Austria

A study by travel organization Expedia revealed that Dutch people are the wildest skiers in the world. They are the biggest drinkers of all ski enthusiast and are not averse to being naked, or even having sex on the slope, according to the study, RTL Nieuws reports.

Expedia surveyed 13 thousand skiers over the age of 18 from 13 different countries. The survey revealed that Austria is the favorite skiing destination, mainly due to the great apres ski culture in the country. And especially Dutch people make good use of this culture. 

The Dutch Public Prosecutor will not prosecute Geert Wilders over statements he made in a speech in Vienna, Austria in March 2015, the prosecutor announced. The Austrian authorities asked the Dutch Prosecutor to investigate Wilders for hate speech, but his statements are not punishable by Dutch law, according to the Prosecutor, NU.nl reports.

As is almost a tradition by now, the Dutch royal couple and their three daughters posed for photos at the start of their skiing vacation in Lech, Austria on Monday.

The Royal family goes skiing in Lech every year, according to broadcaster NOS. To avoid being followed around by photographers all through their vacation, they always meet the press for a few photos at the start of their holiday.

Dutch cat Pepper is quite a wanderer it seems. Six months after going missing from his owner's home in Tilburg, the three year old cat turned up in Vienna, Omroep Brabant reports. 

According to the broadcaster, the cat was found by a hunter near Vienna, Austria. She had worms in her lungs and was severely emancipated. Luckily Pepper was chipped, and the chip led to her Dutch owner Franka Schapendonk. 

A group of eight snowboarders, most of whom Dutch, were caught in an avalanche near the Austrian village of Obergurgl on Saturday. A 22-year-old man from 's-Gravenzande was killed and two others were hospitalized. Others were unharmed and managed to contact the emergency services, AD reports.

The snowboarders were surprised by the avalanche at an altitude of some 3 thousand meters. They were in Ferwaltal, not far from the ski resort in Obergurgl, Tyrol and were on the way to the top with so-called split-boards. 

A 49-year-old Dutch man was died after falling 500 meters from a mountain in Austria on Wednesday, the Austrian police announced

Max Verstappen managed to achieve second place in the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg Sunday afternoon, another stunner after setting the fastest time in Barcelona. The race in Spielberg showed a number of parallels with the race in Barcelona.

The police raided a total of 15 addresses in the Netherlands, Germany and Austria on Monday as part of an international investigation into illegal gambling. Two men from Enschede were arrested, the Public Prosecutor announced.

Austria expects to soon make a decision on whether or not PVV leader Geert Wilders will be prosecuted for hate speech because of statements he made in a speech in Hofburg on March 27th last year

Dutch traveller’s association ANWB is warning of high traffic volumes this weekend as much of the Netherlands enters the first holiday season of the year. Some 300 thousand people are expected to depart for the alps, which could cause major traffic jams from 9 a.m to 3 p.m.

Dutch Formula 1 star Max Verstappen raced down a ski run at the Kitzbuhel ski resort in the Austrian Alps in a F1 show run on Thursday, Red Bull announced on its website.

The resort is getting ready for the Hahnenkammrennen World Cup Alpine ski races and decided that a F1 "snow run" was just the thing to celebrate, according to Red Bull.

"I've never driven on snow", Verstappen said after the run. "It was a real challenge and we had to put my tires in chains, was very special. It was great fun and the enthusiasm of the fans in Kitzbuhel was great."