Schladming Advanced

In the days when Schladming had a regular World Cup downhill, it was a severe test of the racers’ skill and bravery. “It was quite difficult skiing out of the trees into the open because of the sudden change from relative shadow to bright sun light” says Konrad Bartelski, the former British World Cup downhill specialist. “Imagine driving down a windy forest lane at night, trucking along at 85 mph and there is a loose connection to your headlights?

That’s what it was like chasing down the hundredths of a second on the Schladming downhill. The sunshine cuts off as the dark shadows from the trees, momentarily extinguishing your sight, with only a safety net to protect you from colliding with one of the stout tree trunks hiding behind them. And Schladming had one of the most dramatic finishes on any World Cup downhill as you sweep down straight into the town at 80 mph – simply breathtaking.”

Elsewhere, the Edelgriesskar – a challenging black run from the Dachstein glacier to Ramsau has a vertical drop of 1,500 metres. For a wonderfully scenic and breathtaking exhilarating run, take the Kaibling six-seat chair to the top of the World Cup run on Hauser Kaibling (red and blue sections) and ski down to Haus (Vertical: 400 metres).

Whilst not a major destination for off-piste adventure, Dachstein-Tauern is well known for ski touring with 8 back country routes for guided touring on or off the Dachstein glacier and guides are available via the ski school. The Edelgriess is an 18km freeride downhill route across the Dachstein massif down to Ramsau and the 25km Austrian national ski tour across Dachstein glacier to Hallstadt is recommended, with a guide.