According to some statistics, January is the most depressing month of the year for many. Well, definitely not for us. Family visits and the festive atmosphere drags on into the first week of January every year, then it’s my birthday, (also my mother-in-law’s just a day before mine), we usually get some snowfall and landscapes get their charming winter look, we are full of new energy while starting a fresh calendar year and the month basically flies by very quick. We usually manage to go skiing in January. Especially the last two seasons, we treated ourselves to a whole week of skiing abroad for a couple of times. This year we chose excellent ski resorts in the Schladming area in Austria, and together with our friends from Germany booked a house for 10 people with a pool and sauna in the Bergresort Hauser Kaibling by Alps resorts. Lu enjoyed ski school during together with the older two children, while our youngest two had fun on the special children’s areas and playgrounds at the foot of the ski slope. More about the ski resort and accommodation below.

The drive from Kranjska Gora, Slovenia to the accommodation took just under 2 hours, which is more than great. We made a stop in Villach, Austria and stocked up on culinary delights in the excellent ATRIO SHOPPING CENTER, then continued on the highway to FLACHAU and another 20 minutes on the regional road past SCHLADMING heading east. Around six in the afternoon, we finally got the key to our house. While waiting for check-in, part of the crew from Germany joined us, with whom Lu also traveled – this year we were 4 adults and 5 children in total. I must admit, I only heard about HAUSER KAIBLING ski resort and HAUS IM ENNSTAL for the first time when we found and booked this resort back in September, so we did not really know what to expect. We ended up having a great skiing week with friends in a very comfortable house while enjoying full sunshine for a couple of days but also cruising the slopes during a snow blizzard.

HAUS IM ENNSTAL | the main town under Hauser Kaibling mountain

---

HAUS IM ENNSTAL is a small town of about 2500 inhabitants just off the main road 320, under 10 min drive from Schladming if you drive east. There are several apartments, a few small hotels, Billa grocery store, a couple of sports shops and a few restaurants.

In the summertime, there are a lot of interesting activities here, but in the winter, of course, the main attraction are the snow-covered slopes of the 2015m high HAUSER KAIBLING MOUNTAIN, which rises above the town. At the larger parking lot at the foot of the SKI SLOPES at the LOWER GONDOLA STATION you find a SPORTS SHOP, the office of the SKI SCHOOL and the counters selling SKI PASSES.

BERGRESORT HAUSER KAIBLING BY ALPS RESORTS | our chalet

---

Just like last year, when we stayed in a chalet in the Wildkogel ski resort, I got a lot of questions about the house we rented this time, so here’s a little more about it. Let me first list our criteria by which we searched for this year’s accommodation: a private house with the possibility of “ski in ski out” (the adults took turns around noon to look after the two youngest girls which don’t ski yet and this option saved us a lot of valuable time), the ski resort should not be too small (we are all experienced skiers or snowboarders), not far from the German border (our friends are coming from far away). Bonus points if it had a sauna and/or pool for afternoon relaxation or in case of bad weather. This year we were a little late in our search, but we were able to tick off all of the above right at Bergresort Hauser Kaibling.

This resort is located right on the slope of the track that brings skiers to the main gondola station in Haus im Ennstal, and offers differently-sized and differently-equipped houses. We took the one for 10 people, although in the end there were 8 of us plus Mila, who officially still counts as a baby. On the ground floor, we had a heated SKI ROOM in the entrance hall and 3 BEDROOMS (including 2 with their own bathrooms and one with a double bed and a bunk bed without their own bathroom), all with access to outdoor terraces. On the ground floor we also had a SAUNA with an attached bathroom and an exit to our own terrace. On the top floor, there was a spacious KITCHEN WITH A LIVING ROOM, another BEDROOM with its own bathroom and a really large OUTDOOR TERRACE with a wonderful view of the surrounding hills. The house also included covered PARKING SPOTS, and HEATED OUTDOOR POOL on one of the terraces, which definitely added that special something.

Sounds dreamy right? Well, it was, although unfortunately also with some minuses. For this (quite high) rental price, many things could be improved or designed differently to make it even more comfortable. By this I mean mainly some kind of fence or even better, a hedge near the outdoor pool for more privacy, a few more kitchen utensils, better communication with the reception and a shorter / easier access from the parking lot.

I know that you are all most interested in the PRICE OF THE WEEKLY RENTAL – we paid around 4,200 euros in total, which included final cleaning and tourist taxes, so roughly 2,000 per family. Which is, of course, a lot, but if you divide the rental costs between, for example, 5 couples or 10 friends and each pays only around 400 euros, it sounds much better. In general, the prices of ski passes and accommodation have skyrocketed this year and we spent significantly more for this week of skiing than, for example, last year. Well, at least we took the advantage of what this house had to offer and enjoyed these extra features to the fullest.

Again this time we ate like kings, of course most of the credit for the excellent meals go to Charlie again, but also a little to the well-stocked stores in Villach, where we bought most of the ingredients. During the days we often ate on the ski slope, but in the evenings there is nothing better than hanging out with friends, good food and drinks, especially after the youngsters fell asleep. This is also why we prefer to book a house or a larger apartment rather than a hotel room when we go on skiing holidays.

4 BERGE SKISCHAUKEL SCHLADMING SKI AREA | Hauser Kaibling, Planai, Hochwurzen and Reiteralm

---

The slopes of the HAUSER KAIBLING mountain together with the PLANAI, HOCHWURZEN and REITERALM ski areas offer 123 groomed runs, from beginners ones to more challenging ones. You can access the ski areas from HAUS IM ENNSTAL, SCHLADMING, ROHRMOOS, PICHL and GLEIMING directly. From our house, we simply took the red track on skis to the lower station of the gondola, which in combination with another chairlift brought us to the top of the Hauser Kaibling ski area.

Of course, this time it was not possible to leave this place without an obligatory GERMKNOEDL and the occasional cold beer with fried potatoes on the ski slope. There are a good number of mountain restaurants available, where we were happy to make a short stop and rest our feet.

Our youngest members enjoyed a couple of hours every day at the free area for the youngest at WOLLIS KIDS PARK, which is located at the end of the black track not far from the lower station of the gondola. For children over the age of three, it is also possible to pay for childcare in the so-called SNOW KINDERGARTEN, with ski lessons for the little ones.

THE PRICE OF A DAILY SKI PASS in the main season is 68 euros for adults and 34 euros for children. It is, of course, a little cheaper if you buy multi-day tickets. 6-DAY SKI SCHOOL for children 380 euros (with lunch, but without the ski pass, which was an additional 170 euros), and equipment rental for this time is an additional 80 euros. It’s really not cheap, but we survived.

SKI AMADE | 5 ski regions and 760km of tracks

---

The HAUSER KAIBLING ski resort belongs to the SCHLADMING – DACHSTEIN region, which is one of the 5 ski regions included in the SKI AMADE SYSTEM, alongside SALZBURGER SPORTWELT, GASTEIN, HOCHKÖNIG and GROßARLTAL. With the Ski Amade ski pass, you can ski as much as 760 km of tracks, and the TASTE SKI AMADE initiative not only attracts skiers, but also culinary enthusiasts who, accompanied by local wines, enjoy the creations of dishes made from local ingredients in the huts and restaurants on the slopes. There are 13 CULINARY SKI TRACKS, and on the Dachstein Glacier at 2700m you can also visit the HIGHEST LYING MARKET IN THE ALPS.

We had a great ski week and can’t wait to see what white slopes the next season takes us to. Until then, we are more than ready for a warm spring and new adventures on a road trip now. See you next year Austria!