Travel: Rauris, Austria

Rauris, in the heart of Salzburgerland, is the most photogenic of Austrian alpine towns, surrounded by classic snow-capped peaks, sprinkled with pine trees and dotted with cute chalets. At the centre of the town is a huge, ornate 15th-century Gothic church, a reminder of the former gold-mining industry which dominated the valley for over a thousand years until 1927. It is still possible in the summer months to come and pan for gold in the clear mountain streams. Gold mining played a pivotel role in introducing skiing to Austria. In 1886, gold mine owner Ignaz Rojacher returned to Rauris from a study trip to Scandinavia with the first skis and the craze soon caught on. In 1902 the first ski lessons took place, marking the beginning of more than a century of ski tuition in Rauris.

Today, skiing and snowboarding take place on the Hochalm mountain and adjacent areas above the town. The resort is small and provides the ideal set-up for beginners, especially a skier like me wanting to switch teams and learn how to snowboard.

The first obvious plus for snowboarders over skiers is the discernable lack of equipment; there’s no awkward shuffling of poles and skies so they sit comfortably on your shoulders when walking in awkward ski boots. Snowboarding boots are like reinforced moonboots that buckle into your board. Instructors favour short boards for beginners which are easier to manoeuvre. You fall over a lot so a helmet is a good idea too.

After being kitted out, my fellow board buddies and I were introduced to our instructor Mike, from the Karl Maier Skischule. The first thing Mike did was to eye us up and down and say: “regular or goofy?”. Huh? Snowboarding is a sideways sport and when we move down the slope we lead with one foot. Left-footers are known as “regular” riders and right-footers are called “goofy”. I have it on good authority from a surfer that, originally, right-footers were called “un-natural” riders. Not being terribly pleased with this they decided to name themselves after the Disney character Goofy who had been drawn riding a surfboard right foot forward. I’d heard there were all sorts of weird tests that instructors do to you before declaring if you’re regular or goofy. Before we put on our boards Mike sneaked behind us all and gave us a wee shove from behind. To stop myself falling flat on my face I instinctively stuck my left foot out which meant my left foot is my lead foot and I was declared “regular” which I took to be a good sign.

We start on the nursery slopes, which are completely clear given that all the under-fives are on the main slopes, skiing circles round everyone else and speaking seven languages at once. It was rather cumbersome attaching the board to just one foot and attempting to walk to the start of a very gentle incline. After gliding on basically flat terrain we were ready to strap both feet in and try some heel-side and toe-side sliding.

The initial panic with boarding is that when you face down the mountain you start to pick up speed and all sorts of Mr Bean-esque capers come to mind. As a beginner it’s hard to take control of the situation. In skiing you can always snowplough and slow down. I put my left foot forward and slide my right foot back to carve a semicircle that leaves me moving parallel to the mountain and facing up the slope. Keeping my knees bent so I’m fluid, I move my weight to my front foot which turns me downhill. I rock onto my heels and I’m heading left, then onto the balls of my feet I turn right. These are what Mike called “J turns” and linking these together is called “switching edge”. I steadily progress down the slope in a zig-zag manner only falling twice within 20 metres.

Most of my classmates had a similar success rate so we decided to celebrate after our lesson with mugs of hot spicy gluhwein on the glorious sunny terrace of one of the mountain chalets. Learning to snowboard can be exhausting work, what with all the falling over and flailing about, so after each day I retreated to the Rauriserhof Hotel for a swim and sauna to soothe my aches and pains followed by some traditional cuisine in the hotel’s homely restaurant.

After two days on the nursery slopes we took the 15-minute gondola ride up the mountain to tackle a real hill. On a long, wide and easy blue run that’s perfect for beginners I began to pick up speed and link my turns more comfortably with looser limbs. As it got steeper, we started to dig in our edges which is rather tiring after a while. I managed a couple of decent turns until I finally reached the bottom and wiped out beautifully on the flattest part.

I picked myself up to start the run again but my confidence was a bit shaken. Nerves are the worst enemy of beginners. I started to overthink every move instead of feeling my way instinctively. Mike advised us to stop thinking and relax. Easier said than done, I thought to myself. I cautiously carved some broad turns in the snow, and at the first sign of panic I turned again hoping to kill the speed, while repeating the mantra “Don’t think, just do”. Keeping my shoulders parallel to the board and keeping my weight low, I finally completed the run.

Despite the name, apres-ski isn’t restricted to skiers, and so I met up with my new board buddies one evening for a candle-lit walk to one of the mountain bars to listen to traditional Austrian music while sampling a few Stiegl beers (Salzburg beer) and locally distilled schnaps.

The Rauris valley has lots to offer when it comes to winter sports away from the pistes. Cross-country skiers can use around 45km of well-groomed tracks and hikers can go snow-shoe walking through the fairy-tale woodland of the Hohe Tauren National Park where there is a chance you might catch a glimpse of an ibex or red deer. Romantic types can snuggle up under thick blankets aboard a horse-drawn sleigh and the courageous ones can try tobogganing.

I made it through the week without any major injuries apart from a bruise on my backside the size of my backside. Learning to snowboard is more difficult than learning to ski. The sport can seem really discouraging at first because there’s a lot of falling over involved. But once you reach that magical point of linking turns and building up the pace, carving your way down the mountain is exhilarating. So where do I stand on the great snowsport debate; skiing versus snowboarding? Well, I’m sitting firmly on the fence because when I’m in the mountains surrounded by unparalleled magical beauty, I don’t mind what I’ve got strapped to my feet.

THE FACTS

Jane Barlow travelled to Rauris as a guest of the SalzburgerLand Tourist Board (www.salzburgerLand.com) and Crystal Ski (www.crystalski.co.uk). Crystal Ski offers one week’s half-board at the 4-star Hotel Rauriserhof (www.rauriserhof.at) from £575pp (two sharing) including direct flights from Edinburgh or Glasgow plus transfers. Jane’s six-day beginner’s snowboard course with Skischule Karl Maier (www.ski-maier.at) costs from E185.