Clothing supplied by Tsunami
(www.gbrsports.co.uk) and
Columbia Sportswear
(www.columbia.com)
* Information on Wagrain can be
found at www.wagrain.info
10:00am Saturday 8th December 2007
Print 
Email this
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
