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Powder in April! My ski holiday in Obergurgl-Hochgurgl

My last skitrip this season. No better place to go than Obergurgl–Hochgurgl. The Diamond of the Alps. I really love this skiresort. The slopes are perfect and the snow conditions are very good till the beginning of May.

© Hotel Edelweiss & Gurgl

“Firn, Fun & Fire”

Furthermore there is the “Firn, Fun & Fire” event, where the „End of the season“ is celebrated.

Every guest who stays in Obergurgl-Hochgurgl can take part in the skifinish program for free. And I was really looking forward to the various highlights!

Ski in and ski out

We stayed in a hotel directly in the center of Obergurgl. A perfect location with access to our own ski storage room and next to the sport shops.

With our skis, we walked up the stairs straight out on the slopes to the bottom stations of the Hohe Mut gondola and the Rosskar mountain railway. Both lifts were just a stone’s throw from our hotel. That’s how we started our skiing days.

© Helen Wissink

© Helen Wissink

Skiing lessons

There´s always this question during winter holidays: Ski lessons, yes or no? For me,  I love to ski with an instructor. After a few hours, I always notice that my technique is getting better.

During the stay in Obergurgl-Hochgurgl, I was skiing with the local ski-instructor Marco. He is a mountain guide in the summer months in Gurgl. He showed me slopes and places in the skiing area, which I wouldn‘t have discovered alone by myself.

The first tour started on Wednesday morning and we met again on Thursday. Marco is an instructor at the Skischool in Obergurgl. The greatest part of skiing courses in Gurgl? You can choose between private lessons or group-courses with the whole family. Additionally, all levels of difficulty are offered for all ages: no matter whether you are a beginner, an advanced skier, or a powder fan, the ski schools offer lessons for your individual needs.

Yoga in the Alps

Another thing that I wanted to do during my stay in Obergurgl-Hochgurgl was “Yoga in the Alps”. The Yoga lessons started on 16th of April and took place always twice a day. In the morning there was a „Vinyasa class“ at 9 am. In the afternoon there was a „Hatha class“ at 4.30 pm.

The morning class was a real ‘warm-up’ for a day in the skiing area. The perfect start to hit the slopes afterwards. The afternoon classes could have also been called “Après Ski Yoga”, because all muscles got really relaxed.

© Helen Wissink

I met Yvonne and Donovan Longaker from „Apura Yoga“ at the first class in the Piccard hall. I practice yoga in the yogastudio in my hometown and I was very excited about the class on 1930m above sea level!

Donovan was teaching while Yvonne was walking around and helped us to get the right poses. Unfortunately I wasn‘t able to catch the morning class everyday, but I visited all afternoon-courses for the whole week. The effect of the yoga sessions didn‘t fail – my muscles felt smooth and I didn’t suffer from muscle ache.

One of the big benefits of skiing in April in Obegurgl-Hochgurgl is the weather! Long sunny days are waiting for you! And the snow conditions? We even got fresh snow. Fortunately, I had registered at the local WhatsApp service for the channel “Weather”. I already knew the current weather for the whole day at breakfast time. They sent messages comfortably on my mobile phone, so I could choose my skiing clothes fitting to the degrees and weather. A lovely service for getting prepared.

Who expects fresh snow in April? Yeah, pretty much nobody! But in Obergurgl-Hochgurgl it is possible, thanks to the high altitude. The ski area really presented itself with “Top Quality Skiing”. The slopes were well-groomed. We experienced perfect skiing days in the “Diamond of the Alps”. Picturesque bright blue skies, sun and really good skiing conditions.

© Helen Wissink

What about restaurants on the slopes?

The Diamant of the Alps offers really good restaurants and huts on the slopes. You can visit a different one every day!

My favourites in Obergurgl:

• Hohe Mut Alm on top of the Hohe Mut gondola
• Nederhütte on top of the Gaisberg
• Schönwieshütte in the middle of the Ötztal Alps. Transfer via Skidoo is possible from the Steinmannbahn mountain station!
• Zirbenalm at the bottom of the Steinmannbahn

My favourites in Hochgurgl:

• Top Mountain Crosspoint. At the bottom of the new Kirchenkar mountain railway
• Kirchenkarhütte.  At the top of the new Kirchenkar cable car. The way is very well signposted
• Top Mountain Star. At the top of Wurmkogl

Besides good quality all the huts and restaurants have one thing in common: The breathtaking view!

All the huts and restaurants can also be found on the Website. You will find everything you need on the site and you can prepare and plan your visits at home. For me, the “Diamond of the Alps” has everything you need, but I would like to give you some more good reasons to spend your next vacation in Obergurgl-Hochgurgl:

• Personally I think it offers the most beautiful ski slopes in the alpine region
• Top quality skiing in the whole skiing area
• 24 modern ski lifts (capacity of 39.400 people per hour)
• No queues at the lifts
• 110 km of pistes (ski area Obergurgl about 56 km and Hochgurgl about 54 km)
• Longest ski slope: Wurmkogel – Obergurgl/Pill (8 km – height difference 1260m)
• Hardest downhill skiing: Obergurgl, Hohe Mut Alm – Gaisberg, Skiroute nr 2 and in Hochgurgl, Top Mountain Star – Wurmkogl ski slope 28
• Family friendly and traditional ski area

Conclusion

I really had a great week, enjoyed every day of it and I’m already looking forward to come back for the Ski-Opening in Gurgl at the end of this year.

© Helen Wissink

© Helen Wissink

Guest Author Helen Wissink

Hello everyone! My name is Helen Wissink and I come from the Netherlands. Since 9 years I live in Germany near the border to the Netherlands in Münsterland. Since the beginning of 2017, I am writing a travel blog about destinations in Austria. Of course I wanted to write about Obergurgl-Hochgurgl, since I spent my skiing holiday there for years.

Also visit my own pages, where I share my travel experiences with you:

• Blog: https://exploremorebyhelen.wordpress.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exploremorebyhelen/

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