 Poster: A snowHead
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Resort: Schladming and Bad Gastein in Ski Amade region
Country: Austria
http://www.skigastein.com/files/Ski-Info_2010/Abzug_BB_
http://www.planai.at/winter/en/ski_area/Schladming-Dachstein.htmlGastein_Ski-Info_10-11_E_2TR-04.pdf
Date: Friday 28th of Jan until Saturday 5th of Feb 2011
Travel: All DIY with Ryanair flights to Salzburg, B&B and transfers etc. Very early flight and we managed to hit the slopes by 1pm, on the way back again very late flight and we did ski until 4pm on Saturday. No days waisted for travel only.
This is the third time we did it the same way in Salzburgerland and I can't praise enough Ryanair for always being ahead of scheduled, with baggage coming out in minutes after landing etc.....
We had 8.5 days of skiing. We combined 2 resorts on the same - Ski Amade - lift pass. We moved after 4 days from Schladming, in the evening, by train to Bad Gastein. Very easy 1.5h journey.
Stayed in fairly cheap B&B in both places, very central with a few minutes walk to gondolas. Around 31E per p/p night. Good value.
Weather: Could not be better for piste skiing. We arrived two days after substantial snowfall, 30-40cm, and it stayed completely sunny for 9 days. Cold enough to maintain the good snow so briliant piste conditions but sunny and nice to have lunches outside.
Perfect weather.
Terrain:
Schladming area is formed by 4 different mountains and villages claiming a total of around 120km. Not high around 750-2000mtr.
And yes, it've felt like 120km, plenty of runs, as opposed to other resorts I visited advertising similar mileage – Obertauern and Livigno – I can say now they have felt like 1/3 of Schladming pistes!
Most of the runs are north facing so they keep good snow but I was very surprised by the amount of sun they still get. My fear of being in the shade all time never materialised.
All runs all tree lined, usually wide and long quick reds. Great for crusing but very hard to spot any easy off piste. No open bowls as such. Very modern lift system with two new 8 person chairs on top of Planai. No queues at all.
We liked Hauser Kaibling - more mellow cruising - the most of all 4 mountains, with Raiteralm running second - as more varied.
With the exception of pistes connecting the 4 mountains not many cat tracks to speak about. We did use a ski buses sometimes to avoid those connections though.
Can say the skiers were in majority, not many boarders. And the level was very high.
Very good and plentiful mountain huts, with meals around 6-10E. Large (1/2l) beer around 3.60 - 3.90E so good price.
A few places for apre ski and a few bars late at night but rather quiet. We did not go out much though.
Conclusion: Very, very good resort for quick, red, long pistes. But not much else so I was glad that we had another resort on this trip.
Bad Gastein.
Higher than Schladming with more high Alpine views and feel. We did like to town although difficult to walk - steep streets all the time.
Old, grand buildings just look impressive, specially at night.
Main Bad Gastein and Hofgastein mountains are lift connected and form large area- up to 2300mtr high. We loved the cruisy runs in Schlossalm.
Terrain is a bit different as well, open bowls at the top, with more potential for easy off piste above Bad Hofgastein. Again long runs, good enough lifts.
Absolut highlight is - what they claim - the longest run in Eastern Alps - H1/H2 on the back of Schlossal, 1440mtr altitude difference, 10km long, superb red run.
By bus we visited Dorfgastein - another nice place for cruising, more tree lined. Plenty of long runs for one day.
And Sportgastein - high altitude - 2700mtr. Just one gondola but great wide open runs (3.5 long x 5 runs to the middle station) with amazing views.
Snow suffered only a little bit from the sun in Gastein valley but we mostly skied in upper half of the mountain where conditions were perfect.
More international mix of skiers and boarders in Gastein, with large presence of Scandinavians. Nice apre ski bar Silver Bullet with great live rock band from Sweden every afternoon.
Conclusion: Loved it here. Stunning views, pistes, food.
OK it is NOT convenient if you book wrong location. Uphill walks, need for ski buses etc, neglected snow and runs just above Bad Gastein.
But if you get the rest right, is is large area with plenty to offer.
PHOTOS
Schladming is not a place for nice photos of the skiing area, there is not a single spot where you can stand opposite runs to take a photo of them. Shame. But Bad Gastein made up for it.
We were welcomed by impressive snow cover.
Bad Gastein and Hofgastein:
Dorfgastein:
Sportgastein:
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 16-02-11 12:01; edited 4 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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nice to see someone has had some snow  sound like a great trip
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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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Neilski, We were back 10 days ago so it has not snowed there for 20 days, they probably suffer as anywhere now. But yep, we have been very lucky with the weather. It made the trip.
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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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Tom W, Great photos, lucky with the snow...........added it to my list.
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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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Tom W, good report - lots of useful details. And lovely photos. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Tom W, good write up. Looking forward to getting out there next week!!
Cheers
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Tom W, - very informative report, was there (Bad Gastein) 7 years ago - must get back there some time.
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