Go to Europe, winter skiing

Article and photos:Minh Trang

From the Netherlands, my husband and I were eagerly waiting for our vacation to go skiing in Austria. Austria seemed far away, but after just over 10 hours of driving, we were able to admire the long mountain ranges covered in white snow on the top and the green pine forests still covered with soap-like snow foam. The road was no longer straight like in the Dutch lowlands, but winding and curving as if dancing with nature.

Our destination is a village in northern Austria, about two hours drive from the southern border of Germany. It is Altaussee, located at the foot of the Loser mountain, where we will experience snow sports. We chose this place because it is small, cozy and has few foreign tourists, ideal conditions for us to experience strength sports and explore the local culture.

Learning... playing also requires a lot of effort

This is my third time in Austria, both times for skiing. The first time was two years ago, I stumbled my first few meters of skiing in two and a half days of lessons with a local coach. On the morning of the first day of class, I was in a panic with two skis under my feet. I was naturally unbalanced, and maintaining my balance while practicing skiing was even more difficult. The first lesson was learning how to put the skis on my feet. The local coach did not speak English. I did not know German, but I heard a few words that sounded like Dutch, so I could understand them.

My ski group consisted of three Dutch people who were my husband’s family members, two English people and only me who was Vietnamese. Most of the Dutch people knew German and were fluent in English so my two English friends had the opportunity to ask for an interpreter whenever the instructor was in the mood to lecture too much.

The first day we mainly practiced balancing and controlling the skateboard with the right technique and safety at the practice area for... children. To get to the top of this children's slope, we just had to hold on to a rope and be pulled up. When we reached the top of the slope, we had to skillfully and confidently let go of the rope and slide a little to the assembly point to slide down one by one according to the coach's command.

On the second day, when everyone was confident in steering and winning, the coach took us to a higher slope to have more space to practice. To get to the top of this slope, we had to buy a card to enter the gate where the elevator would take us up. The price for the elevator to this practice area is 25 Euros a day. (You can also pay by the hour if you don't want to skate in one place for too long.) These are iron shafts with a long elastic rope at one end connected to a continuous pulley, and a flat round piece of iron at the other end that you can hold between your legs to be pulled up to the top of the slope. With this type of elevator, your feet still touch the ground and you slide up the slope thanks to the elevator's pull.

When you reach the top of the slope, you just have to skillfully and confidently pull the iron out from between your legs and let it go, sliding to the side so as not to disturb the person behind. Even so, I fell dozens of times that day because I lost my balance. However, falling on snow is very smooth, but if the skis come off your shoes, it will make you struggle to put them back on.

Speeding while enjoying the mountains and hills

On the third day, the whole group cheered happily when the coach said that our group learned very quickly and well, so he would take us up the mountain. To get up the mountain, we had to gochair lift(chair elevator). Price forchair liftone day is 35 Euro for adults. It took us 15 minutes to get to the stop ofchair liftThis place. Here, the instructor guides you to the blue slope. The slope is actually a normal snow-covered road that has been leveled by the ski resort management for skiing only, and vehicles are not allowed to pass through. The feeling when you get off the chair lift and reach the top of the slope, preparing to slide down is indescribable when on your right is a white cliff, on your left is a white mountainside; faintly visible through the pine forest are the villages nestled beside a large lake that has been frozen for a long time.

Which level do you want to try: blue, red or black slide?

Ski resorts are divided into many slopes with different levels of difficulty to ensure the safety of skiers. There are ski resorts that have all the slopes, there are areas that only have medium slopes and above like Loser Mountain ski resort where we often go. Where I skied, besides the children's area where we practiced skiing on the first day, there were only blue, red and black slopes.

The blue line is the least steep for beginners. The first year, I only dared to ski the blue line and really liked the slope slope because I could ski and leisurely admire the view of the mountains and villages below. The red line is more difficult, requiring more confidence and technique to be able to slow down when necessary to avoid rushing straight down the slope which is very dangerous.

The second year I started skiing on the blue line, the second day I tried the red line and was immediately conquered by the challenge of this line. The feeling of standing on the slope looking down the almost vertical mountainside many times made me shudder with discouragement, but I encouraged myself that I could do it. It was like a battle of wits to overcome myself. Skiers who were familiar with this line were so excited to see them ski. They seemed to stand in one place, leaning from one side to the other, very gently gliding on the snow following the wind down the hill. As for me, I was both shivering and skidding, so I slowly but surely slid from one cliff to the other, slowly down the mountain. Yet when I got down there, I felt like I had just conquered something, very proud.

The black slide, needless to say, is the most difficult slide. To get on this slide, you have to sit on it one more time.chair liftto the top of the mountain. The time from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain ischair liftIt takes 30 minutes here. For experienced skiers, it probably only takes about 15 minutes to slide from the top to the bottom of the mountain, but for me, it took three times as long. Because there are also red and blue slides at the top of the mountain, we didn't slide straight down to the bottom of the mountain, but only slid halfway down to where the station was.chair liftthen go up, slide down a few times before sliding down the mountain to have lunch or go home for convenience. I have not dared to slide the black line yet but maybe next time I will try this line. Safety is paramount so if you do not feel confident then you should not do it, because this sport requires extreme confidence. If you are confident you will do it.

Enjoy the European winter

Our vacation is for a week but we don’t ski for a full week. We usually ski three or four days in a row or alternate days depending on the weather. If we know that it’s going to be a snowy and cloudy day, we don’t ski but instead drive to a nearby city to sightsee, shop and enjoy some family time together.

We also did not stay in a hotel but rented an entire house so that we could cook freely and have more comfortable family activities. This type of family vacation home is very popular here when you travel with your family. Especially large families like ours, seven members in total. The rental price also varies depending on the time and location, ranging from 1,000 Euros a week, like the house we rented in a small village, to several thousand a week if the house is located right in the ski resort. Perhaps that is why skiing during winter vacation is considered a noble sport because of the expensive prices from accommodation to travel.chair liftI heard that there are many ski resorts in France that are more affordable for students, but my family prefers a quiet place, so we chose Austria as our destination.

Winter is cold but beautiful when the snow falls. Some people call skiing an extreme sport. Some people call it a noble sport. Others say skiing is very dangerous. I see skiing as a community sport, it connects friends, connects family members. Maybe because skiing is not just about sliding down the mountain on skis, but also a time for the whole family to be together, preparing breakfast, going on excursions and cooking dinner or gathering in a cozy local restaurant.

More information:

- You don't need to buy your own skates or skateboard because you can rent them at the skating area for about 12 Euros a day.

- When going skiing, you should bring a helmet and sunglasses. You can rent a ski helmet for about 4 euros a day.

Pricechair liftvaries depending on the total time you want to use it. The price for the whole day is 35 Euros.

- The price of ski lessons is different if you take group or private lessons. That time I had to pay 30 Euros per hour. You can stop the lesson at any time. This does not include the fee.chair lift.

- Altaussee, a ski resort, is a small village on the lake of the same name in the state of Styria, Austria, with a population of over 1,800 people. This village is also one of the cradles of the salt miners in Austria. Visitors from all over the world coming here, whether in winter or summer, cannot miss the tours to the Salzwelten Altausee salt mine, one of the oldest salt mines in Austria.

Despite its small size, the village has around 23 restaurants and two ski schools. Although there are only three hotels, most visitors who come here in winter usually rent holiday homes from locals or in the ski resort.

Altaussee is 92 km from the nearest airport in Salzburg. If you stay in the village, you can take the free bus 955 to the Loser ski resort, which runs three times a day (two in the morning and one in the afternoon). Although the people are friendly, few speak English. German is probably the only language spoken here.

Altausee is a peaceful village, ideal for a relaxing walk. In the cold winter, the lake freezes over and is a pleasant place to take a leisurely stroll each morning before hitting the slopes.

+ Address you should contact to prepare information for your ski trip:

Tourist Office Altaussee
Tel: 0043 - 3622 - 71643

Website:www.ausseerland.at

The Thanh