Remote work & solo ski seasons: Tips & Advice - Austria
Updated: Mar 11, 2022
Career break? Digital Nomad / Remote worker? Quit? Lucky you!
The below tips are based off my findings, I settled on a mix of remote work and ski holiday in Austria, read on to see why this is a great option and how to organise your own trip.
I had wanted to take my love of Ski holidays to the next level for a while, having visions of quitting my office job and taking a few months out was high on my list. Fate decided to throw a pandemic in the way and I managed to get another job to tide me over.
2 years in and by the 2021/22 season I'd had enough, even with rising uncertainty I managed to agree continued remote work with my day job and started researching and booking my trip.
#1 Staying put or Roaming?
One of the first things to consider in your planning
I simply could not fathom the idea of skiing one area for more than a week or 2, at least not on my own. I love exploring new places, so this was a natural choice for me. It also allowed me to choose different set ups depending on if I was going to be holidaying or working the majority of the time. I decided on 8 weeks at 8 different resorts, you'll see below how that's panning out...
Here are a few things to consider from my experience thus far:
If you move about every week, be prepared to loose at least a day a week to travel. The really dedicated can get up early and maybe squeeze in an afternoon ski at the other end but that depends on how keen you are and when you can book in/check out.
Do you want to spend your days off travelling?
Speaking from week 3 of a no days off tactic right now, my legs are wrecked. I'm luckily sitting and waiting out a snow storm this morning, very cosy and smug. If I could do it again, I would consider staying put for maybe 2 weeks at a time, mixing work and really getting a feel of the resort.
It is way more expensive. I've found some great deals and I'm not living the luxury lifestyle (not every week #treatyourself ) but the fact is you can get a decent AirBnb for £2k a month if you plan and look hard enough because a lot of places do great monthly rates vs. their weekly prices.
However, there's a lot more that goes into it, so check out the sections below.
Considerations for life out of your routine
There's a fair few things to consider when changing your lifestyle and choosing a place to live.
What is important for you to get from your trip?
The atmosphere you're staying in - are you looking to immerse yourself in the culture and community? Do you want a sense of really living there or are you happy to simply observe life from the outside.
Convenience: the amenities within walking distance, the distance to the ski area, what compromises are you willing to make?
What catering options do you need? How fussy are you with food?
Do you need a B'n'B? A half board hotel?
A studio with a small kitchen?
An apartment with a full kitchen?
Eating out is expensive and sometimes it gets boring, depending on where you stay the options can be limited so choose wisely.
Honestly, as I write this I'm on week 3 of eating out in resort and I regret not booking a studio for this week. I take food very seriously, both in terms of quality and health - I'm very much done with the potatoes, bread and pork products that are the vast majority of offers. Trying to get a decent portion of vegetables without having to re-mortgage my house is nearly impossible.
Are you working full time? Are you skiing full time? Bit of both?
Time to lifts is key if you want to maximise time on the snow whilst working.
Time-to-the-top is a very important variable that a lot of people forget. Sure its one lift but is that a 20min old-as-F Gondola? Do you then need to take another chair to access a decent amount of runs?
Does the accommodation have a suitable work space? Can you separate out your work from your living space?
Do the reviews comment on the WiFi?
Are there potentially co-working spaces or lounge areas to work in?
In larger towns are there cafes that won't be rammed with tourists to work from?
Flexibility - Do you want to potentially stay longer or move on should you get bored of the area?
Check cancellation terms
Utilise high turn-over accommodation options like Hostels where you're more likely to be able to extend your stay
Eventually you will need to wash your clothes...Not every hotel will do that, not every apartment has a washing machine, not every town has a launderette. From personal experience, something to check in advance.
Ski Passes
Austria really has multi-area passes down, most valleys have their own card to cover all resorts, or there's specialist ones covering Glaciers or Innsbruck-Area resorts.
I'm using the Snow card Tirol which covers basically every major resort in the Tirol (not St. Anton though) for the season total of £876 approx. When you think the average week ski pass is £250, that's an absolute steal if you're going to resort hop, or even if you're going to do 3+ weeks in the season. Included resorts here.
Transfers & Transport
Anyone who's looked into a solo trip knows this is often a major expense, especially if you're going off the standard Saturday or Sunday transfer window.
Austrian resorts have amazing rail connectivity and the tickets are cheap, there's pretty standardized pricing based on Zones, but on average from resort to resort I'm paying 18 Euro for Train/Bus combos. Plan your route with VVT route planner (or download the app so you can purchase tickets too) As a general rule of thumb, travelling West-East there's the key train line running through Innsbruck, then the valleys have regional buses to take you up to resort (West Tirol) Some areas have trains right up to them (Eastern Tirol and Saltzburg region)
What about a car? Undoubtedly a car will give you a lot of freedom, you will have fast transfer times, you don't need to stress about missing connections or being strong enough to wield all your luggage around train stations and towns. You can choose accommodation in more remote areas without being inconvenienced, pick up more supplies than you can carry and quickly change resorts if the weather turns. BUT Do you really need it? Especially if you're not planning on moving around much. If it's just going to sit there and gather snow, it might be worth re-thinking. Also, you know, save the planet, use public transport. Firstly, do you own one? If you do, is it suitable for mountain conditions? You will have to invest in winter tyres at the very least, depending on where you're going you will also need the appropriate legally required winter kit (and know how to use it) e.g. Snow chains as a minimum in Austria. You will also need to extend your insurance to Europe, if you're not already here. Think about transporting your luggage, do you have a roof rack for skis & boards? or space inside? If you don't own a car... you're in for a hefty rental or lease bill, when I was looking for a monthly rental, it was setting me back at least 1200. If you're doing a full season in Europe you may be able to find longer, cheaper deals.
Choosing a resort
Honestly, this just takes a bit of research and understanding of what type of atmosphere and skiing you're looking to pursue. If you're going for the train method, it's easy to plan a loop around from the Airport along the key train lines.
Personally I chose a mix of established names to try out & those less known to the English market so I could potentially find some "hidden" gems.
Size matters - Sure, it's quaint, but are you really going to enjoy those same 5 runs in an obscure little local hill after the first few days?
Fame factor - Well known resorts often come with some well formed price tags
Sprechen Sie Deutch? - Although far far more people outside of the UK and USA are proficient at English than the reverse, do not be arrogant enough to assume that everyone will be, especially in resorts not marketed to Brits. If you're not comfortable with navigating that, it's something to consider.
Night skiing - Niche I know, but if I got caught up in work all day and still wanted to get out on the slopes (I use this time to pick up snowboarding) it's a good option to have.
Early/Late season - Do your research on snow conditions, altitude doesn't always tell you everything.
The Tirol website has a very handy searchable database of all the resorts in the Tirol that you can filter by size, altitude etc.
Accommodation Tips
Considering an area? You need to study 3 things carefully:
Piste Map
Google Maps
Ski Bus Stops/Timetable
Tip #1
Look for link areas / towns - Is there a Ski lift on the outskirts or maybe in the next Valley that links to the same huge area? You can often get a lot more for your money there without missing out on any skiing.
Tip #2
Middle of town doesn't always mean most convenient for skiing. Sure you're in the heart of it all which is great, but do you have to walk 15 min with all your gear to get to the lift? Is it on the bus route? How often do the buses come? It might actually be quicker to get to the lifts at that property a bit further out because its right at the bus stop and there's no walking involved.
Search Options
Airbnb is obviously the go-to, however there's more out there.
VRBO is another large site to use to find self-catering accommodation easily. TUI also operate a self catering business over there.
As with every other type of accommodation, its best to do a quick search to see if you can go direct to owner.
I used Booking.com a lot as it seemed to have the largest selection of properties, this will give you a rough guide to the prices you're looking at in the area in a certain time period, also how busy it will be. If you find something you like I recommend booking direct, it's often cheaper. Booking.com is however good if you want clear and easy terms, booking management and deals without every talking or dealing with another human being.
However, I really recommend looking at the individual area tourism sites. The accommodation listings often have smaller properties that don't list themselves on large commercial sites, and these tend to have some cheaper options which makes the hit on the wallet a lot less.
I've been very lucky with my choices - although they have forced me to dig up my GCSE German skills a lot more than I was previously.
Equipment
Face the facts, you need your own kit if you're going to do a long stint in the mountains, renting is cost-prohibitive after a week. The extra you pay in luggage is worth it. My full Ski set up cost me approx. £650 and I didn't cut corners. 19/20 Nordica Santa Ana All Mountain skis, Atomic Warden 13 bindings, Atomic Hawx 20/21 Boots. Summer/Autumn is one of the best times to buy, as last season (and the season before) are often on heavy discount. (Probably the fact I was in a global pandemic that ruined the European season helped me out a bit) Technology isn't going to advance a noticeable amount in a season or 2, you don't need to get this seasons kit - but that's up to you. Not everyone cares about saving. I cannot stress enough that if you're going to do it online, only buy skis and bindings, and then don't pay for the bindings to be mounted for you. Wait and bring them to resort and get a seasoned professional to mount for your exact boot and ski style. I had an online dealer mount mine, gave them the sole length and boot size and they were borderline unssable. The guy in resort was horrified, they'd mounted them so that it was on the extreme end of the binding with no room for adjustment. Unless you're buying the exact boots you've had before or tried on in store, you simply cannot just know your size and YOLO it. I tried on 4 different boots to find my perfect fit, even then some might argue I should have tried more. If you can, wait till you're in resort, sure the people at Ellis and Snow+Rock are trained, some might have done seasons, but the chances are that if you ask for the best boot fitter in a resort and invest there, you're going to get someone with a lot more experience. If you want a professional boot fitter in the UK, start far in advance, they're few and far between and get booked up.
Finally, I cannot recommend this enough!
I loved every week I was there, and I will 100% be doing this again.
Till next time x
