 Poster: A snowHead
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Any ideas what the snow is doing out there at the moment? Flying out there this Saturday (15th Jan)
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Rain and sun, fun times
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Actually having got out here and heard the weather has been really warm and a bit dodge, it is slushy where the sun has been and icy in patches but in fact you just get on with it! Just happy to be on the slopes really. Supposed to snow on weds. Resort is a bit quieter than expected so some areas have been deserted which is great!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is it cooling down yet?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Yep, has gotten progressively cooler over last couple of days. Sun still been out which has been nice but some runs been late in day been dreadful. Managed to find a few hidden gems though which have held up well and few people on them. The moguls have seemingly been more appealing than the hard pack. Was in the - figures today and freezing level was about 2000m. Tomorrow due snow right through to Friday and expecting poor visibility. Thursday due to get the most snow. Bit of a mixed bag really this week. Going to a min of -15 tomorrow so first day for thermals! Going to be a big shock compared to 10 degrees and a load of sunburn!  will be good to get some fresh snow so looking forward to getting out there.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Fifi, I`m heading off to Stumm in a week and a half - next door to Kaltenbach I think. Is that near you ? Can`t find any information on either Stumm or Kaltenbach.
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Looking at webcams conditions at Gerlos didn't look too bad, and the Burton Snowpark looked in ok shape. What runs are bad in the afternoon?
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| fredfish wrote: |
| Fifi, I`m heading off to Stumm in a week and a half - next door to Kaltenbach I think. Is that near you ? Can`t find any information on either Stumm or Kaltenbach. |
Kaltenbach is about 17miles or 20 mins from mayrhofen. It is just along the valley I believe from zell am ziller so would maybe use that as a starting point, look up the zillertal arena which covers this whole area and go from there. Sorry have zero other info though!!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Ghost Dog wrote: |
| Looking at webcams conditions at Gerlos didn't look too bad, and the Burton Snowpark looked in ok shape. What runs are bad in the afternoon? |
Conditions been great today, snow has been powdery, lots of off piste opportunities, snow cannons been on all day and bashers been out and about a bit too. Much much nicer than the slush! Skiied red 5 down from penken to horberg late today (one of our last runs) which got quite chopped up and rather mogully which to be expected being popular option home. next run home before last gondola down we opted for red 3 which had hardly been used and had a lovely quiet run down and a few dips in and out of trees
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Woohoo! Arriving Wed, should make it up to Schneekar bu 2pm. Lazy afernoon then get properly stuck in on Thursday.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Powder from the the top of the 150-er cable car going to raskogel and surrounding areas was fab today! Waist deep in White fluff! If you can stand the wind chill that is. Was blimmin freezing!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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You know it makes sense.
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save some for me there homercles, booked today for the 29th. first time in mayrhofen so any tips or hints ( or secret powder stashes  ) welcomed.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| fredfish wrote: |
| Fifi, I`m heading off to Stumm in a week and a half - next door to Kaltenbach I think. Is that near you ? Can`t find any information on either Stumm or Kaltenbach. |
Lucky You! Kaltenbach Hochzillertal is in my opinion a very good ski area (which most Brits haven't heard of  ). I've been going there for many years and the head of the Hochzillertal ski school there, Gerhard Wildauer, is an old friend. In fact I've just got back less than 2 weeks ago from a week there with some other Snowheads staying in Gerhard's apartment.
Kaltenbach's ski slopes were linked with those of Hochfügen a few years ago, and together they now have 37 lifts and 171km of pistes, see this.
They recently installed a second new gondola Hochzillertal III that runs parallel to the original Hochzillertal I/II gondola, so with 2 gondola systems operating the base station has a very large uplift capacity.
Some tips:
On the Kaltenbach side:
1. Try the Schnee Express 8 seater chairlift - it has heated seats for a nice warm bum! 
2. Try the Stephan Eberharter GoldPiste run (he's a local so they got him to name it ) back to the gondola basestation in the valley - it has snow cannon coverage, so it operates even when the rest of the valley level may be short of snow.
3. The PostAlm at the end of the Stephan Eberharter GoldPiste has banging Austrian apres-ski - if you're after something quieter than the Wedelstube on the 1st Floor of Gerhard's SkiSchool building is very nice, see this.
4. There is a black itinerary run (Number 17) from the base of the Schnee Express that goes down to the adjacent village of Aschau, see piste map. Again this has snow cannon, and there is a shuttle bus from the end of this run that goes every 15 minutes back to the Kaltenbach gondola basestation.
5. There are several nice mountain restaurants, the Kristallhütte is worth a visit to see the decor, the igloos (I believe guests can stay in them overnight) and the big chair, but is pricy. I prefer the Platzlalm, the Zirmstadl and especially the Skihütte (see previous link to piste map).
There is a promotional video of the HochZillertal skiregion here
Obviously the Zillertal Pass also covers you for the entire valley, so a trip to the Ski-Arena area (Zell am Ziller) and Mayrhofen is also recommended - travel on the narrow gauge Zillertalbahn railway and the skibusses is included in your lift pass.
Hope this helps. 
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Mon 24-01-11 21:34; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Alistair, that`s absolutely brilliant. I`ve been searching everywhere for some hard info - but without any joy. It looks like a great area. Can`t wait to get out there. Conditions in Austria sound better than anywhere else in Europe at the moment. Have only been back at work 3 weeks but am already having a nervous breakdown. Austria here I come.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Alistair, I have cut and pasted your info and distributed it to all of our group. Invaluable.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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What a great way to waste my penultimate day at work !
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Cheers Alistair - that`s really useful. Three days to go....
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All sounds great to me. 3 weeks to go. First time in zillertal and going there cos it looked good on internet. Nice to hear real people saying it's good too. Small question, are the ski buses as reliable as they should be? My sisters worried about not all resorts being linked by pistes and lifts. Must follow up some of the links mentioned above. Not long to go! 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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robapplegate, The bus service is excellent as is the train service. Its Austria not the UK.
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| Corky wrote: |
| robapplegate, The bus service is excellent as is the train service. Its Austria not the UK. |
Yep, I'd agree with that the buses were fab. Skiied over to eggalm and then dropped down to catch a bus up to the Glacier and though we didn't have any idea where to get the bus from at the bottom, we managed to find the bus stop very easily and caught one within 2 mins of arriving. daily buses to and from our accomodation to horberg gondola always on time and not chockablock either. Predictable enough we could stop for a couple of beers before heading home, always confident in the knowledge that we wouldn't miss it!
Train service also fab though feels very odd compared to the uk (haven't had to use trains when skiing before) and the fact you just hop on and hop off and have to stop the train at certain stops feels quite perculiar!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just back last night, conditions on piste were fab, boarders reported there was still some powder to be found but mostly tracked out. Conditions on the glacier on Saturday were near perfect apart from the driving wind.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hi Not really snow but ...... Going to Mayrhofen Feb half term (teacher!!) our 6th time. Was looking at the stream from the webcam and it looks as though there is a new gondala going up from the Eisebar in addition to the old 3 chair lift. Am I seeing things, or have they upgraded to get us all up the mountain faster from the Penkenbahn?
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The 3 man Penken chair has been replaced by an 8/10 man combi chairlift and gondola. The 3 man seems to be being left for the time being but won't be running.
Penken Express always was the way forward after you can ski that first blue though
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You know it makes sense.
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Corky and Fifi. Thanks for the info. I'll pass it on to my sister and stop her worrying.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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just back from a week in mayrhofen. wall to wall sun. great fun
Sunday: boarded around the penken hill - mainly around the rastenkogl area. conditions on piste were nice - well groomed packed powder. nice and grippy for carving. off piste - found some very small areas of untracked (followed a 'closed' groomer track and 100m or so of untracked between it and a piste). fairly nice consistent texture, no crust with a silky glidey sort of feeling,.
Monday: Zell am Ziller. headed as high and left (piste map) as possible. groomers doing a great job. loads of little pockets of proper powder untouched in the shade. long toe edge traverse (for a regular footer) lead to further off piste (over the area with the reservoir) large diamonds to plant your turns in.
Tuesday: Kaltenbach. headed high as possible and started crossing ridges towards Fugen. Very disappointing grooming - up to 18' discrepancies between one run of the basher and the next. off piste, only managed to find some fairly unpleasant sun crusted stuff. cover virtually non existent with soooooo much rock and bare vegetation showing it wasn't funny. retired to Zell and lapped some of the above - much more fun.
Weds, Thurs, Fri: Hintertux Glacier. we saved the best for last. Groomers were doing a fantastic job up here. at the top pistes in excellent condition (only found one area scrapped a bit and getting a tiny bit polished, but by no means icey. off piste variable - some crusted, some windblown, some powder. spent most of the time high and left - lapping a t-bar/chair combo with a high traverse off the top of the t- bar through a gap in the ridgeline rocks to a great off piste area. it was quite windy up here so within 20 to 30 minutes of putting lines in, they were filled with windblown fresh.
overall a great week, generally if you go high enough most pistes in great nick, but off piste cover ranged from none to maybe a bit thin, but good fun to be had with a bit of care. if you're heading out there the picks of my week would be Zell and the Glacier.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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18 feet is a cliff (to me anyway).
I won't ask about conditions yet, not back until ( April, with family this time. Going to be odd, not spending my non skiing hours in Scotties and the Eisbar.
Anyone stayed in the Tirolerhof?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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ooooooops. only just noticed my ' and " dyslexia 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rogg, I was not being superior about dropping 18" - I hate those great icy edges between basher runs. Though dropping 18" is preferable to hitting an 18" wall.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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rogg, cheers for the review. I am heading back out that way soon, always missed the glacier but may give it a go this trip!
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FAQ
Like dropping off a cliff. 