Alps: sledding, cross country sledding, snow mobiling

St Johann im Pongau is just an hour south of Salzburg on frequent trains. This place has a nice toboggan run. There is cross country skiing all over. Snowmobiling is generally not done in the Alps, except for ski patrol and slope and lift maintenance people. They are considered to be noisy avalanche generators.

https://www.sanktjohann.com/en/winter/off-piste/tobogganing?_wb=en/winter/off-piste/tobogganing&lang=EN

Thank you very much Sam!

We enjoyed our 10 days in the PillerseeTal at a Fiberbrunn, AT hotel. The PillerseeTal is a "Y" shaped valley in the Tyrol with five villages interconnected by a free regional bus. Fiberbrunn is a 2+ hour regional train ride from Salzburg. Great cross country skiing with prepared tracks. Some XC skiing tracks groomed for classic only with parallel skate tracks to minimize conflicts between skiing styles. The areas also groom walking tracks and locals do not walk on ski tracks.
https://www.kitzbueheler-alpen.com/en/pillerseetal/holiday-skiing-crosscountry.html

You can co the Toboggan runs at night:
https://www.kitzbueheler-alpen.com/en/pillerseetal/winter/tobogganing-toboggan-run.html

Fun on two runners is great fun during the day – while an evening
toboggan outing in Fieberbrunn, Hochfilzen, St. Jakob in Haus and
Waidring has its own particular charm. All the toboggan runs in
PillerseeTal are illuminated which means they can be used in the
evening.

Look into Bad Gastein. Your boys (parents too) will have such a blast!

Edgar,

We are trying to make a reservation at a small hotel/pension in St. Jakob. They only take cash and are requiring me to wire 30% in advance which is only 109,80 euros. It cost $50 to do the wire (a bit hefty for that amount of money) and honestly it is a pain to do the wire. Where do you stay when you went to PillerseeTal? I am having a hard time making reservations in the area most likely because it is the holiday season and in addition I am finding that very few speak English there.
Thank you for your help,

Rebecca Smith

We are trying to make a reservation at a small hotel/pension in St. Jakob. They only take cash and are requiring me to wire 30% in advance which is only 109,80 euros. It cost $50 to do the wire (a bit hefty for that amount of money) and honestly it is a pain to do the wire. Where do you stay when you went to PillerseeTal? I am having a hard time making reservations in the area most likely because it is the holiday season and in addition I am finding that very few speak English there.
Thank you for your help,
Rebecca Smith

See how much Transferwise wants to charge...

We were in Fieberbrunn, the largest of the five PillerseeTal villages and stayed at the Sporthotel Fontana. The Sporthotel was at the edge of town but the downhill ski area's base was out the backdoor of the hotel and the local bus stopped a short distance from the hotel's front door. We were with a ski group and had the half board package (breakfast and dinner). Food was great.
https://www.sporthotel-fontana.at/en/

are requiring me to wire 30% in advance which is only 109,80 euros. It cost $50 to do the wire (a bit hefty for that amount of money) and honestly it is a pain to do the wire

In Austria (and all countries which have the Euro) money transfer by wire is the standard. They have abandoned checks about 50 years ago. Everything is done by wire (with no extra costs imposed), e.g. you get your monthly salary, you pay your rent, your electricity, etc.

Maybe Western Union is a possiblity for you. In Fieberbrunn, which is only about 3 miles away from St. Jakob, there is a Western Union partner.

I've staid at a B&B in St Anton which accepted my credit card as a guarantee, with the understanding that I would settle the bill in cash on departure. Have you called and asked them if they would accept that. As wmt pointed out, checks are a thing of the past in Europe and that is probably their standard terms. American banks look to wire transfers as a way to make big fees and fat foreign currency conversion commissions.