Après Ski in Austria

What better way to start 2014, than a bold last minute decision to escape the city and indulge in one last hurrah before knuckling down to the New Year. This January, the post Christmas blues were well and truly blown away by a weekend in the mountains of Obertauern. With only ten days to go before filming begins, and a self imposed ban on dangerous sports, a ski resort may seem like an odd choice. However, with a little imagination and the company of good friends, this Salzburger town offers a remote and magical setting for some inspired R&R.

On arrival, the Austrian weather feels unusually mild. I raise an eyebrow at the ski paraphernalia bursting from the car and wonder if we've been a tad optimistic? The view delivers a lush vignette of middle earth rather than a fairy tale slice of Narnia, but I nestle down happy to be a passenger on the winding upward road to the unknown.

As we leave the city behind and drive further into the mountains, the light begins to fade and snow gradually appears as if bleeding up from the earth. Gingerbread houses are dwarfed in their surroundings and floppy fir trees are weighed down by their snowy burden. This icy design is transforming and after a brief dance with snow chains, we arrive at the chalet hungry for a hearty meal. The mountains feel so restorative and there's something very special about the energy of these giant peaks. A feeling of calm inhabits me and I find myself overwhelmed by the beauty of nature. Here, the night skies are as rich as velvet and the stars tease in a dazzling display. I breathe in the scene hoping that this feeling will last longer than the trip itself.

Obertauern offers everything you would expect from an Austrian getaway.  Amples of snow, robust wooden chalets, cosy restaurants serving weighty fare, excellent ski facilities and of course, the wild and wondrous Après Ski. Having dangerously tobogganed to my first one, I can confirm that non skiers are also welcome to this end of day party. It was here I was introduced to 'hammerschlagen', a seemingly simple game that involves hammering a nail into a piece of wood with the skinny end of a cross peen hammer. Having excelled in my first game, I then went on to lose miserably costing myself humiliation amongst strangers, and an expensive round of hazelnut schnapps.

On reflection, this type of getaway has something of the school trip about it. People are incredibly sociable and whether it's the snow or the activities on offer, it somehow manages to bring out the Peter Pan in even the most serious of visitors. I may not have skied, but a mixed bag of quiet contemplation and snowball ambushes recharged the batteries exactly as I'd hoped. As I recline on my deck chair with a mug of hot chocolate, I drink in the Winter sun and wonder at life's peculiarities. In less than two weeks, I'll be working fourteen hour days in the hot confusion of the Far East, and my lazy, hazy, piste-dreaming days will feel like a distant memory.

A Perfect Farewell