In the very heart of Austria the Dachstein West ski region has plenty of villages with lifts and cable cars to the extensive snow-sure pistes that look over a most scenic of winter landscapes - and honestly this is a splendid skiing area. The area spans the well-known winter sports resorts of Gosau, Russbach, Annaberg-Lungötz and Zwieselalm, with over 140 kilometres of varied pistes and 46 lifts stretching over the borders of Upper Austria into the province of Salzburg. There are a few begineers slopes, so I would recommend the close larger Postalm area for complete beginners to get their ski legs. Unlike the tourist spots, lift queues are few and far between. There are also free ski busses in the region throughout the winter season.

You can find Ski Pass prices on the Dachstein-West site. Ski Hire can be found at the base of most lifts and to-date we've only found friendly staff. If you're not used to it, here is the kind of card you'll need to fill out for ski hire. Next there's a Piste Map of the area and why not check out the Weather and Snow Depths while you're at it?

A note on ski passes: 1.5-day+ passes are also valid in the ski areas of St. Martin, Lungötz, Abtenau, Postalm, Obertraun-Krippenstein and Bad Ischl-Katrinbahn.

HERE'S THE ROUTE to Gosau which is a good place to start skiing (15 mins drive).