Interactive Resorts - The Ski Holiday Specialists

Interactive Resorts Ski Trip to Ischgl, Austria.

Well, that was the season that was. It started, as usual these days, with a lot of writer-types in various publications mouthing off about the lack of snow (in mid-November) then, to our joy, the Alps raised two defiant fingers to the lot of them and dumped fresh powder all over the place. We here at Interactive Resorts had our noses hard to the grindstone throughout, and it was with a great sigh of relief that we put the phones down on the 15^th of April and flew off to the Austrian resort of Ischgl for our annual End of Season Blowout.

Our location of choice for this year was the Zita, a good quality 3* chalet just up from town center. It had everything we need; hot and cold running water, seventies bathrooms, someone to cook the food and someone else to serve it, and a roof. Perfect. Of course our akela, Mitchy, took one look at it and threw her toys out of the pram. She insisted on the 5* luxury chalet Abendrot and told the Boss that if she didn’t get it, she’d scream and scream ‘till she was sick. Cue one upgraded guest and a smooth start to the week.

Things began with a swing, and our first night out in resort was an absolute belter. Simpo rocked the dance floor as per, Kirsty eyed up her prey, Hawko dropped Mitchy from his shoulders, Phil drank beer off the floor and good clean fun was had by all. Ischgl’s nightlife is outstanding. If you like lively oompah beats and table-top dancing then you need look no further quite frankly. Absolutely brilliant.

Day 1 on the mountain and we were fresh as daisies. I can honestly say it’s been a long time since a ski area has impressed me the way Ischgl did. The lifts are modern, fast, comfortable and superbly well-positioned. The pistes are well-groomed, long and pleasantly varied. As for off piste, you could barely ask for more. Like her cousin St. Anton, Ischgl has an absolutely stupid amount of lift-served off piste and you can see it all around from the vantage point of your chairlift.

The conditions, whilst not perfect, held well. Oddly enough the sporadically inclement weather seemed to fall into place perfectly with our big nights out, which meant that when it was miserable up the mountain we were too hung over to ski much anyway, so it didn’t matter! The skies cleared after every bad-weather day and we notched up no less than 3 full days of bluebird skies and light, fresh powder up top. With a bit of exploration we had identified the best lines, and the powder junkies amongst us made the very most of it. Rob demonstrated a prowess in the powder matched only by his speed on-piste, Mike did a lot of moaning about having the “wrong board for the snow,” Ballsy held it together most admirably despite having just nailed the Paris marathon and Simpo got a good bit of practise almost landing “big air” off ½ meter drops. Stack of the week contenders were Jim for his elegant head-over-heels powder to piste dismount and Rob, who somehow managed to fall over whilst stationary at the bottom of a chairlift.

Thursday saw us all bundle into a coach for a day out in Solden, a neighbouring resort. We were shown round the chalet Hermann, a very lovely 4* property within easy reach of 2 main gondolas, then taken up the mountain by Sev, a strapping 6 foot ski-god who was to be our mountain guide. To Flora’s dismay, Sev divided the group up into the stronger powder skiers and the cruisy-reds types, and led the former off into the valley for the fresh pow. Solden’s ski area certainly gets my vote and is a bit better for beginners than Ischgl in my opinion, but the ski area doesn’t seem to join together quite so well. The locals were welcoming and an afternoon of rowdy après ski followed, during which somebody left the microphone unattended for a few seconds and Theo was allowed up on stage. We left after that.

The Valley Rally, which had been planned to perfection as ever, was slightly dampened by bad weather but the show of Superhero fancy dress was spectacular. Special mention went to baby Henry’s outstanding getup, the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles were immense and Beethoven.

And now we’re back! We had high expectations for the lovely resort of Ischgl, and they were met and exceeded in true Austrian style. It’s stunningly beautiful, lively, friendly and authentic. The ski area is just epic, with enough to keep even the most advanced skiers happy for a full week. In powder it’s a hard act to follow and the lift-served off piste is amazing. Iscghl, wir saluten sie.