A slice of Austria’s small-town ski life in St Johann in Tirol


Forget hygge – there’s a new buzzword for good living this winter. Lebensgefühl is an Austrian way of life that’s all about being in nature, joie de vivre and joining in with the locals. And I don’t think there’s a better place to try it out than the beautiful town of St Johann in Tirol, where the frosty mountains are as lovely as the warm welcome.

First stop, buzzy St Johann in the Austrian Tirol. Some ski resorts can feel totally geared up to tourists but not the town known by locals as Sainihåns – this is a proper market town with a population of 9,000, centred around a beautiful square and watched over by an onion-domed church. Frescoes adorn buildings housing tempting bakeries, cafes and restaurants as well as a clutch of family-run hotels, and even in winter locals spill into the streets for a cup of coffee and a chat. While there’s no crazy après ski to be had here, there are plenty of cosy bars, ranging from the modern Skylounge, with panoramic views of the mountains, to the 300-year-old Huber Bräu brewery, which towers over the town and is the perfect place for a post-ski stein of beer.


I stayed at the Hotel Fischer, a proper family-run inn right in the heart of things that my fellow guests obviously love to return to winter after winter for the warm welcome they receive. Rooms are simple but pleasant and breakfasts are filling, with great coffee. You’re a short walk from the pistes and not far from an evening hotspot, either – downstairs there’s lively Michi’s bar, full of guests and locals alike catching up on the snow conditions.

Come and ski St Johann


Time to hit the pistes. St Johann’s local ski area offers 10 lifts and 40 kilometres of pistes covering St Johann and Oberndorf. Although this isn’t a huge ski area there’s plenty for both beginners and advanced skiers and boarders, and I loved the cruise-y red and crowd-free blue pistes. St. Johann is also perfect for cross-country skiing, with a network of 170km of trails. While more experienced skiers might cover most of the ski area in a long weekend, there are also 163km of pistes covered on the 3-Länder Freizeit Arena lift pass if you want to venture further afield, and you can also hop on a train to Kitzbühel in under 10 minutes. Here with kids? There’s a big nursery area near the village plus plenty of great blues and reds to cruise along. A snow park and fun slope offer bumps and jumps for older children and there are no less than four excellent ski schools if it’s your little one’s first time strapping on skis or a board.

I’m skiing with Max Grander, a local instructor. In true family-run St Johann style, he’s also the son of the owner of the Hotel Fischer and clearly adores the mountains he has grown up amongst. The skies are on the grey side as we set off and there isn’t a great view of the epic Kitzbüheler Horn Mountain above us, but as the cable car zips up the mountainside fat snowflakes begin to fall and there’s a thick carpet of the fluffiest, freshest snow to glide through everywhere we explore. It’s great to be skiing with a local – Max knows exactly which pistes to tackle and when, and we rack up miles on wide blue runs and speed down the black Penzing run down to Oberndorf, spotting intrepid types heading into the backcountry on off-piste adventures.


Food, sun and fun


Of course, it wouldn’t be skiing in Austria without stopping at one of the picture-perfect mountain huts that dot the slopes. We warm up at the Stangl Alm, a proper hütte offering huge flagons of beer and the dish I spend most of the year thinking about until I can get back to the Tirolean Alps – Tiroler Grostl, a fabulous fry-up of onion, bacon and potato that can refuel tired ski legs in an instant.


It’s not all about hut-hopping, either – St Johann has a huge range of fun on offer and suitable for all ages, including deep breath biathlon, paragliding, ballooning, segway tours, winter walks, snowshoe hikes, ski touring, toboggan runs, an ice rink and a Flying Fox zipwire. I loved exploring the mountains around the Bacheralm hut, a peaceful spot that’s a jumping-off point for miles of pristine cross-country tracks, winter hiking routes and one surprisingly speedy toboggan run. Rent a sled from the Hotel Kramerhof and hike up – if you need a bit of Dutch (or should that be Austrian?) courage, the delightfully snug mountain hut at the top of the slope is perfect for a schnapps with a seriously beautiful view of the Wilder Kaiser mountain range.

Not far from the bottom of the run you can also stop in at Anni’s cosy kitchen – the ‘kitchen witch’ runs Tyrolean cooking classes where you can learn to whip up a dish of Kaiserschmarrn (torn pancakes served with powdered sugar and apple sauce). Anni’s classes are in German but her enthusiasm for making this delicious and traditional dish needs no translation. If Lebensgefühl had a taste, it would be this.

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