A place to sample thermal waters and snowy slopes
As well known for its magical springs as its skiing, Isabel Conway discovers Bad Gastein’s delights
To ski or not to ski – that is the question... Those friendly sundappled mountains we admire minutes ago from our balcony window have disappeared. There’s no sign of them at all, hidden behind a blanket of thick fog. A mini snow storm now courses down the slopes. Springtime in the Austrian Alps, whose bright warm sunshine gives way to zero visibility in no time, must be a weather forecaster’s nightmare.
In search of expert advice, Michelin woman in a ski suit squeezes inside the hotel’s small lift next to a pair of athletic Swedish seniors. Fog and icy slopes, not to mention the odd blizzard, are normal conditions in Scandinavia, he explains, undeterred by this unexpected change in weather. There will, I fear, be little support from their quarter for anyone intent on retiring back to bed with a good book.
Their ski safari with other Swedes (Bad Gastein is known as ‘Little Scandinavia’) at Sportgastein, renowned for the panoramic view of the magnificent surrounding peaks of the Hohe Tauren National Park, will go ahead as planned. ‘Why not?’ they enquire mystified. But what if they can’t see anything? Outside, barely visible vehicles are crawling along with full headlights on. She gives a throaty laugh, and retorts in sing-song Swedish, which he translates: ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong outdoor clothes.’
THE COSY AND QUIRKY HOTEL IS NAMED AFTER MOZART YOU’LL FIND A DECENT LUNCH WITH WINE FOR WELL UNDER ¤20
Like Arctic explorers, they quickly exit the hotel on a strenuous uphill trek to the ski equipment lockers at the nearest lift station. ‘Be sure your goggles are suitable for the fog,’ he advises, ‘that’s very important.’
There’s nothing like having no goggles or the wrong kind to get you out of a skiing hole. What better excuse during inclement weather than to spend a morning wallowing in the naturally warm and surprisingly sulphur-free water of Felsentherme (www.felsentherme.com), the public indoor and outdoor-pools of Bad Gastein.
Encouragement to bide our time for an improvement in the weather, enjoying a cosy haze of steam and the sight of the hardiest skiers trundling towards wind-whipped snowy ski lifts on the opposite side of the road, comes from the friendly knowledgeable husband and wife owners of Hotel Mozart (www.hotelmozart.at), Isabella and Florian Krenn.
This fourth generation of local hoteliers remind us that Bad Gastein has always been as well known for health-inducing thermal waters as for its skiing, as the world’s most fashionable and renowned spa mecca in the past.
The waters may also possess magical powers. Finding it impossible, even with the best medical advice of the day to get pregnant after two of her babies died, Anna Maria Mozart soaked in Gastein’s waters over a week or longer here. Nine months after her return home she produced little Wolfgang Amadeus. Named after the genius composer and his family, cosy, quirky three-star Hotel Mozart in Bad Gastein cherishes its extensive Mozart memorabilia.
Pride of place goes to their limited edition bronze statue of Mozart which disappeared some years ago on New Year’s Eve and much later was traced to the USA where it had been put up for sale on eBay. Florian’s relentless sleuth work eventually saw its return home thanks to help from the FBI and diplomatic intervention, recorded in the newspaper reports in the residents’ lounge.
On arrival in Gastein your eye is drawn immediately to all those nostalgic Belle Époque hotels and villas built on the steep forested slopes, reminiscent of grand spa town tourism, an interesting departure from the Alpine stereotype of quaint wooden chalets.
Billed as the valley of health, five million gallons of hot thermal water bubbles up from 17 natural springs, piped into all the major hotels in Bad Gastein, its newer sister resort of Bad Hofgastein further down on the valley floor and the smallest resort of Dorf Gastein.
As far as skiing goes Bad Hofgastein is better for families whilst Dorf Gastein has a convenient small ski area, suitable for beginners, on its doorstep. None of the resorts are ultra-cheap but you’ll still find a decent lunch with a glass of wine or beer for well under €20 in town or in a mountain restaurant.
Enriched with natural radon (just enough to glow with health, but not in the dark with a little green halo
around your head, thankfully) from the mountains and rivers, Marie Curie investigated the thermal water concluding that it had a vitalising effect on human cells.
As far back as the 15th and 16th centuries a ‘bathing culture’ golden age first saw visitors travel long distances to Gastein where they took baths in simple wooden tubs to ease and even cure rheumatism and respiratory and muscular ailments.
Gastein’s regular visitors have included Hollywood celebrities, Europe’s monarchy and Kaiser Franz Joseph who commissioned the all-important railway link which opened up the town for huge numbers of health tourists from Germany and further afield
Arthur Conan Doyle decided to move the town’s waterfall to a Swiss setting so he could re-make the scene of the apparent demise of Holmes at the hands of Moriarty. A favourite local legend also centres on the Kir Royal Bar back in 1987 when a bunch of lads started an impromptu late-night guitar strumming session, only for the owner to ask them to please tone the noise down. The ‘rowdies’ were Bono and the U2 band members on holiday after recording The Joshua Tree.
After our blissful morning’s cop out at the Felsentherme Spa the tempest abates so we’ve no excuse but to prove our mettle taking to the slopes again for the next few snow-free days, despite some icy conditions. Still we feel revived enough to tackle a few red runs and easier slopes in a pleasant series of tours of the area’s ski terrain, recommended by Liddy van Gennip of Gastein Tourist Board.
If your idea of a perfect ski resort is to click into your bindings outside your hotel door, skiing home at the end of the day, then Bad Gastein is not for you. It’s also a resort more suited to confident intermediates than beginners.
The town was built on a steep hillside as a spa, not a ski resort, so an uphill slog at the start of your day is unavoidable. On the plus side, at the end of the afternoon you usually hit the Silver Bullet
SPORT GASTEIN IS IDEAL FOR SNOW-SHOE WALKING
Bar, packed with raucous young Scandinavians and Irish, offering great live music and welcome libations as soon as the lifts close, on your descent back to Bad Gastein’s accommodations.
The Amade ski pass covers a whopping 220km ski area in the Gastein Valley, efficiently served by ski bus and a good lifts infrastructure – a big plus for good skiers interested in exploring the wider terrain.
An unmissable trip, even without skis, to enjoy some of the most beautiful winter walking in all of Austria, is found at Sportgastein, at the head of the valley, served by regular bus, free with your ski pass. It’s a separate high ski area, based around an abandoned gold mining village, a remote outpost of stunning scenery, ideal for cross-country skiing and snowshoe walking.
A snow-shoe hike here, tramping through deep virgin snow is only second to the thrill of exiting the summit of Stubnerkogelbahn from the cable car. Here a 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding mountain landscapes above Bad Gastein unfolds. Take a cautious step onto a 140-metre suspension bridge made of wire mesh and prepare for an ultimate magical mountain moment, but watch out – those peaks could easily vanish in an instant in the cloud.