Chalet girls
HELEN JOHNSON gets the girls together for a skiing trip to Austria with a difference
IT turns out there was one essential thing I’d been failing to take with me every time I went skiing. That would be my very own all-female squad of fellow skiers to hit the slopes with.
It has to be said, I’d had some great past experiences of skiing with the fellas in tow. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t excited by the notion of a trip to Austria’s St Anton am Arlberg that would be lacking the undercurrent of competitive male bravado that can so often creep in on the slopes.
Our girl gang was assembled thanks to Snowsport England’s Go Ski, Go Board initiative, and Sport England’s #ThisGirlCan campaign – which encourages women to get active and ‘do their thing’ regardless of how well they do it or what they look like while doing it.
Since this particular girl spends most of her time on skis with a look of abject terror on her face akin to that of someone being chased by a pack of rabid dogs, I could relate.
The sentiment was also shared by the resort, which offers a range of freebies and discounts to women every January in a bid to encourage more of them onto the slopes.
There’s no denying St Anton has more to offer for competent intermediate and advanced skiers than beginners and those of a nervous disposition – the blue runs here had a distinctly ‘red’ feeling to them. But even I found more than enough gentle terrain to maintain a reasonably low blood pressure, thanks to the help of our ever-patient guide Ali, from the Arlberg Ski School.
After a quick and easy transfer from Innsbruck, we settled into our home for the week, the Hotel Valluga.
The stylish boutique venue is ideally situated close enough to the centre of town that you can walk to the main gondola in 10 minutes, but far enough away from the bars to guarantee a good night’s sleep out of earshot of the apres-ski revellers.
It manages to combine a laid back, Balearic vibe with all the Tyrolean home comforts you could ever want, which isn’t surprising since it’s owned by Mikael and Johanna Landström, who also run two popular hotels in Majorca. Its decadent spa and waterbed – filled relaxation room also provided us with a cosy haven when the snow got a little too intense.
It didn’t take us long to work out why St Anton has a reputation for having some of the best apres ski in the world, courtesy of the party atmosphere of Mooserwirt, and the surreal 1990s vibe of Underground bar.
But for a more family friendly post-piste activity, it’s definitely worth taking a look at the spectacular weekly ski show The Snow Must Go On, which featured daring displays of skiing prowess followed by a huge fire work display.
While I was busy honing my skills on the lower slopes, the more experienced members of our all-female powerhouse found an abundance of nerveshredding terrain to go at – 350km of groomed runs and more than 200km off piste.
When the time came to band together again to refuel, we found a number of dining options, including the beautiful slope side museum restaurant, which fans of British rom-coms might recognise from the film Chalet Girl, which was filmed in St Anton and starred a pre Theory of Everything Felicity Jones.
(On a side note, I have it on good authority that Ms Jones is absolutely charming and remains very down to earth to this day).
A short drive (or a blue run, depending on how adventurous you’re feeling) from the main slopes is the Hospiz Alm restaurant in nearby St Christopher, where they’ve nailed the art of rejuvenating tired skiers.
Not only did we have the chance to dive into an enormous communal pan of gröstl – fried meat, potatoes and eggs, followed by a hefty portion of kaiserschmarren – smashed up pancake with cream and jam, while our soggy clothes dried out by the open fire, they even took the leg work out of getting downstairs by installing a slide.
When your options are to clunk down a load of stone steps in ski boots, or whiz down on the slide – the slide is always going to win.
Especially when there’s an enormous wine cellar just waiting to be toured at the bottom of it.
When we were too tired to bother leaving the slopes, we found the newly rebuilt and conveniently gondola-adjacent Gampen Restaurant poised and ready to serve us a range of traditional and delicious Tyrolean cuisine.
Despite the lack of male company, this was never going to be just your typical ‘girly holiday’ – not that we didn’t try.
But even a proposal to stay in for the evening for a tribute showing of Chalet Girl was eventually voted down in favour of a bar visit.
The lure of St Anton’s apres ski was just too great.