Go ski

Resort of the week: BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIAOne of the trends of the past decade has been for skiers to expect their hotels and resorts to provide off-mountain activities and leisure facilities.

Bad Gastein has had a head start, as it has been attracting visitors to its baths and hot springs for more than 200 years.

Bad Gastein is not a typical low-lying resort. It’s a large town with stately homes built in the 19th-century Habsburg style. If you like just a couple of easy hours on the slopes, or your partner isn’t the world’s biggest fan of snow, and fancies a pamper or soak followed by a shop and stroll, Bad Gastein fits the bill.

The skiing and boarding are varied enough to keep even experts interested – although five fragmented areas mean that travelling from one valley to another involves the dreaded ski bus.

Resort height1,080m.

Range860-2,685m.

Lifts44.

Total runs201km.

Longest runEight kilometres.

Best runHohe Scharte. One of the longest runs in the eastern Alps, at more than eight kilometres, with a drop of 1,500m. Swinging around the back of the mountain, this isolated run travels through craggy peaks and barren moonlike landscapes into pine woods on its way down to the traditional village of Bad Hofgastein.

Snow parksOne.

SeasonMid December to mid April.

Snow reliability* * * *

Who goesPrevious visitors include the shah of Iran and every noble of Europe. Lately, the area has been rediscovered by experienced northern European skiers looking for a more refined holiday.

Value €€€€ Austrian prices are the most competitive in the Alps, and the Gastein valley is a year-round destination with a living town, helping to ensure that prices are fair.

Insider tipsA must-visit is the Gasteiner Heilstollen (gasteiner-heilstollen.info), a two-kilometre tunnel carved out by gold miners who found that it has healing properties. A mini train takes you into the mountain; radon gas and the damp, hot atmosphere are said to do the healing.

AirportsSalzburg, Innsbruck and Munich.

Tour operatorsDirectski.com, Topflight, Crystal.

OnlineGastein.com.

Snow report

Heavy snow accompanied by low temperatures this week have ensured that conditions in most European resorts are nearly perfect. More huge falls are forecast for Austria and western Switzerland.

Whistler, host of ski and snowboard events at next month’s Winter Olympics, in Canada, is reporting depths of almost 10m, a record this early in the season. East-coast resorts in the US have been plagued by unseasonal rain, but the snow was already deep enough to prevent any lasting damage.

Snow-forecast.com provides free reports for more than 2,200 resorts. Check 250 resorts on skiclub.co.uk or peek at your mountain of choice on snoweye.com.

Get your skates on

This week’s cracker of a deal comes from Crystal Ski. For €199 per person you can spend a week in the world’s biggest ski area, with four people sharing a self-catering apartment in Brides-les-Bains, a gateway to France’s Three Valleys network. Departing next Saturday, February 6th, the price includes flights, accommodation and transfers. crystalski.ie.

AOB

The film company that Warren Miller set up soon after he was discharged from the US navy, after the second World War, has captured some incredible ski footage. Its latest film, Dynasty, visits the Arctic Norway and central China, as well as Alaska, Canada and the Alps. It gets its Irish premier – the first of any Warren Miller film – at a screening hosted by the Ski Club of Ireland (which I'm involved with), at the Sugar Club, on Leeson Street in Dublin, on February 10th. Doors open at 7pm. eventelephant.com/ warrenmillersdynasty.

Kitwatch

Ski Club of Great Britain has launched a free snow-report app for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch. The application (left) features more than 250 of British and Irish skiers’ most popular resorts, providing information on the last time it snowed, the depth on the pistes and the weather, as well as webcam feeds, resort information and general ski and snowboard news. You can download it from iTunes via itunes.com/app/ skiclubsnowreports.