Patrick Cash was on the piste (again) at this year’s Gay Snow Happening…
As you fly into the tiny Innsbruck airport, Austria, the pilot will politely inform you that you may want to look out the aeroplane window and obtain your first aerial view of the landscapes that make up this beautiful inland European country.
Your vision will be greeted by a vista of magnificent snow-capped mountains soaring to the skies around you, and the sweepingly green and verdant valley you will currently be gliding into.
Each turn of the plane reveals another majestic view of the Alps, stretching into the horizon as far as the eye can see, coated with alpine forests. When I visited at the end of March the sun was shining strong and sure above, and it turned out to be a warm, beaming day on which to garner my first taste of the infamous Austrian skiing season.
But this was no ordinary skiing trip I was embarking upon (after all this is QX, we don’t do ‘ordinary’).
This was a week of skiing given over to gay men; this is the ‘Gay Snow Happening’, which occurs in the picturesque resort of Sölden each year towards the end of March, when there is still ample amounts of snow on the slopes, but the weather is more amiable than the often harsh mid-winter temperatures.
Sölden is the second largest ski resort in Austria with space for 15,000 tourists but still retains a traditional appearance of pine-wood log cabins, a bubbling brook running through the centre of town and horses grazing in the surrounding fields.
When you get to your hotel, breathe in your first heady blast of the high-altitude air, fresh and sharp, unpolluted by excessive car fumes or London’s muzzy smog.
For those who have never skied before, fear not, neither had your intrepid reporter, and with some practise at your balance on the kiddie slopes to begin with you’ll find that your confidence and ability increases rapidly.
A couple of hours in the morning spent getting to grips with the basics and you should feel ready to tackle the real slopes by lunchtime.
Of course, it is unlikely that you’ll get all the knacks by self-teaching alone, so it’s definitely worth investing in one of those hunky Austrian skiing instructors for the day, each of whom looks like they’ve just walked off a Bel Ami calendar being shot on the piste.
And if you’re really serious about taking up the challenge of mastering the sport from scratch, you may want to book your instructor for three days – you can get a discount for longer tuition time.
Equipment is available to hire from any number of the town’s sports shops and make sure you use copious amounts of sun cream, as the glare above is reflected and intensified by the sheer whiteness of the snow, so you can come away far redder than an average unprepared Brit in July’s Gran Canaria.
Of course, with hundreds of gay men in town, the end of the sporting day is not just a quick Austrian beer before bed. Apres-ski commences about 4pm and the promoters of the Gay Snow Happening – Tom on Tour and OTZTAL Tourismus – organise a non-stop programme of huge club nights and crazy parties for the boys to come out and play at after dark.
Biggest amongst them is the momentous Salvation, which has now toured all over the world after its origin in London. This year saw both Salvation promoter Steve Elliot and famed Vauxhall DJ Oliver M descend upon the town to ratchet up the dance floor pressure to irresistible levels with their unique brand of pounding trance-house and intense production qualities.
Walking back to your chalet afterwards with the lights of the village twinkling about you and the stars so blue and bright above you may feel you want to stay permanently. Sadly, this can’t be the case for most of us. But then, there’s always next year…
• For more information on future Gay Snow Happening events, go to www.tomontour.com
