Obertauern

Just when you thought that Austria was all the same, along comes Obertauern. The terrain is very much freeride-orientated with lots of areas to check out suited to all levels, and its noted for its excellent snow record. Obertauern is also home to Doresia and Heidi Krings, two pretty and pretty famous Austrian boardercrossers and it’s probably no coincidence that they became so good, with a training ground like this on your doorstep.

You can basically pick your spot and head off-piste whenever you see some powder, and then pick up the piste further down the mountain. If you’re in the know, or with someone who does then there’s some excellent areas where you’re almost always guaranteed to cut fresh tracks. A lot of these areas aren’t particularly hard-core to get to, but they are nicely hidden from your regular piste hugger.

There are also some epic freeride opportunities that you have to hike to, but make sure you’re with a guide or someone who knows the area and never forget your avalanche equipment. Obertauern is usually quite stable regarding avalanches but the devil doesn’t sleep, so never take anything for granted.

When it's not puked with snow for a while and you're piste bound, then you'll be probably spend a lot of time on the modern ski lifts, as many of the runs are pretty short. Having said that however, there is a decent variety of pistes - from easy cruisers to narrow cat-tracks and crazy steeps like the Panorama.

Beginners should be able to easily progress here, there are dedicated beginner areas and few drag lifts to contend with. A few of the chairlifts have some steep exits, but these tend to serve more advanced terrain, so shouldn't be a problem. 

There is a lack of a terrain park these days which is highlighy disapointing, and you'll need to look hard to find easy natural to compensate.

The town itself is stretched along the valley, but pretty much whereever you are staying you shouldn't be too far from the mountain and able to access the lifts without needing to take the ski bus. 

A lot of the apres nightlife revolves around the Edelweiss chairlift and the Mankei Alm, Edelweissalm and Lürzer combo and things do get very messy. There are a number of other bars, but it's a relatively small village and as such does punch above its weight on that front.

Included with your lift pass is aceess to the Grosseck - Speiereck ski area in Mauterndorf. It's a 30min free ski bus away, and well worth it, so do check it out.