Just had a great skiing trip in the Gastein valley. The best skiing was not necessarily in the large interconnected resorts of Bad Gastein, Bad Hofgastein or Dorfgastein - which were a bit icy due to lack of fresh snow and sometimes a little crowded - but in the smaller resorts recommended by Arctic Fox and Alick (a big, big thank you guys! The next Lumbumba is on us!): Graukogel and SportGastein.

Graukogel is definitely the hidden gem in this valley, with a superb World Cup red and two great blacks, no crowds, and natural snow that remained impeccable until the last chair up. The bottom slopes were closed, but the three top slopes were worth at least two days! Sportgastein also had some great red runs, great natural snow on the top slopes, and no queues. There was also a fair amount of off-piste skiing going on, on marked and unmarked trails.