Alex's space

Sankt Johann in Pongau

Just had a weekend in St Johann in Pongau This is a resort where I used to work, way back when, and have every so often re-visited to see old friends etc, the last time I was there was 2002 for Christmas which was very good fun, however the change in the place since then is amazing, so on to some facts:

Location

Its Just south of Salzburg, so very easy to get to via plane and car / train either from Munchen or Salzburg. The Next town along is Bischofshoven home to one of the ski jumps for the 4 hills competition.

Skiing

they claim to have the largest ski area in Austria and it certainly has grown by at least double to include places like Schladming and Dachstein, the main ski area has improved out of recognition, there are high speed 6-man and 8-man chairs everywhere making it incredibly fast to get around.

Views at the top of Flachau

we were there at high high season, and it was very busy but we only queued a few times, and less so than I remember when I was working there.

So the skiing is as good or if not better than many French resorts, and most of the time you are skiing around the tree line and below, it is a little strung out potentially (not 1 big bowl of skiing but 3 valleys), but nevertheless still good fun with a nice balance of easy motorway and challenging reds / blacks.

The real winner in Austria is great skiing and everything else … the huts on the mountains, the apres ski bars, the restaurants, the clubs, the atmosphere and the Austrian’s them selves.

Mountain Huts

On the mountain, more often than not, you will get cheerful, friendly and occasionally stunningly beautiful, table service… One would think that Austrian cusine is not the best but you would be wrong, in a mountain setting, Schnitzl, salad and chips, or grustle (sort of potatoes, bacon, eggs, hash thing), germf knodle (un-cooked donut), krapfen (sweet or sour donuts) etc are perfect and not as heavy as they sound. On top of that you will have friendly service and a much smaller bill than in France. Example meal: 1 pint fizzy apple juice, Weiner Schitzle, Salad, Apfelstrudel, hot chocolate with cream (8000 calories) 17 Euros – which I think is very good value.

So if you are in Sant Johan try the following mountain huts:

The Kriesten Alm – Alpendorf
The Buchau Hutte – Alpendorf
The Krapfen Alm – Wagrain

Apres Ski

As with every Austrian resort I have been to, it seems that apres ski is essential, St Johann is no different with the Tennerhof being my venue of choice. It gets rammed with Dutch, Austrians and Germans (and the occasional Brit) and the singing begins … a bit of Anton aus den Tirol, or similar. The music has not changed in 15 years with the occasional ‘Life is Life’ or ‘winds of change’ and the traditional Bavarian or Austrian tunes have been spiced up with a touch of Euro-House beat. This part of the world lays claim to inventing the Flugel (Redbull + Vodka) and they still do plenty of that stuff although the way they tend to do it is: Cherry Vodka + Redbull cordial + a splash of soda, it seems much more powerful. So several hundred northern Europeans hyped on RBV and cheep beer, singing along to oompah oompah music should give you the idea. They are having a good time because that is when you should have a good time and as a side effect you tend to as well.

The Rest

Apart from the nightmare of Austrian twin beds (a double in any other country) the hotels and B&Bs are good and reasonable, you can swing a cat in most Austrian rooms. The towns have atmosphere and generally filled with likeable people, and on the whole the towns are not purpose built for the skiing, there were there before and have a life of there own, I have always preferred these types of resorts.

Finally the Austrian service mentality, is second only to the US, they want you to enjoy your self, and spend your money of course, but it is like the whole resort and town gets together at the begining of the season and the boss says – look, lets leave our guests with a good impression and lets look after them while they are here. The strongest example of this is the Ski School, the theory in Austria is that you look after your guests, make sure they are safe and enjoy themselves, oh and as a side effect they will learn to ski – this is truly the case.

Go there, go on now.