Off-piste de resistance freestyle

The quaint Austrian town of Hallstatt has a rebellious streak, discovers Kate Roff.
Austria is a land of contrasts. The grand capital, Vienna, hosts traditional balls alongside techno clubs and avant-garde art exhibitions. State-of-the-art trains zoom around Medieval ruins and Mozart's old haunts. So it comes as no surprise that a 700-year-old town in Austria's centre is home to one of the latest, and edgiest, of ski sports.
In the heart of the Dachstein Salzkammergut region sits the adorable town of Hallstatt, and it is here that the new sport of free skiing is taking off.
As we boat across the Hallstatt lake, the main way to reach the quiet town, it's easy to see why Hallstatt has been described as a "chocolate box village" - the cobblestoned streets and charming architecture makes the town look like something out of a Christmas snow globe.
Nestled at the base of the Plassen Mountain, the quaint houses hugging the mountain might look precariously balanced, but they have been wedged into the hillside for centuries. Hallstatt celebrates 700 years as an official town this year, but the area is believed to have been settled more than 7000 years ago, making it older than Rome.
This kind of history carries prestige (not to mention a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing) so it's a contrast of culture when we meet the young Sebastian Wiesauer, a free skiing expert who is to show us the adventurous side of this traditional region. Sebastian, like most in the area, learned to ski from a very young age.
"Our parents would send us outside to play and we would make ski jumps out of snow banks," he recalls.
Decked out in bright orange snow pants, Sebastian takes us by cable car up into the Krippenstein ski area, a playground for this popular new trend in skiing. "Free skiing is basically going off-piste," he explains.
"You don't have the groomed runs and it's a different world. You can do jumps and play around a lot more with it, you're not part of the crowd."
Krippenstein does have the more groomed runs as well, so the area is bridging the gap between traditional skiers and free skiers, says Sebastian.
"Relations are getting better, Free skiers are a pretty easy-going group, and a lot of traditional ski racers are getting into it."
"The first skiers were free skiers, they had no piste," muses Sebastian.
Fortunately, daring visitors no longer need to be quite so reckless, as guides like Sebastian know the area well and take groups free skiing in relative safety. These guides are essential - the mountain can be a fickle creature indeed. A cross perched at the top of one of the peaks is a grim reminder of a school group in 1954 who ignored the locals' weather warnings. In the two days we ventured up to the top, we experienced one day with almost zero visibility, and another with brilliant postcard views over the towns below.
Krippenstein is not for the faint-hearted but, with an 11km run from top to bottom, it is heaven for intermediate and advanced skiers. You can even ski down a glacier all the way back to Hallstatt. It's this freedom to set out and explore the region that attracts lovers of the latest ski sport, and Sebastian wouldn't have it any other way.
"You just have to go," he says.
"It's an amazing feeling, like dancing, or surfing."
In a rather philosophical moment, he reveals that aside from the adrenalin rush, free skiing is about the isolation - enjoying the muffled hush of the snow-capped forest and getting back in touch with silence.
"Where else in this world to you find that sort of quiet?" he asks, revealing the traditional heart of this unconventional sport.

HOW TO GET THERE

The four-hour train from Vienna to Hallstatt runs regularly; some are direct and others involve a connection.  
A ferry meets every train at the Hallstatt station and takes you straight across the lake to the town and a public bus runs regularly from Hallstatt to the  Krippenstein ski slopes.
WHERE TO STAY

Heritage Hotel offers a great respite after a day on the slopes. Heritage has several buildings in Halstatt - one in an ancient castle and another right on the lake - and is Halstatt's first four-star hotel, with spacious rooms and hearty breakfasts to get you started.
Visit www.heritagehotel.at for more information.