Solden is a good place for skiiers who are just beginning or out of practise. — UWE ZUCCHI/dpa
I love my children dearly but they are seldom more annoying than when they’re talking about skiing. From how much they love hurling themselves down black runs, to re-telling the story of the time even our ski instructor took to calling me “Mum”, followed by “Hurry up, Mum,” and then, unfortunately, “Where’s Mum?”.
It’s all very well being kids who learned how to ski young – it took my kids about three hours while I’ve never quite mastered it. So when the chance came to leave them and their over-confidence behind and go back to basics with like-minded friends who appreciate that a wise mind will try and stay at the top of a steep slippery slope rather than speed headfirst down it, I grabbed it.
Our destination is Solden, in Austria’s Oztal Valley, and the beautiful Das Central, Solden’s family-run five star hotel. The resort itself sits at 1,377m but the ski area reaches at impressive 3,340m – making it one of the highest skiable regions in Austria. This means there’s pretty much guaranteed snow from October through to May.
Arriving in mid-December well before the school holidays, the slopes offer pristine conditions with barely a child in sight.
View of the Stubai Glacier ski area, taken from the Schaufelspitze. — JONATHAN SCHMID/dpa
The resort’s Giggijoch gondola is a state-of-the-art ride that transports us from the base station in the centre of Solden to 2,283m – a popular meeting point for ski schools and a base for lunchtime gatherings – in just eight minutes, leaving even the most inexperienced skier feeling like they are immediately on top of the world.
We meet our instructor, Leena, from the Solden-Hochsolden Ski School, who reminds us that skiing is supposed to be fun, before taking us right back to basics – perfecting our snow ploughs, stops and early turns on the gentlest of slopes before progressing us to the actual learner area.
Here, on a beautifully groomed slope which is long and steep enough to start to master controlled parallel turns, I start to gain the confidence to position my weight down the mountain.
It’s a moment that has me feeling like I’ve cracked the code that my kids had somehow instinctively understood – when they were too young to appreciate all the ways it could go wrong.
Over the course of two mornings, I progress to seamlessly linking parallel turns, my body relaxing and facing downhill and forward to pick up speed – meaning I am thankfully well-equipped to avoid a lone three-year-old snowploughing at about 32km an hour, arms raised in oblivious joy.
A tunnel in Solden’s ski area. — CRISTOPH NOSIG/Bergbahnen Sölden/dpa
For those feeling confident enough to move beyond the learner slope and really gain their ski legs, Solden offers Schwarze Schneid, Austria’s longest ski run from the top of the Rettenbach glacier.
Starting at a massive 3,250m, this is the highest point you can reach by gondola in the Otztal Valley, with spectacular views over the Italian Dolomites.
The run is 15km of linked slopes to the bottom, with blue and red routes all the way or a World Cup slalom slope option for those who are more experienced.
And for those with precocious expert skiers for children, there’s plenty more for them too.
Across the resort’s three areas – Giggijoch, Gaislachkogl and the two glaciers, Rettenbach and Tiefenbach – there are 146km of slopes catering for all abilities, including 76km of easy runs, 38km for intermediates and 23km graded difficult; accessible via 31 lifts. A snow park, cross-country routes and an illuminated toboggan trail are among the other attractions.
But there is obviously more to a ski trip than skiing and, for our group, the resort’s food and wine was a major drawcard. The on-mountain restaurants offer menus far beyond the standard family-friendly meals, with a focus on local ingredients.
My first lunch is an enormous schnitzel followed by a milk casserole, a dessert resembling bread and butter pudding and accompanied by a jug of custard.
The following day’s lunch sees us taking two cable cars up to the resort’s ice Q restaurant, a spectacular glass cube famed for its appearance as the fictional Hoffler Klinik medical centre in the James Bond Spectre film.
Austrian pro skiier Julia Scheib in action in Solden. — Expa/JOHANN GRODER/dpa
Here we enjoy a two-hour lunch with views across the alps of Germany, Italy and Austria, dining on mahi-mahi, beef cheek and a desert created with plum, tonka bean, blackcurrant, almond and olive oil.
The restaurant even has its own wine – PINO 3000 – created by Solden Das Central hotel, made across the three mountain ranges seen from the windows, and matured at over 3,000m in oak barrels.
I enjoy afternoons relaxing in Das Central’s spectacular outdoor rooftop heated pool and adjoining jacuzzi, and in the newly installed cryotherapy chamber.
A session in here consists of 30 seconds in a “pre-chamber” at around -30°C and then two and a half minutes in an adjoining chamber at a (literally) breathtaking -110°C.
I can’t describe standing in here in a bathing costume with a hat, socks and gloves to protect my extremities from frostbite – despite headphones blasting Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off – as a pleasant experience, even though we’d been promised it would provide a form of euphoria.
However, we all sleep like logs the following night and awake with no muscle soreness whatsoever, despite our efforts on the slopes.
Our first dinner is a tasting menu in the hotel’s Otztaler Stube, awarded Solden’s first Michelin star in 2025, followed by a nightcap in front of a roaring fire. Our second dinner is also within the hotel at Restaurant Feinspitz, which serves up a no less impressive multi-course meal of locally-sourced ingredients. We follow that with a visit down two levels to the wine cellar, where 30,000 bottles are stored, for a final glass of Champagne.
Children are very welcome at Das Central, and the mountains during the school holidays are no doubt full of them. But Solden can offer adults who can get away during term time a place to find their ski legs, in five-star luxury while dining in Michelin-starred restaurants and sipping vintage pinot.
Who needs to be an expert skier when learning is this much fun? – JOSIE CLARKE/PA Media/dpa
