Ski complex by the name of Skiregion Dachstein West is situated on four hills above a few larger villages. Dachstein West ski resorts are named after them. The largest village by all means is Gosau, and there are also the villages of Russbach and Annaberg.
The resort is situated at a not too high altitude, starting at 780 m, with the highest part at 2100 m above sea level. It is the reason why the whole lower area of the resort is wooded, while the peaks offer a magnificent view of the villages in the valley and the large formation of rocks rising in the direct proximity, with the Dachstein glacier, although not a part of this ski resort.
There are 31 ski trails in total. Only 5 of them are marked as blue (just one of these 5 trails is actually a trail, all others are training grounds for children), and 3 are marked as black. At hand are two gondolas and 8 chairlifts, while the rest of the resort is covered by T-bars and button lifts. On the other hand, the configuration of the ski resort is such that the gondolas and the chair lifts connect the lowest parts of the resort with the top of the slopes allowing you to generally steer clear of the T-bars and button lifts, except when crossing to Annaberg. Although, there is 140 km of trail length stated, the number is realistically quite lower and the entire ski resort can be skied through in a day or two.
From all the above stated, it can be determined that the trails are ideal for fairly experienced skiers. There are almost no blue trails and the black trails, which are merely a few, do not predominate. Red trails, which prevail, are not demanding and are all broad, thus if you don’t ski all that good you don’t have to be scared of the dangerous steep sites. In terms of configuration, the trails are extremely interesting and very attractive, very long without the neck-breaking turning points or narrow, blind curves and dangerous sections. In fact, they are ideal for easy and pleasant skiing and, in case the trail is not crowded, making carving turns in full speed. The only downside could be the awkward and faulty trail signs. Although the signposts are good, the ski resort trail map panels are at the important places and the trail plan is precise and good to orientate on, the ski resort clearly failed to point out potentially dangerous things. For example, at the middle of the fast trail, there is a wooden post, entirely unmarked and unprotected by sponge lining. There are no warning signs on the intersection of the ski trail and the T-bar either. You could even end up, coming out of the curve in full speed, on the part of the trail without any snow at all.
Besides marked and groomed sections, the upper parts of the resort are also excellent for offpiste skiing when the amounts of snow allow it. Only, bear in mind that offpiste skiing in this resort is, in fact, forbidden due to forest preservation. If you "get busted” breaking this rule, you will be fined in accordance with the official “forest law”.
Dachstein West also has special training grounds for teaching children to ski - there are two of them in Russbach and one in Gosau and Annaberg. What is more, all three places have large parking lots (there are a few in Gosau, considering you can take the chair lift, and to some extent farther gondola lift as a starting point), ticket offices, toilet facilities, official ski school offices and a ski rental.
Ski resort’s offer is completed with as many as 20 restaurants situated on the ski trails, with some of them offering accommodation facilities. The prices are similar to the prices of the other Austrian ski resorts, even though they are slightly lower. A goulash costs about EUR4, spaghetti Bolognese EUR6 while the Vienna Schnitzel with a side dish costs EUR9. Germknödel, for example, is nearly twice as cheaper than at other ski resorts. It costs only EUR4.80.
One day ski lift pass comes up to EUR 31.80 without a possibility of programming it on a chip card or a Swatch Snowpass. On the other hand, a more days ski lift passes offer a variety of advantages. For example, a 1.5 or more days ski lift pass also includes the nearby ski resorts of Katrin - Bad Ischl, Krippenstein - Obertraun, St. Martin, Lungötz, Postalm, Feuerkogel - Ebensee and Karkogel – Abtenau. There are also alluring family discounts, particularly created prices for a family of one parent and one child and parents with two children or more, with each child extra getting a free ski lift pass. Ski pass is also free for children up to 6 years, and there are also ski lifts where “point card” can be bought. For passes, which are valid longer than 4 days, a photograph is required (it can be made on the spot) and the prices of a 6-day ski pass come up to EUR138.10 off-season, EUR 156.30 in season.
A potential “downside” of this ski resort is the fact that there are other, substantially larger, more popular and up to date ski resorts such as Schladming, Flachau, Obertauern, etc. in the near area. However, if you are looking for a peaceful place to spend a nice weekend in, or even a whole week of skiing, you should by all means consider Dachstein West.
www.ski-mag.com
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