Matching Headings Practice - Winter Break in Kitzbühel, Austria

Matching Headings Practice - Winter break in Kitzbühel, Austria
Winter break in Kitzbühel, Austria
1. There are a lot of reasons to love living in London: the amazing art galleries; the wealth
of historic buildings; the fabulous concerts of every type of music under the sun; the
ready availability of cheap flights to every corner of the globe; and of course, one of the
most vibrant restaurant scenes on the planet. But one of the most unexpected reasons
that make me love living in the UK is the prospect of an annual ski holiday – a chance to
swap the grey London for pristine white slopes and blue skies. But as the person in my
circle of friends who is somehow always tasked with organizing said ski holiday, I am
also familiar with the stress of trying to find the right resort. Which one has good
restaurants? Where will there be snow? Will there be slopes for every level of ability?
And what is there for non-skiers to do? On a recent week-long visit to the stylish and
atmospheric ski resort of Kitzbühel, Austria I found much to like and many of the
abovementioned boxes ticked. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and here are seven reasons
why you will, too.
2. Kitzbühel is by no means the highest Alpine resort, with the village at about 800m and the
highest point at about 2,000m. But, because of a combination of fortunate geography and
extensive snow-making facilities, it has reliable snow and is traditionally one of the first
non-glacier Austrian resorts to open for the season. Because the city is set between the
Kitzbühler Horn and Hahnenkamm peaks in a north-west facing dip, this means that the
slopes face away from the sun and any snow that falls does not melt very rapidly. The fact
that the slopes are covered in grass, rather than rocks, up to 2000 metres also means that
far less snow cover is needed for the slopes to open. And if Mother Nature does not play
ball, the resort has 750 snow guns and cannons to ensure that the pistes remain pristine.
3. The Hahnenkammrennen are the annual ski races, held since 1931, and have been a
fixture of the men’s World Cup since 1967 and take place every year in mid-January. The
most famous is the classic downhill course, the Streif, which is regarded as the most
demanding race course on the World Cup circuit. The 3.3km long course starts at an
elevation of 1,665m above sea level and vertically descends 860m. It is a highly technical
course featuring reverse banked turns with limited visibility, as well as super-fast flat
gliding sections preceded by difficult sharp turns. At its steepest (at the infamous
Mausefalle section) the gradient is over 40 degrees. The course record is just under 2
minutes (and an average speed of 106.9km per hour!) but you can also ski a more sedate
version of the course called the “family Streif” which is a red run rather than black and
cuts out all the jumps and treacherous bits.
4. Unlike some purpose-built ski resorts, Kitzbühel is a real living, breathing city with a 700
year-long history. Originally established as a copper-mining town, it retains a beautiful
pedestrianised mediaeval town centre and a number of historic buildings such as the
side-by-side Catholic and Protestant churches. There is also an abundance of good
shopping, from the usual ski resort shops selling ski gear, souvenirs and local produce, to
upscale boutiques like Louis Vuitton.
5. The fact that Kitzbühel is a living, breathing city means it has the population to support a
wide range of restaurants, from cheap and cheerful mountain huts serving rustic local
cuisine, to upscale fine dining restaurants serving food that would not be out of place in
London. Highlights include the Winkler brothers’ restaurant at Gasthof Auwirt in
Aurach; the Ganserln Alm with its view over the city; and Neuwirt at the Hotel Schwartze
Adler.
6. Kitzbühel is understandably famous for its wealth of downhill skiing opportunities (see
point 6 below) – but there are a number of other outdoor activities available to no skiers,
some of which I tried. There are 60 kilometres of well-marked (and well-used) cross-
country skiing trails in and around Kitzbühel, including a high-altitude trail and a floodlit
trail. We also tried snow-shoeing while we were there – an experience that I can best
describe as running uphill on a soft sandy beach while wearing flippers. Still, it provides
an excellent workout and you can get through some surprisingly thick powder show
when you have a pair of snowshoes strapped to your feet! For the slightly less
adventurous there is also winter hiking along the wealth of quiet and well-groomed trails
in the area. Guided winter hiking/walking and snowshoeing tours are available from
Monday to Friday throughout the season.
7. Kitzbühel has a total of 54 fast and modern cable cars and lifts serving its 179km of
prepared pistes. Lifts are fast and high capacity, meaning queues are manageable even at
busy times. But despite the Hahnenkamm’s fearsome reputation, the majority of
Kitzbühel’s pistes are exceptionally family friendly (69 km blue, 77 km red, and 24 km
black). The blues and reds are wide, crusey and long – one of them is almost 7km long!
Also, be sure not to miss the spectacular 3S-Umlaufbahn (tri-cable gondola) which spans
the 2.5-kilometre wide and 400-meter deep Saukaser Valley between the mountains
Pengelstein and the Wurzhöhe. It is little wonder that Kitzbühel has been voted Best Ski
Resort in the World on a number of occasions!
8. During the winter months, there is a packed programme of events including a traditional
Christmas market; a fireworks display at New Year; the Hahnenkamm downhill; the
Snow Polo World Cup and (during the week that we visited) the Streif Vertical UP. In this
patently bonkers night race, participants start from the finish area of the Hahnenkamm
downhill ski race and run 3.3 kilometres UP the piste, climbing 860m in the process, to
reach the start gate. The winner is whoever reaches the top first, by any means excluding
motor powered assistance; and by any route they choose. It is quite a sight to watch the
start of the race on the piste and then watch the little bobbing headlights as they run up
the icy mountain in the dark (and sometimes roll down, taking out other participants like
skittles!).
9. Having experienced the resort for myself it is a little wonder to find that that Skiresort.de,
the world’s largest test portal for ski resorts, has voted the Kitzbühel ski area as the “best
ski resort in the world” in 2013, 2014 and 2015. So if you are still looking for somewhere
to have a late-season ski break, Kitzbühel is a resort that will tick all your boxes. The
closest airports are Innsbruck (97km/1hr), or Munich (165km/2hr). There is also a train
station in town served by a number of express trains. For more information, see the
Kitzbühel website. And for another perspective on our Kitzbühel trip, have a look at this
brilliant post by Milou, the Dutch blogger who was with me on the trip. I had never met
her before but after 7 days we left as best friends (more like sisters separated at birth!)
and we still chat every day. As soon as you catch her sense of humour in the post you will
know why we hit it off!
Matching heading questions

1. The reading passage has paragraphs labelled as 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on.
2. Choose the most suitable paragraph heading for each paragraph from the list of headings in
the “dropdown”
NOTE: There are more paragraph headings than paragraphs so you will not use them all.
1
Paragraph 1

THE FAMOUS STREIF DOWNHILL SKI RACE

MEETING MILOU

THE DINING SCENE AT KITZBÜHEL

WHY KITZBÜHEL IS SNOW RELIABLE

WHAT MAKES KITZBÜHEL THE BEST SKI RESORT

KITZBÜHEL MAKES IT ONTO SKIRESORT.DE LIST

MORE THAN JUST SKIING

THE ALPINE RESORTS OF AUSTRIA

A CITY WITH A HISTORY

LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
2
Paragraph 2


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
3
Paragraph 3


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
4
Paragraph 4


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
5
Paragraph 5


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
6
Paragraph 6


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
7
Paragraph 7


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
8
Paragraph 8


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE
9
Paragraph 9


MEETING MILOU








LIFE IN THE UK

UP-HILL NIGHT RACE

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Winter break in Kitzbühel, Austria

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