Schladming is a great town, with a sweet hill, and host to the utterly amazing Night Slalom. A picture perfect Austrian village, you can get up to some trouble. Stay for great prices, eat amazing food, indulge in some delicious schnapps and most definitely end up singing Austrian ballads with the locals or throwing some rocks on a homemade curling rink.
As most Europeans know, the Schladming Night Slalom is a ski-racing event of epic proportions. Held at night, under the stars, you can climb the mountain and watch the racers come down a steep, intense course under the lights. Of course to keep you warm, there’s gluhwein (hot spicy red wine) gluhmost (my favorite: hot sweet white wine) and jager tea (made with the meister) to keep you thawed and loose in more ways than one.
The party for the slalom starts in the afternoon and rages pretty much till dawn. Fans come from all over to cheer on their favorite racers. Be sure to watch for the fan clubs. North Americans will be very surprised to see how seriously the racing and racers are taken. Matching fan club jackets and banners with racers faces are plentiful. Just try and make it through the night without being invited for a shot from one of the fan clubs.
Schladming is a small hill. Though there are a lot of things you can do to enjoy this place, if you are looking for extreme or challenging skiing, this is not the best mountain to go to.
But the Night Slalom is worth it’s weight in powder for sure. To be prepared: Pack your backpack full of beers, a blanket, something to stand on in the snow, other warm clothes to keep warm, a huge flag for your country and little shots to make more friends.
