Finally, winter showed its true face, and in Austria the first serious snowfalls arrived already at the end of November. By early December, there was a solid snow cover across the country.
That inspired me to gift Miška a few days of active relaxation. I found a place called Löckerwirt in St. Margarethen im Lungau, offering beautiful rooms, excellent food, and a wellness area. From there, it’s only a 20-minute walk to the Katschberg ski lifts.
On December 5th, when we checked into our room—conveniently located right next to the wellness area—the Katschberg ski resort officially opened the season.
Honestly, we were very pleasantly surprised by the resort. It offers gondolas all the way from the valley to the summit and down into the neighboring valley, some of them brand new, as we learned later. The 80 km of slopes are more than sufficient for a week-long stay—wide, perfectly pitched, and never boring. We had a great time.
On Saturday, December 6th, we covered 33.67 km on the slopes. In the evening, we visited Mautendorf to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere at the castle markets and the popular Krampuslauf. Sunday followed a similar pattern, with 33.22 km skied during the day and an evening visit to Sankt Michael im Lungau.
Monday was Miška’s birthday, which was nicely reflected during breakfast. We managed to ski even more that day, setting a new record of 39.94 km on the slopes.