AUSTRIA: Hilarity Rides the Ski Slopes : Hilarity Rides Your Skis on Slopes of Obergurgl

While spending some cold-weather time in Austria, I made a strange discovery. On Tuesday nights during winter, an odd but very pleasant ritual is enacted here in Austria’s highest parish. A bar is set up in the snow outside the Pension Olympia and the action begins, as if it hasn’t been going on all day.

Lights come on and people drift in from the night. Once they have fortified themselves at the bar, they appear to be overcome by an urge to leap upon overinflated inner tubes of trucks or cars, sometimes tractors, and go scooting down the mountain on the peculiar conveyances.

They are doing so in increasing numbers and with ever-growing ingenuity.

The tubes are ridden in the manner you would sit on them in the ocean, a lake, even a large pool. They are virtually uncontrollable and rotate slowly as they head speedily down.

Risking Disaster

It is quickly apparent that the more people aboard, the faster and longer the ride will be. But there’s also a snag, for the faster they go, the more the tubes buck like broncos. That spells possible disaster, but who cares? Certainly not the survivors, who are in the majority.

It also means a lot of hilarity, for the slope becomes littered with fallen riders and ricocheting steeds. But as a nighttime pastime, it is a lot more fun and much less dangerous than tobogganing and more comfortable than “poly bagging,” the name applied to the arcane art of riding large plastic bags.

Whoever dreamed this one up is a genius of the first order; the sport was last year’s invention and it’s bound to catch on in other resorts, so you may be doing it this winter.

It is hard to believe there could be a resort with more repeat business than Obergurgl, which is decidedly one of this world’s real winter gems. In conversations with fellow passengers on the bus from the airport, I realized that six consecutive visits is about par.

It’s easy to see why: an excellent snow and sunshine record, very little walking to the lifts, no lift queues or traffic to speak of, and no trouble getting a table for lunch.

Top of the Valley

Yet this is not some ghastly, purpose-built resort but a cozy, very lively and definitely friendly village at the sunny top of the Oetztal Valley. It is quite high, 1,930 meters, but it is not exposed, for the sheltering trees grow as far as 2,150 meters above sea level, which is somewhat remarkable.

As nothing in life is perfect, so Obergurgl has its imperfections too, though minor. The skiing is somewhat limited, the lifts don’t link up too well and the essentials are expensive, although extras such as drinks and discos are not. It is also a long transfer from the airport, but that’s rather a blessing in that you are not surrounded by weekend crowds.

The place tends to be favored by older, married skiers. I do not mean to imply that there are no young people about; it has its share, but this is one great place for the middle-aged, where they need not be in constant competition with much younger people on the slopes or on a dance floor.

Chauvinists Warned

It is quite safe to categorize the person least likely to enjoy Obergurgl as a young, piste -bashing, randy, chauvinistic single male. I use the word “chauvinistic” in both its sexist and nationalistic connotations because there are pleasant young Dutch, German, British and Danish men around, with Americans--so far--in the minority.

But Obergurgl does seem to work a strange magic on all visitors, all of whom seem to be on their best behavior, most of the time.

Obergurgl is the middle and principal of the three Gurgls. There are also Untergurgl and Hochgurgl, which are on the same lift pass. The latter two are linked to each other by lifts and to Obergurgl by an efficient and free bus service.

There is no denying that no lift in the system carries you more than 700 meters up at a time. There is a respectable vertical drop between the top of Hochgurgl and Untergurgl below of about 1,289 meters, but the run is not particularly challenging, which may be its appeal for an “older” crowd.

You have to ride a series of four lifts to get back and start all over again. It’s not all peaches and cream, but who cares? Not here, anyway.

One Rugged Run

One quite rugged run, however, is that of Hohe Mut above Obergurgl. It’s tough for me, at least, because it is not piste and I’m no longer even middle-aged. Therefore, it becomes heavily moguled and is the first place in the resort where rocks appear through the snow. Even that has only a 560-meter vertical. Worse, there are only 22 lifts in the system. And a beginner is clobbered by the way they drop short of one another.

There’s no drugstore where you can buy liniment, or whatever, for any mishaps that may befall you--sprains, bruises and such. If you need something along that line, you have to line up for it at a doctor’s office, where you take your turn among fellow sufferers, all complaining about their ailments and the lack of better treatment. You do indeed take your chances here.

But it is only fair to say that after a day or two in this heavenly environment, such things seem of small matter. My own cure for a good bruise was completed by a trip to nearby Solden, where the lift and piste system is infinitely superior. There I spent most of a day queuing up for either lifts or food, and the rest of it trying to avoid collisions on the crowded pistes .

Once back in the comparative calm of Obergurgl, the charm of the place became ever more apparent. I appreciated, for example, the way most of the pistes have several alternative routings that can be put together in different combinations to add to the variety.

Its smallness is an advantage, too. With its maximum of only about 2,000 visitors, it is a resort where it is almost impossible not to make friends from many countries.

Early Serenade

Be sure not to get booked into any hotel near the church, as there’s a lot of bell-ringing early in the morning, and I do mean early, even before roosters have started to crow, literally before the break of dawn.

It seems odd now, but my most memorable experience in Obergurgl had nothing to do with skiing. It did involve a little extra effort. I can think of no other resort where a restaurant that is a 15-minute walk from the pistes (convenient, for skiers are a really slothful lot) could not only survive but be the most popular in town.

Such is the Gurgl Ski Club’s Schonwies hut. There you can pass the hours in the blazing serenity of a glacier as you gleefully watch dark specks doggedly slogging on skis up the mountain opposite for the sheer pleasure of zooming back down where perhaps none may have skied before.

For mountain country, the winter weather in Austria’s Alps is moderate; the lower elevation and distance from the ocean help considerably. Daytime temperatures in the coldest months of January and February range above zero. Nights can be cooler than that, as can be expected. Winds rarely are high enough to make things unpleasant.

Dependable Snow

No ski area in the world can claim perfect snow at all times. Some seasons may be superb, some much less so, but in Austria it does seem that you get the best possible skiing at any time.

As soon as the lifts shut down, the snow birds scoot up the mountains, often in long conga-like lines; moguls are graded, spots that had heavy traffic are filled in. If all else fails, there are half a dozen glacier regions where you can ski all year.

In Obergurgl and its environs, you can ski alone or in a group. Marinade in the sun and wine. There’s much to be said for this peaceful place.

And keep in mind that Vienna, one of the world’s favorite cities, is never far away from wherever you’re skiing in Austria.

Getting to Obergurgl is not the easiest thing to do--about eight hours by bus and train. You can fly to Innsbruck from several places but as I was already in Munich, Germany, I took the train to a small place called Oetztal Bahnhof, then a short bus ride to the mountain resort. There I stayed at the Hotel Fender, a medium-price establishment that cost about $5 a day, with breakfast. It can be done for less.

For specific information, contact the Austrian National Tourist Office, 3440 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 906, Los Angeles 90010.