Hinterthal, Maria Alm Haus Salzburg

The Maria Alm House accommodation was very comfortable, welcoming and the pool table in the games room saw some action! The food was excellent and the staff were great. The British owners of Haus Salzburg were always at hand and provided loads of good local information help.

AustriaSuperSki.com is a young company run by the incredibly friendly Stu and Angelica Phillips in the stunning village of Maria Alm, Austria.

This great little town is an hour away from Salzburg airport. Transfers are provided as part of the packages on offer, the flexibility of these is what makes this such a refreshingly different holiday. You can chose which day you wish to go and how long you want your break to be, rather than being stuck with the usual limitations of Saturday to Saturday Ski trips.

Their three apartment chalet in the village is tastefully decorated and well equipped for a self catering ski holiday that provides equally well for couples, families or larger parties. The kitchen diners in each apartment are actually stocked with useful equipment, unlike so many self catering chalets where you are left trying to cook dinner with a fork, a spoon and an old pan lid!

The main reason for going to this lovely town is the sheer volume of skiing available on your doorstep. The Super Ski Pass is valid across a multitude of resorts, not just the Maria Alm area. You can use the same pass on the Saalbach Hinterglemm, Leogang Ski Circus, the Kaprun Glacier, Ober Tauern, Kitzbuehl to name but a few. To me, this represents the best value for money anywhere when it comes to the amount of pistes available on one pass, check their website for the figures. Maria Alm itself remains relatively undiscovered by British tourists and is far less crowded than some of the more populist resorts. That, with the addition of brilliant snow-making facilities, means that even in the mild winter we are experiencing at the moment there is always a usable amount of snow to play with.

The Apres Ski is classically Austrian, great fun if you are willing to enjoy some cheesy Euro-pop along with your beer, gluhwein and Flugels. The advantage of going to different places every day also means you can explore different places and different nightlife, or stick with the same one if you find one you like. The Edelweisshutte at OberTauern gets a definite thumbs up!

And the added bonus? Stu or Angelica will be able to arrange a ski safari for you and your party and drive you to any of these areas so that each day brings a different place to try your skills on and off piste. They are open to suggestions if you wish to try something new and will be able to draw up a trip itinerary to suit any level of ability.

It is quite difficult to go into specifics in that, if you look at their website, you have an enormous amount of freedom to tailor your holiday to suit you. SuperSki therefore, in my opinion, is one of the best deals on offer if you want to try something a bit different every day.

If you are looking for a good value for money ski trip with friendly chalet owners, and as much or as little adventure as you'd like, then look no further than AustriaSuperSki. I can guarantee you'll have a great time!

So We stayed at Pension Annerlhof in Maria Alm Run By two great guys Alfred and Chris. It was absolutely incredible. I have stayed somewhere so warm and friendly. My son twisted his knee and Alfred gave us a lift to the doctors and came back to pick us up after we were done, I only asked him where it was and to call a Taxi. He did that for another member of our group as well. If we didn't like what they served for dinner they would change it or make additions at no charge. Food was good rooms were clean and cozy service was impeccable. I would recommend it to anyone and would go back again every year in a heart beat....If it weren't for the skiing. If you are a beginner or an intermediate, great, You will love it, If you are looking for challenging blacks you will be bored within a Day, for gentle Skiing it's fine. So for most of our group it was great, but for the main 4 Skiers well say no more. Ski Schoole Edelwiesse is where to go for lessons forget the others, they gave our group huge discounts and were great with the kids

Maria Alm is a wonderful ski area, with it's up market neighbor Hinterthal and other villages of Dienten and M hlbach. This make an impressive ski area with 150km piste 39 lifts and 37 mountain restaurants. The snow usually falls here first with Hinterthal having one of the best snow record in Austria usually opening the lifts in late November. We had a fantastic week with Elevation Holidays and would recommend it to anyone who wants a truly Austria experience without the invasion of the British.