Austria 

Spotlight On Alpbachtal

(Originally written for OnTheSnow.com)
by Ted Heck

In a country where charming chalets of stucco and dark wood are seen everywhere, you know Alpbach must be something special when it has been voted "the prettiest village in Austria."

Window boxes are full of flowers that seem to know no season, an 18th century baroque church replaces one that stood here 400 years ago, and a farm museum helps substantiate the village’s claim to be a paradise where tourism, farming and nature come together.

Yet, it is also a popular conference center, where forums and seminars are held in a massive glass structure that presents dramatic contrast with the Tyrolean homes.

Alpbach is one of four villages in the Alpbachtal, a valley that is the next one after the Zillertal, when driving northeast on the autobahn from Innsbruck to Salzburg or Munich. The other villages are Brixlegg, Reith and Kramsach. (Austrians often talk in terms of valleys rather than mountains when describing their ski areas.)

The Alpbachtal is relatively small, as ski areas go, but there is enough here for everybody except hard-core experts. It is a family-friendly area with 30 miles of runs and 22 lifts. Skiers can find a 3,600-foot vertical drop, which may not be impressive by alpine standards, but it would rank in the top 10 if transplanted to America. Most of the skiing is on the Wiedersberger Horn, a huge ice cream cone that is nearly 7,000 feet high. Cross county skiers have 46 miles of track in the valley and winter wanderers on foot have 87 miles.

Mountain restaurants match the town in Tyrolean ambiance and are great places to fall into a European mode of skiing, i.e., two hours of skiing in both morning and afternoon, with a long break for lunch. It’s a time for animated conversation over specialties of the hut.

Size, family orientation, and farming heritage would suggest that Alpbach and the other villages are less expensive vacation spots than world class resorts. Quite true. A skier can stay in a three-flower hotel (they talk in flowers rather than stars here) like the Galtenberg, near the slopes, for $60 a day, including breakfast and dinner. If he is willing to stay in a farm pension, a skier can do so for a yodel.

The nightlife is typically Tyrolean and lively. Combined with the beauty of the village, it lures skiers who know that if they get bored, they have many other places to try on easy day trips. One example is the neighboring Ziller valley. It has 11 ski areas along a road that ends at the famous Hintertux glacier.

Innsbruck is less than an hour away by car or bus for those interested in sightseeing. It is one of the top three culturally rich cities in the country, along with Salzburg and Vienna.