Winter holiday in the Austrian Alps

Day trip to Kitzsteinhorn Glacier

We visited Austria for a winter holiday in a village called Zell am See located at the base of Schmittenhöhe mountain in the Austrian Alps. Winter holidays in Zell am See feature activities like skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. The village is old and walkable, and our flat had a view of Lake Zell in one direction and the ski lifts the other way.

To get to Zell am See, we rented a car at the airport in Munich and drove through the mesh of villages along the Austrian-German border in our jet-lagged state looking for coffee at the gas station. I was happy to show the kids the marvels of European gas station food—exceptional bread and cheese on sandwiches. And the espresso was not bad either.

The area surrounding Zell am See has been continuously populated since the Roman times, at least, with evidence given in a property deed issued to monks who founded the village in 743 AD. While many historic events have happened there over the centuries, tourism began to be seriously promoted in 1875 with the opening of the Salzburg-Tyrol railway line currently part of the Austrian national railway, OBB.

Our first order of business in Zell am See was to rent ski gear and get lift passes for the kids and my partner. The kids were excited about skiing in Europe, especially the youngest who is 16. I find it interesting that skiing is essentially getting around in the snow, which is a prehistoric activity as the oldest discovered skis date to between 8,000 and 7,000 BCE in Russia. The popularized middleclass sport came much later after improvements to boot bindings in the late 19th century and also the publication of Fridtjof Nansen’s The First Crossing of Greenland (1890) – an expedition on skis.

For some reason, skiing has become an adrenaline-fueled luxury sport often packaged in upscale marketing (like mountain biking) (a.k.a. going downhill fast in expensive gear.) There’s still a populist element to it with ski resorts in at least 60 countries ranging from mom-and-pop family mountains to the exclusive celebrity laden resorts. (Fun fact: check out this YouTube channel by Skier 72 that focuses on preserving the history of lost ski resorts throughout North America.)   

Postcard from The Grand Hotel in Zell am See with a view of Kitzsteinhorn glacier.

The Grand Hotel

Along the lake on a private peninsula is The Grand Hotel, a historic hotel described as providing nostalgia with a touch of imperial and royal charm. With the lofty grandeur of an old-world meeting place for the rich and beautiful, it is perhaps another way of saying a drafty old hotel that used to be fancy but is still quite expensive. Too fancy for the kids, in my opinion, who are content with street food, so my partner and I went there alone for an evening out.

Austrian service is particularly slow compared to an American restaurant, bar, or café. Be prepared for this. I realized my mistake after ordering a standard pour of Riesling while my partner ordered a large beer. I was left watching him sip on the amber golden pint over the rim of my empty glass, looking through it occasionally like a spyglass trying to find the waiter, while seated in kingly leather chairs next to the towering windows with a view of the lights from the Christmas market.

Which brings me to another point of ski culture: après ski and nightlife. The word après is the French word for after. So, it means “after” skiing. But it’s become the standard phrase for nightlife post-skiing, maybe to sound more special, let’s say, than ordinary nightlife. It’s just drinking bier, y’all!

(Oh, Austrian beer…is magnificent!)

Shopping and Markets

Two of the kids and I took the OBB to Salzburg to visit the birthplace of Mozart, the castle, and the Christmas market. The train snaked through the Alps along a river valley, occasionally crossing a trestle bridge over the rushing water. I remembered traveling through Europe as a student and the hustle of getting to the platform before missing the last train. The windows always open by an inch or so letting a non-stop draft of air circulate through the crowded cars.

Everything in Europe seemed crowded to me, partly because of the limitations of populations due to international borders and the centuries of development that raked over the same geographic places. I felt that again as we walked from the train station to the old city in Salzburg. It was the same tapestry of faces woven tightly together on the streets: locals, immigrants, tourists. Yet we could count on the stones to get there. The Christmas market was lovely, not because of the stalls filled with ornaments, food, and gifts. It was the atmosphere of people sharing in the enjoyment, admiring the greenery, lights, and tradition.

A view from Top of Salzburg platform at Kitzsteinhorn Glacier. (credit: Tulip)

Day trip to Kitzsteinhorn Glacier

On the last day in Zell am See while my partner and the kids made use of the 200 miles of ski slopes, I went on an excursion to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier. The Kitzsteinhorn is a mountain in the Eastern Alps in Austria that reaches a height of 3,203 m (10,509 ft). The glacier is a year-round excursion destination accessible by a series of ski lifts and cable cars. At the top, there is a viewing platform, restaurant, and a national park gallery.

While there are several ways to get to the top, given that both skiers and non-skiers can access the platform, I took the city bus from Zell am See to Kaprun to the base station where I bought a Ride up & down ticket. Then, I took the Gletscherjet 1 to the Gletscherjet 2 and then the Gipfelbahn cable car. (When you look at the ski lift map, there are other options.) The lifts were crowded (it’s Europe) and much of the time I was pressed among skiers clad in gear with poles and skis knocking about. There was a moment on the way up when the lift was so high that my heart flew open wide with excitement at the expanse like I was riding a cloud.

At the top, I went on the platform and took pictures. I was reminded of the Nobel Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul’s novel The Enigma of Arrival - the journey to a new place, as clueless as you are when you arrive, is a journey to a new state of mind.