How Austria’s raucous ski resort cleaned up its act
On a panoramic terrace under a lacklustre sky of heavy clouds shedding fat flakes, the attendant announced it was time for me to get naked. The temperature had dipped below zero, cold enough for a fleece and ski jacket, and yet I followed her directions, shivering and barefoot, across the glittering snow.
Here I did what I imagine most British men would do: I tip-toed sheepishly and garment-free towards the pool, like a reluctant extra in an adult film (less burly bravado, more blur of white skin) before slipping into the safety of the steaming water. At just the right moment, everything fell into place: muscles relaxed, eyes closed, heartbeat slowing as I floated nude, hidden by the dark cloak of water and with a snow-globe view of the light-spangled town and Narnia-like forest. Despite the strange intimacy, it felt wonderfully alien.
This was not the sort of ski holiday I was used to: stewing stark naked in an outdoor pool; braving a snow room; testing an infrared sauna; and enduring a cryo cabin, in which you are refrigerated to an extreme -85C (great for bone and muscle regeneration, apparently – and hangovers too). And I dare say this is not a scenario with which you would be familiar either.
I was in Ischgl, in Austria’s Paznaun Valley - where, this year, letting it all hang out has never been so newsworthy. Clothing-free spas and saunas are the rule in Austria, but the opening of the €75-million Silvretta Therme, in one of the biggest party towns in the Alps (controversial because of its ill-fated role as a superspreader at the dawn of the Covid pandemic), means the trend for in-the-raw, in-the-buff spa time is now on the up.
Perhaps this also says something about how Ischgl is trying to change its appeal – away from raucous après-ski, boot-stomping Schlager pop music and Jägermeister towards something less wild, more refined even.
“It became clear 10 years ago that we needed an alternative,” said Günther Zangerl, managing director of Silvrettaseilbahn – Ischgl’s cable car company, which built the spa. “Gone are the days where everyone skis all day, no matter the weather, then goes partying. Now, visitors want something extra from a winter holiday – and it’s far from the traditional après-ski experience.”
The maze-like, five-storey complex has a rooftop ice rink, seven pools including a saltwater grotto, a fitness centre, a skills court, an outdoor pool bar – this is still Ischgl, after all – and three restaurants, including a steakhouse where the charcoal-fired cuts are as thick as an Olympic downhiller’s thigh.
If all this sounds too perfect, there is a fly in the ointment. The spa is primarily run on geothermal energy from directly below the superstructure, but two of its outdoor pools are run on gas power. Due to the cost brought about by the energy crisis, Silvretta Spa’s Evelyne Walch revealed, they will sit empty this winter.
Factor in an average of 13,000 skiers on the mountain, half of whom seek other entertainment in bad weather, and you will see why sauna time needs to be booked in advance; the spa holds only 600 people. Turn up without an online reservation on a whiteout day and you will likely have to stick to Ischgl’s more traditional pursuit: getting drunk.
Since the late 1980s, the resort’s moneyed party scene has focused around Niki’s Stadl next to the Pardatschgratbahn lift and at the Silvrettabahn gondola base station’s “Bermuda Triangle” of bars – Kuhstall (Cowshed), Hexenküche (Witches Kitchen) and, the original, Fire & Ice. Like hair metal albums of the same era, the trio is wonderfully raucous and, at times, heavy. You would gaze across the snow-blanketed square to see drunken waves of moshing skiers and body-shotting snowboarders.
Perhaps by chance, Ischgl’s own spiky marketing font is reminiscent of the the logos used by metal bands Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Slayer – conveying the sense that something loud and unruly is about to happen here. (When I first visited a decade ago, Ischgl’s fastidious approach to getting everyone drunk left my mind reeling. Like most, I ended up wobbly, woozy and waylaid. I did a great deal of drinking.)
Mosey along Dorfstrasse today and the spirit is changing. You will still see over-poured steins of beer and boyish, 50-something men leering at dancing girls in scanty Tirolean folk dresses at Schatzi Bar. You will learn that there is still a Pacha nightclub, a place where Ischgl riffs on Ibiza, and notice how the arrival of champagne huts has uncorked a mood that simply won’t go back in the bottle. But it won’t be exactly like it was, and the upshot for Alexander von der Thannen – chairman of the Tourism Association Paznaun-Ischgl, and owner of the Trofana Alm après-ski bar – is that the resort has finally struck the balance right.
“Après-ski is an integral part of Ischgl, it always will be – and I’d never want to see that change,” he told me, pointing out that the scene isn’t as overwhelming as many people imagine. Contrary to perceived opinion, Ischgl’s bars can cater to 4,000 guests, amounting to only a quarter of overnight stays in peak season. “These days, resorts are morphing into winter holiday destinations for everyone – it’s about skiing, yes, but also great hotels, restaurants, activities – and, now, a world-class spa to complete the picture.”
On the final day, I returned to Silvretta Therme to simmer my ski-sore legs, rather than hit the bars. I began to feel that although I was still a stranger to the whole spa experience, I was more than happy to drink it in. Something about floating in a whirlpool and watching snowflakes settle on my skin made the cold and misty day feel magical. It is hard to know whether Ischgl’s transformation is because of the sobering effect of the spa, or just a sign of the times we live in. Perhaps it is a little bit of both.
Need to know:
Silvretta Therme opens from 10am-11pm, with tickets sold using a dynamic pricing model — expect to pay around £45/49/60 for a three hour/evening/day pass (silvrettatherme.at). A six-day adult lift pass costs £260. Return flights from London Gatwick to Innsbruck cost from £48 with easyJet (easyjet.com). A seven-night stay at Hotel Goldener Adler costs from £999pp, B&B (en.goldener-adler.at). For more information, visit ischgl.com.
