When planning a family ski holiday, there are so many aspects to take into consideration and so many ski resorts to choose from, it’s hard to know where to start and even harder to find it all in one place. At Single Parents on Holiday, we have skied in many resorts in Austria over the years and have found some firm favourites. Let us introduce you to Obertauern, a family-friendly, easily accessible, and snow sure ski resort with varied terrain, perfectly groomed slopes, a long ski season, and plenty of high-end accommodation. Single parent ski holidays don’t get much better than that! So, without further ado, here is everything you need to know about skiing in Obertauern:
How to get to Obertauern
Obertauern is a ski resort in the Radstädter Tauern in the Salzburg Region (“Salzburger Land”), approximately 90 km south of the city. If you are travelling by air, flying to Salzburg airport and continuing your onward travel by taxi is by far the quickest and most convenient way of getting to Obertauern. The transfer will take approximately one hour. You could also hire a car, but make sure you carry snow chains and know how to fit them. Due to the altitude of the ski village, there is a good chance, you will need them. If you are travelling to Obertauern by train, the nearest train station is Radstadt, which is just over 20 minutes drive away.
A little Obertauern history
The first lift in Obertauern was built in 1948. But it wasn’t until 1965, that Obertauern was put on the map when it was used as a setting by film director Richard Lester for his film Help! starring The Beatles. During their two weeks in Obertauern, The Beatles employed a couple of local part-time ski instructors, Herbert Lürzer and Gerhard Krings, as ski doubles for Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Today, the families of Lürzer and Krings own a number of local hotels, shops, and restaurants, as well as some of the ski lifts and pistes.
The ski in/ski out resort
Obertauern is Austria’s only purpose-built ski resort and was designed with the focus on providing convenient ski in/ski out access to the hotels in the ski village. Its “bowl” layout is unique and means you are never far from your accommodation when skiing in Obertauern. This is an ideal ski resort for families and anyone else looking for leisurely skiing with the option to return to their hotel for lunch or to drop off tired kids. Not only that, due to its high altitude, Obertauern is also one of the most snow sure resorts Austria has to offer, with reliable snow conditions from late November through to May. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Obertauern’s ski terrain & lift system
Obertauern’s 100 km of pistes are served by 26 lifts, which can transport up to 49,000 people per hour. The lifts are arranged in a circle around the village starting at 1,630 m and reaching 2,313 m. Due to the layout of the slopes you can do a complete circuit starting at any lift and go either clockwise – following the red signs – or anti-clockwise following the green ones – and finish up where you started. For expert skiers, there are plenty of challenging red runs and several black runs, including the legendary Gamsleiten 2. Snowboarders are equally well catered for sharing a snow park with any daredevil skiers.
Where to après-ski in Obertauern
There are plenty of hotels, restaurants, and bars in the village if you are looking for a bit of unobtrusive après ski. For anyone looking for something livelier, the famous Lürzer Alm in the town centre and the mountain hut Edelweißalm at 1,850 m will not disappoint. For families, there are opening and closing concerts, a massive treasure hunt at the season end, and an annual Christmas market in December.
Single parent skiing in Obertauern
Single Parents on Holiday have organised single parent holidays in Obertauern since 2017. Due to the excellent snow conditions and the height of the ski resort, we have been able to ski in Obertauern every Easter right until the middle of April, enjoying the sunshine and the wonderful slopes. Our ski package holidays include much more than just your accommodation: One of our tour leaders will greet you and the other single parent families in the group at our hotel, organise lift passes, ski equipment, and ski school if required, and ski with the intermediate to advanced skiers in the group. Whatever your ski level, our tour leaders will make sure that you have company on and off the slopes. For more information on single parent skiing in Obertauern, email us at [email protected] or phone 0333 370 3701.
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