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Germany
If it weren’t for the predominance of Austria, and in particular,
the Tyrol, Germany would doubtless play a more international role in
the ski industry. It certainly has the mountains – and the resorts.
And although these are not on such a grand scale as their Austrian counterparts, German resorts have their own special blend of friendly southern charm and gemütlichkeit. Yet such is the pulling power of its neighbour that hordes of German skiers prefer to cross the border and ski in places like Ischgl and the Montafon to skiing in their own back yard. And many who do ski at home will make a second trip each winter to ski in Austria.
Those Germans who are content rarely to ski outside their own country are more than happy that the reverse – Austrians and indeed visitors from other skiing nations visiting German resorts – is much rarer. Yet Germany has its own big guns in Bavaria’s Alps. Garmisch-
Partenkirchen, with its celebrated Zugspitze mountain and Kandahar downhill run, was the scene of the 1936 Winter Olympics, when alpine ski events were first added to the ski-jumping and cross-country events. Like Garmisch, the much less well-known but impressive Oberstdorf, which held the World Nordic Championships in February 2005, enjoys links with Austrian skiing: curiously, Oberstdorf’s neighbouring Kleinwalsertal is part of Austria but surrounded by Germany. Garmisch and Oberstdorf, along with the substantial resort of Reit im Winkl and lesser resorts like Mittenwald and Oberstaufen, close to Lake Constance, all offer some excellent downhill skiing.
Germany also has an extensive array of much less challenging but charming ski locations in the Black Forest, although many of these are more suitable for cross-country skiing. Altogether, Germany has a score or more of alpine ski regions, many of whose names will mean little to British skiers. Others will be known for reasons not connected with skiing. Berchtesgaden, for example, a collection of small resorts right on the Austrian border just 15 miles or so from the Austrian cultural centre of Salzburg, has a somewhat surreal dual attraction: a combination of superb scenery (the Berchtesgaden National Park is a region of outstanding natural beauty) and unsettling links with Adolf Hitler. Many more visitors come to this area to sightsee than to ski, but even from the ski area you can see the infamous ‘Eagle's Nest’ - Hitler's mountain refuge in the Second World War and one of the main Nazi strongholds which, in 1944 was protected by an SS commando unit of 2000 men. There was sufficient food for 250 people for six months, along with a gas system for cooking and heating powered by a U boat generator, and a huge store of coal - around 10,000 tons. On a more uplifting note, Oberammergau’s local skiing at Kolben and Laber attracts skiers who are also doubtless intrigued to visit the location for German’s celebrated passion play. Performed once a decade, this centuries old event involves more than 2,000 local actors, singers, instrumentalists and stage technicians in a performance lasting some six hours. Skiing in Germany definitely has its attractions - whether you try the larger resorts or the more intimate smaller ones.
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