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What a start to the New Year it was as I headed to Austria on the 5 January to ski with one of the ski industry’s legends Franz Klammer. I felt intimidated about skiing in front of such a professional and was slightly concerned that I may end up doing a Bridget Jones and fall off the lift in front of him.

Lift through the mountain at Heligenblut

We arrived in Bad Kleinkircheim or BKK as it is more commonly known in the UK after a whistle stop tour of Heiligenblut which is about an hour away. We sampled the skiing and après ski of this beautiful family friendly resort before heading to our final destination BKK.

Luckily for us we got a warm up day on the slopes of BKK with Marcus our guide. The slopes in the area are perfect for intermediates with plenty of long reds from top to bottom. There is also a dedicated nursery area for small children.

The big day dawned on Friday 8 January and the weather did nothing to put my mind at ease. The skies were clouded over and light snow was falling from the sky. How on earth in these conditions was I going to keep up with Franz on a mountain I barely knew? I was secretly hoping that he would be wearing the famous yellow cat suit which would glow through the overcast weather.

Top of the mountain with Franz Klammer

We met Franz at the bottom of the Kaiserburgbahn along with the other fans. Everyone was eyeing each other up wondering who would get to sit next to Franz or ski behind him. There wasn’t much of a chance to decide on who would be the quickest down the hill as we headed up the lift.

The day then well and truly started with Franz Klammer dressed all in white and him saying follow me, take the first right and then he was gone. He vanished in a puff of snow in to the distance followed by the rest of us desperately trying to keep him in sight.

Lunch at the Unterwirthütte

We all charged down the pistes behind him, hoping that each glimpse of a white suit we saw and followed was actually him. For some they did follow the wrong white outfit but were soon redirected by the group of ski instructors herding us down the mountain. The morning was a whirlwind and we ended up in the Unterwirthütte restaurant. Food was definitely needed to refuel for the afternoon ahead.

The restaurant was a typical Austrian chalet on the mountain with great warming food. I was surprised by the great value for money it provided. A Spaghetti Bolognese cost 6.90€, a beer 3.30€ and a Goulash soup 4.30€. After lunch a couple of quick runs took us to the bottom of the mountain and straight into the Franz Klammer Stube for a drink with the man himself. This cosy bar inside the Kaiserburgbahn is covered in pictures of famous skiers.

Attacking the fun run

Well I can safely say that I did not give Franz Klammer a run for his money on the slopes. However close you get behind him you just know he has another gear to step up to. There is the fun run in the resort and I am not so sure that Becs from natives.co.uk and I wouldn’t have beaten him on that.

The race involves a slalom course on a ski bike, followed by a run on a snow deck, then a shot of Schnapps finishing off with a run on Fasstauben (skis made from a barrel). Becs and I beat everyone in our group by 20 seconds including a couple who had surpassed Franz the year before.