I visited the region staying in Zauchensee (1350m), a small village which has excellent slopes with a modern lift system and is situated high in the mountains above Altenmarkt. Some 40 minutes by car from the nearest airport in Salzburg it is part of the Salzburger Sportweit. A number of well known skiing greats have started their careers in this region - Herman Maier, Annemarie Moser-Proll and more recently Michael Walchhofer, who's home village is Zauchensee.

Ski Amade is a winter sports paradise, whether it's for Cross Country, Alpine skiing or Snowboarding and you will also find it one of the most picturesque regions in Austria. The area is very welcoming and prides itself on providing a friendly atmosphere and there are many friendly hotels and restaurants to choose from. I stayed in one such hotel, the Zauchenseehof, run by some of the Walchhofer family - Rupert jun. and wife Ingrid. It's a 4 Star hotel with a first class restaurant, health and fitness area, an indoor swimming pool plus superb comfortable bedrooms, conference rooms and a World Champion Ski School - Top Alpin Walchhofer - to boot. The hotel also has the 'Schneelochl' and 'Almbar' for Apres ski, the 'Kegelstube' to improve your skittles style and the cosy Café 'Kichei' where you can enjoy those delicious sticky Austrian cakes.

World Cup skier Michael Walchhofer also resides in the village, at the Zentral Hotel, which is a very warm and cosy hotel right on the ski slopes close to one of the main lifts.

The World Cup venue resort of Zauchensee offers everything a winter sports enthusiast would want to experience, from smooth well groomed pistes to breathtaking downhill slopes. The more advanced skiers are well catered for with fast downhill runs on FIS rated slopes plus deep powder snow. The resort is in one of the most snow rich regions of Austria, based at 1350m it rises to around 2188m, so good snow falls are more or less guaranteed.

If you go in January you may have the opportunity to see the World's best Ladies when they meet in Zauchensee to fight it out in the Downhill, Slalom and Super G on the 'Kalberloch' piste. Thousands of fans descend on the slopes to cheer on their favourites. The Junior World Championships were held there in March 2007, whilst I was there, and I was able to watch the most talented junior stars from around the world competing for medals in the Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom.

In recent years many British families have discovered the area and more and more are enjoying the facilities the villages have to offer.