 Poster: A snowHead
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As per title, just booked a holiday to ramsau in jan. looking to ski both the Msyerhofn area as well as zell am ziller.
How easy is it to connect from ramsau to either end of the valley via train or bus? The websites seem to make it look very easy.
Also what's the area in general like? Hoping the zillertal arena lives up to expectations.
Only 3 weeks to go, can't wait 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The heart of oompah, thigh slapping skiing you will love it.
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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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Ramsau im Zillertal is approximate half way between Zell am Ziller (Zillertal Arena) and Mayrhofen. You can check it out using Google Map. Zell is 2.4 miles out of the valley and Mayrhofen is 2.8miles into the valley. It will be just a short bus ride.
Ramsau has its own unlinked small area call Gerlosteinwand. There is a chairlift right at Ramsau with which you can go up this small area better known for sledging. Real skiing has to be either Marhofen(157 km piste) or Zillertal Arena(163km piste). In the direction out of the valley you can find Kaltenbach(155 km piste) and Fugen(21 km piste) on the same valley road after Zell Kaltenbach is comparable in size to Mayrhofen and Zillertal Arena.
Into the Valley after Mayrhofen is the the glacier resort Hintertux(86 km piste). It can be very windy and right at the dead end of the valley about 14.5 miles from Ramsau.
Near Maryhofen town there is a small resort called Ahorn too. It is hidden away from the Mayrhofen town. All the above are shown in the piste map obtainable from any of the any Zillertal areas.
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Sounds great, plenty of skiing to be had by sounds of it. I assume the busses run frequently and are easy picked up to link the areas together.
We both like to cover lots of ground over the week so it sounds right up our street
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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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Ahorn has a nice icy black, top to bottom without stopping, lovely.
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depthjunkie,
In general it's a great area. Got back last night after 8 days boarding and skiing. We were there last february too and liked it so much we forced our friends to come with us this christmas (they didn't put up much resistance). Zell am Ziller links with Gerlos and other mountains as part of Zillertal arena (had a bit of a late start on that one so didn't get very far and nearly missed the last cabin down), also went to penken/horberg and kaltenbach/hochfugen (our favorite), have to go back again to try the other areas. The train links the valley from Fugens Spieljoch resort to Mayrhofen town itself and buses head out from each village to one or more resorts (10-20 mins) and also from each railway station. Only drawback is the last train leaves Mayrhofen at 8 in the evening so a nights clubbing and a late train back are out of the question, unless you want to get the first morning train at about 6.30. Also the journey beyond Mayrhofen to Finkenberg, Rastkogel, Lanersbach and Hintertux all require the green bus as the train goes no further, watch out for the Christophorus buses, they are normal service buses and not included on the pass, we had to pay 7.5 euros for 3 of us to go down the valley due to an unplanned early finish on the wrong side of the mountain.
All in all a well linked set of resorts but watch out for the gap between morning buses to take you to a resort and afternoon buses to get you home.
Oh and all transport is include on your ski pass (not that they ask for it if you're dressed apropriatley and carrying one or two planks)
Hope some of that is helpfull
Rob
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Thats great info Rob, not to botherd about the last bus train being 8pm as we tend to have a few bears apres ski before heading back to the hotel at about 6pm. Shower and go for dinner, followed by a few bears in the the hotel bar and then usualy in bed by 10-11pm (light weights now as we are both the wrong side of 30  )
I take it the busses are frequently running up and down all day as in the likes of St Anton Lech Zurs etc or are they set times in the morning and set times in the afternoon and nothing in between.
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get a feel of what to expect transport wise to enable us to get up and down the different resorts.
Cheers for all the replys
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Zillertal Arena is a very "long" resort and take a day to get to the end and back. So plan your skiing carefully. Last time we skied there we met a family who stayed at the far end of Zell and then the next year chose to stay in Zell so that they could explore the full area from both ends.
Mayrhofen is of course famous of good skiing but it also has the steepest groomed run in Austria.
Zillertal Valley has 452km piste and should be big enough for any visitor in a week.
Don't bother with buses and train myself as I always drive. However I expect the buses run well in any Austrian resort and a journey time of 2 to 3 miles shouldn't be a big deal.
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We are staying in Ramsau, thought this would be good option as it seems to be in the middle distance wise from zell and Mayrhofen. Sadly we wont have a car so will be on the busses and trains
Thanks for the info Saikee
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depthjunkie, you need the train to get to all the different resorts, it's so easy, they are not overcrowded with plenty of room to sit with your skis or board. The trains run regularly throughout the day, it's the Mayrhofen to Jenbach line you need basically, the train is red and looks more like one of our trams.
You can get on in Ramsau im Zillertal and go in either direction (Mayrhofen is obviously the Mayrhofen train) Zell am Ziller and Kaltenbach/Hoch Fugen are the Jenbach train. You can get on the bus from Ramsau/Hippach to Mayrhofen of course because the resort bus covers that route.
From the Mayrhofen station, you can either walk with your skis across the road, turn right and walk past the church on your left hand side up the high street to the Penken gondola, or the Penken bus departs from right where the train stops. The bus that goes to the Ahorn also calls by the train station.
For Zell am Ziller, when you get off the train you need to walk across the road to the bus stop (the Red Line/Rotes Line) is the bus you need which takes you to the bottom lift station for the Zillertal Arena, this takes about 5 mins by bus. When you go to Zell am Ziller, bear in mind that if you ski the morning, the first bus back to the train station isn't until 13.00 hours. I can recommend the restaurant opposite the bottom lift station up the stairs-absolutely fabulous.
For Kaltenbach, when you get off the train there you walk across the road and for about 150m to the bottom station, it's basically where the car parking is. So, for Kaltenbach you don't need a bus to get from the station and also, you can ski right back to the bottom station there.
Ahorn-you don't need to wait for the resort bus outside the Penkenbahn, it is only a short 5 min walk up the road, turn left and it's signposted.
I didn't use the buses very much last week, by the time the bus came I could have walked it.
Every time I used the train last week, they checked I was in possession of a full area lift pass despite the fact I was carrying skis and was wearing skis. The time before someone only checked once during the week so it obviously depends on the ticket officer.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We are staying in Ramsau, thought this would be good option as it seems to be in the middle distance wise from zell and Mayrhofen. Sadly we wont have a car so will be on the busses and trains
Thanks for the info Saikee
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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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We are staying in Ramsau, thought this would be good option as it seems to be in the middle distance wise from zell and Mayrhofen. Sadly we wont have a car so will be on the busses and trains
Thanks for the info Saikee
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We are staying in Ramsau, thought this would be good option as it seems to be in the middle distance wise from zell and Mayrhofen. Sadly we wont have a car so will be on the busses and trains
Thanks for the info Saikee
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You know it makes sense.
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Tip-what I always do is avoid Mayrhofen on the first day (everyone is up there who has arrived the night or day before) and go to one of the other resorts for a couple of days, then when everyone else decides to go and visit the other resorts, I go up to Mayrhofen then (I think Mayrhofen is the busiest of all of the resorts). Late January would be quieter I expect so it probably doesn't matter but that's worked well for me the last 2 trips.
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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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depthjunkie , when are flying out . i go out to hippach (next village to ramsau) on the 14 jan. as said above loads to go at . zell over to gerlos is a great . the penken gondola from mayrhofen gets very busy in the morning and last thing at night (no run down to the village) . from ramsau you can get a bus to the horberg lift. less busy. kaltenbach , good with a great run down at the end of the day. trains and ski bus included with a lift pass. for a night out in mayrhofen go to the strass hotel . last year the had a singer on called brian christopher . he is brilliant. first saw him there 10 years ago and he is back again this year.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Yes and the view up amongst the trees when in the Horbergbahn is lovely (plus there is actually room to sit down without your face being in somebody's armpit!). I'm not a fan of the Penkenbahn-I wonder if they might make that into a cable car one day to hold more people as the gondola only holds 15 people a time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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there last jan and was surprised how busy it was , esp kaltenbach.
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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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we fly out on the 21st so will be hitting the slopes on the 22nd
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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depthjunkie, Ramsau, has some of the best powder and tree skiin in the Ziller! It is always quite no on around and lifties are very happy to see you!
Mayrhofen is a great spot enjoy
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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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| tim000 wrote: |
| there last jan and was surprised how busy it was , esp kaltenbach. |
Out of the three I find Zell am Ziller the quietest, followed by Kaltenbach and then Mayrhofen. Kaltenbach was quite busy the first day I went up there though and then the next time was so quiet I couldn't believe it.
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thanks for all the replies guys and gals, just the info i needed. Does anyone know what the last bus and train times back to Ramsau from Mayrhofen ( Horbergbahn ) is and also from Zell am ziller back to Ramsau?
We are planning on doing 2 days in Zell, 2 in Mayrhofen and 2 in Kaltenback/hoch fugen
Not bothered about nights out, we tend to have a few beers after skiing then head back to the hotel about 6-7pm ish. Shower, evening meal then tend to kick back in the hotel with a few more beers then tend to be in bed by 11pm.
Cheers
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FAQ
...) we found that being away from the hustle and bustle just meant for more skiing opportunities and a quieter gondola ride up in the morning with getting the horbergbahn as opposed to the Penkenbahn coming up from mayerhofen. No queues on any of the days. We found where the horbergbahn brings you out at the top means you are more central in general and we found it easier to then explore from there. In terms of transport, we stayed at the hotel zillerhof (which btw was brilliant, food amazing, lovely and quiet - not great if anyone was expecting to be partying in mayerhofen every night tho!) which meant we walked out of the door to the ski bus stop and headed to horbergbahn which was no more than 5 min drive. Again always pretty quiet too. We used the train on a couple of occasions (namely when we skied past home or thought we'd check out another village). Was hassle free, pretty easy to understand even for a "bus timetable phobe" like me. Just felt v v odd getting on a train with what seemed like no proper platform, you just jump on and off and loads of people are doing the same. Felt like a bus service more than train!! I really enjoyed the novel experience haha. At the end of the day we got the gonda down and then had beers at the bottom before catching the bus back to Ramsau. Although the buses always came at the same times the bus stop felt like a bit of a bun fight some days with so many people going to different places.
