 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all!
Well, bit of a vague title, so I'll try to elaborate!
The other half and I are lucky enough to be able to take a month or two off work next winter (2015/16), planning on being mid Dec to mid Jan, and fancy spending the time in Austria doing as much skiing as we possibly can! The question is, where to base ourselves, what to do re: ski passes, best areas / resorts....the list is endless lol!
We will have a car, and so are planning on travelling around and trying to get in a few resorts (depending on the drive - don't really want to be driving a few hours every day).
Very open ended question I know, so a bit about us both:
2 mid 30's professionals, enjoy on piste skiing (intermediate level 7 / 8's at a guess), might do a bit of "side of piste" but not really going to be doing anything to daring!
Both enjoy a beer, but the plan is to get the best out of the skiing rather than the drinking (!), so mental après isn't a requirement.
Money-wise, we'll have some (so won't need to work whilst out there), but not a bottom-less pit! Ideally we want to be able to rent a nice apartment for the month / two, in a decent area, with access to skiing, and wider access to more skiing (via the car).
Any advise, thoughts, tips, as ever gratefully received!!
Cheers
Matthew
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@jellemr, sounds fun!
It will be hard to find accommodation in 'resort' for holiday apartments, unless you book now!
i am bias to my area but I'd consider taking the Land Salzburg Super Ski Pass and then spending a week in the Gasteins, a week in Saalbach (Ski Circus), a week in Sportwelt (Flachau/Zauchensee etc..) and a week in Schladming, and maybe a week in Muhlbach Hochkoenig.
You will find accommodation easier working on a shorter term basis.
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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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@jellemr, Lucky you !
If i had a month in Austria, I would head to the Ski Amade. So many resorts ( but you have car ), so much skiing, reasonable to eat, drink etc, etc. In terms of bases, take a look at Schladming maybe, or perhaps Altenmarkt. I should imagine both of these ( real ) towns offer the possibility of rentals for the period of time you mention.
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Step 1: Buy the Tirol Snow Card
Step 2: Find somewhere relatively central (to Tirol) to base yourself, so you can easily get to whichever part of Tirol has the most snow (if you head over the Brenner to Ost Tirol you get totally different weather systems, and can have deep powder when north Tirol is dry, likewise sometimes the extreme west or east [eg Ischgl/Fieberbrunn] will be better). Innsbruck works well (lots of resorts very close by, but other than Nordkette all need at least a 15 minute bus/drive), but as it's a relatively short trip and if it's a 'once in a lifetime' sort of thing you probably want to base in a resort with more skiing in walking distance. I'll have a think where, but as you're there from mid-December it's worth being reasonably close to places like Stubai, Obergurgl, Sölden, Pitztal, Ischgl to guarantee snow.
Step 3: Enjoy the best skiing in Europe (IMHO  )
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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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3 replies, 3 different areas, you see my problem?!! 
@flangesax, just looked at the Super Ski Pass and it looks excellent value, less than €600 for all that skiing.
@Timberwolf, similar idea to @flangesax, by the sounds of it? I've never been to this part of Austria, but it does look amaxing.
@clarky999, this was an idea that I'd also had. We've been to the Zillertal a couple of times and loved it, and though the Tirol Snow Card might be the way forward. I think it's about €700, does that sound right? Are there any options on this for shorter periods of time? I thought the same, Innsbruck is central, but ideally we want to be able to not have to drive some days (it is a holiday after all), so doorstep skiing as an option might be nice. I thought of places like Seefeld / Niederau as being reasonable central?
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@flangesax, good call. I already have a week in December and a week in January booked so couldn't do month at a time (much as I'd like to)
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@Timberwolf, heartless....
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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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| jellemr wrote: |
@clarky999, this was an idea that I'd also had. We've been to the Zillertal a couple of times and loved it, and though the Tirol Snow Card might be the way forward. I think it's about €700, does that sound right? Are there any options on this for shorter periods of time? |
Tbh not too sure what it costs these days - it was under €600 last time I had it (I've used the Freizeitticket in recent seasons, but you need to be registered as living in IBK to get that), but they've expanded it since then.
I'm pretty sure it's only available as a season pass, but as it runs from October to May it also gives you the option for sneaky early/late season weekends if you want.
The biggest advantage of it - and one that I'm not aware any other pass gives you - is the option to ski on both sides of the main alpine ridge. If a big system comes in from the south then while the Northern Alps will likely have föhn, you can just drive over the Brenner Pass and score the goods in Ost Tirol in the south side. It was crazy last season - bone dry and seriously warm in Innsbruck, but cold and over 4m of snow on the ground in Obertilliach (with 50cm of that overnight).
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I'd probably go with either somewhere large and central, like Innsbruck as a base. You can drive to a huge list of resorts in 2 hours or less and, once you get away from the Monopoly-piece buildings around the airport actually quite a nice place to spend time if one of you picks up a minor injury and needs to rest for a few days.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@clarky999, just looked, €717 for the winter just ending. Sounds excellent value, when 1 week in the Zillertal was around €240 I think.
Where would you pick as a central resort with skiing (wouldn't have to be huge, just enough for those days when we wouldn't want to drive)?
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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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@jellemr, not three different areas, simply 2 province-wide season passes and one suggestion using just one area within one of those provinces. Any stays longer than 13 days make the season cards better value for money.
I buy both the Salzburger Super Ski season pass and the Tirol Snow Cards as a rule. The Tirol Card kicks in at the beginning of October and offers you all the fabulous glacier skiing plus some of the high level early resorts. This is when I use it most, i.e. October to mid December, then again after Easter when things start closing down I move back to the Tirol because of the late season high level skiing opportunities which allows you to use it until the middle of May. As a rule I need 13 days on the Salzburg card to start the VFM factor to really work and 16 days for the Tirol Card. Most years I can easily achieve that although I work full-time Monday to Friday. A retired friend has skied so many days that he has worked out his daily ski pass "cost" is now around 10 to 12 Euro!
In the intermediate time, i.e. mid December to the week after Easter, I ski the Salzburgerland area, mainly the Sportswelt (Ski) amadé region. This year due to not being sure if I would have recovered sufficiently from shoulder surgery to do justice to either of the province-wide passes, I only bought a Sportswelt amadé season pass. I still had plenty to keep me entertained for the whole of the season.
I base myself in Altenmarkt, right by the A10 Tauernautobahn and am within 20 minutes driving of mutiple resorts. Even with the Salzburger pass the same location enables me to be in all the important areas within 45 minutes at the most.
Rather than moving "house" every week, why not look at a similar location in the area you choose and book it for an entire month. Friends of mine did this at the beginning of this year. They booked a self-catering apartment for a month starting straight after the New Year week and finished the week before the Fasching holiday (which also coincided with a lot of school half terms in the UK). They drove out, bought a 2 month vignette and had a whale of a time. They stayed in Altenmarkt but skied all the Sportwelt amadé resorts, then moved on to Saalbach-Hinterglemm, parts of the Kitzbühel Alpen region, Dachstein West (Marcel hirscher's home area), Obertauern and Katschberg. They are planning to return next season to do the same but ski even more resorts. As Altenmarkt is a proper working town, they also had all the facilities they needed such as supermarkts, butchers, etc within walking distance of their apartment.
If you opt for the Tirol region then a l,ocation somewhere along the Inn valley towards Innsbruck would give you masses of skiing: towns like Kufstein, Jenbach, Schwaz, Hall im Tirol would open up most of the eastern Tirol ski areas, while on the other side of Innsbruck you have Zirl, Telfs, Imst and Landeck which would open up the more western areas. By the way some of the more presitigious Tirol resorts, e.g. St Anton and Ischgl (I think) are NOT included on the Tirol Card, so do check what is and is not included for 2015/2016. Each year some places join in and others decide to opt out, the same goes for the Salzberg Super Ski Pass.
The only hiccup I can see for next season in either of the 2 areas is that Fasching is very early in 2016. It is the first week of February which means it eats into the usual quiet time between New Year and Half Term (barely 3 weeks in effect). As these 2 weeks are the ones with the highest premiums it could be that the landlords are unwilling to commit to a long term let, which is another reason for looking in non-skiing towns.
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@Samerberg Sue, thanks so much for your detailed response, it's much appreciated.
I was thinking along those lines, base ourselves somewhere central (to either of the 2 area passes you mention) and then stay there for the month (or two if we can manage it), and travel around.
The reason for wanting a "resort" type base was for the ease of skiing on days when we can't be bothered to travel, but I can see that this will limit our options in comparison to looking for places in "normal" non ski towns.
I'll use your response as a reference point for my research, so thank you!!!
By the way, where did your friends find their accommodation, online or via a local agent?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Samerberg Sue wrote: |
| By the way some of the more presitigious Tirol resorts, e.g. St Anton and Ischgl (I think) are NOT included on the Tirol Card, so do check what is and is not included for 2015/2016. Each year some places join in and others decide to opt out, the same goes for the Salzberg Super Ski Pass. |
I *think* it's only St Anton that isn't on the pass now. Ischgl is (or was the last couple of seasons at least), same for Kitzbühel, Mayrhofen, SkiWelt and I believe Fiss/Serfaus.
Ötz wouldn't be a bad base. It's own small ski area (with some good freeride terrain), Kuhtai, Obergurgl and Sölden nearby, and also easy access to Ischgl, Serfaus/etc, Pitztal, and not tooooo far from Zillertal resorts.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Wed 15-04-15 22:32; edited 1 time in total
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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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The Auhof in Niederau was doing season rents (Dec -May) for approx. 2200 euro last year IIRC. Not sure if they will be doing it next year but might be worth contacting them. Niederau might not be the best for early season skiing (not bad though), but it is centrally located half way between Innsbruck and Salzburg within the Tirol region, with a large number of resorts an hour or less away, then from Christmas onwards you should have a decent amount of Intermediate skiing on your doorstep.
Its also well located for the Super Salzburg ski areas/and also close to Ost Tirol if the snow conditions north of the alpine ridge are not as good as @clarky999 said.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@jellemr, I agree with much that has been said already. Salzburg Super Ski pass, stay somewhere central and then fill your boots! Having carried out similar research for a similar idea I would say the Altenmarkt/Radstadt/Flachau area (good for the whole Ski Amade, whilst not being far from Saalbach/Zell), or the Saalfelden area would be good (very close to Leogang/Saalbach, Maria Alm and Zell - while still being within an hour of the rest of the Ski Amade).
Look for somewhere with a free ski bus/good postbus links available. That way if you do want to take advantage of après and not drive you can do so without worrying unnecessarily about having to get a taxi.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@hammerite, thanks, both are looking like sound options, either a base in Tirol (near Innsbruck) or one for the Salzburg area.
Excellent idea re ski bus too. I'm thinking that a little distance between us and the slopes each day might help with cost and choice, but you're right, we will want to take advantage of après on some days (we will be on holiday after all!)....
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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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@jellemr, Use taxis on the après nights. I've used the Super Salzburg pass for the past three years and still have not visited every resort.
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[quote="clarky999"]
| jellemr wrote: |
The biggest advantage of it - and one that I'm not aware any other pass gives you - is the option to ski on both sides of the main alpine ridge. |
The Salzburger pass offers this as well. Couple of resorts in Carinthia plus the 6 or so Lungau resorts, which, while still in Salzburg, lie south of the continental divide.
Zermatt/Cervinia?
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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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@clarky999, the areas on both of the regional passes change each year, with some places opting out and others opting in. I doubt that St Anton will ever join the Tirol Card scheme to be honest, it never was in and has not yet opted in. Ischgl and Sölden were not in to begin with, I know Sölden joined up in the 2nd or 3rd year as I used my card there a couple of seasons back.
Also the original poster (jellemr, says they are level 6/7 skiers with a bit of side of the piste experience as off piste. Although after a month of continuous skiing they will obviously improve (if they want to) and may look to going further off-piste I'm not sure if the lure of unlimited powder should be part of their initial decisions
@jellemr, most of these bigger areas have free buses included on the ski pass and others have buses and trains (Zillertal for example). Taxis are relatively cheap, but not as cheap as many think (18 Euros one-way between Flachau and Altenmarkt last week I think for example for one person).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@jellemr, I'm going to contact my friends to find out how they sourced their apartment in Altenmarkt and will get back to you. Contacting the Tourist Offices in the towns you are interested in using as a base will start to give you an idea of the prices you should be looking at. I know my friends used one without WiFi as they were back in my hotel to use the free signal there! 
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@Samerberg Sue, that'd be great, thank you  . I'll get in touch with a few tourist offices this week.
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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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@jellemr, if you wouldn't mind, any chance you'd post the results of your research here ? Your plan of a month or so out there is something I have considered doing in the past
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@Timberwolf, @jellemr,
I'm very interested too. Especially over a similar period, or even a season. Perhaps as a pre cursor to moving out to the Austria (or the alps in general).
At the very least I am incredibly jealous.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Timberwolf, @AthersT, I'd be happy to
It's the sort of thing we've been considering for a few years, so fingers crossed!
I'm sure I'll be posting often in the coming months asking for more advise from the wonderful snowhead world!
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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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@mountainaddict, the St Anton part is in Tirol, but you're right that lots of it is in Vorarlberg. I'm pretty sure the Arlberg season pass costs more than the Tirol Snow Cards, which is why they probably won't be joining any time soon!! It would be nice if they'd give you 3 days or so in the Arlberg like with the Freizeitticket though.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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@jellemr, beauty of getting a season pass... sneaky trips back to the area after your initial month (assuming you have the time/money to do so!). 
You probably want to get things sorted sooner than I can help, but we're hoping to buy an apartment/small chalet out there at some point which might be available for a period. We've got a week or so set aside in the summer to go property hunting.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@jellemr, I've heard back from my friends and they simply listed their requirements and sent off a request to the local Tourist Office in Altenmarkt. They got loads of replies and then started sifting through them.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi @Samerberg Sue, thanks for that. I think I'll do the same, send a few emails off to various tourist offices and then see what happens.
I've done some digging and found some promising options on places like Airbnb etc.
@hammerite, agreed, though I think finances and a lack of holidays may scupper return trips!!
Where are you think of buying btw?
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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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@jellemr,
We bought Tirol Snow cards this season and have had a fantastic time so far. We are currently part way through our sixth trip of the season and have managed 61 days' skiing to date, in 33 resorts. As Mountainaddict mentioned earlier, we are currently in Ischgl. Conditions are excellent (despite today's rain...) and the slopes are very quiet. Tomorrow we are heading to Soelden for 4 nights to round off the trip.
Our longest trip was in January, when we drove from home for 23 nights in Austria. On that trip we had a few nights in Pertisau (Achensee) and skied at Pertisau, Maurach and Alpbach. En route to Pertisau we skied at Graen. We then had 10 nights in Fliess (10 minutes drive from Landeck), from where we skied See, Kappl, Zams, Nauders, Serfaus/Fiss, Fendels & Kaunertal Glacier.
Following that we skied at Imst en route to Berwang; and while at Berwang we skied there plus Biberwier. A lot of the resorts are off the (UK) tourist track and many have been very very quiet on the slopes. All the better for us!
We have done all of the trips "on the cheap" and have been self catering for the most part, usually a short drive from the skiing. Bookings have usually been via Booking.com and we are averaging only about £22 each per night for self catering. We didn't book any accommodation before December, about a month before our trip, and had no problem with shorter bookings. Other than our 10 nights at Fliess and 5 at Pertisau we stayed between 2-3 nights at other places.
The Snowcards have been something of a bargain and (all being well, barring injury...) by the time the cards expire in mid May way we should have managed 72 days skiing for €717 - a bargain €9.95 per day. 
The biggest problem we've had has been deciding where to ski. It's been a great problem to have!
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@Bergmeister, wow, what a winter you've had!!! I though we were fortunate to be planning a month long trip, looks like I've some catching up to do!!
Great to hear from someone who's been there and done it though, I may well pick your brains later on!!
One quick question, the £22 per night, is that per person (i.e. £44 for a double room), or for a couple? Also, are you staying in apartment type places, or a room in a b&b type place?
Thanks
Matthew
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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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@jellemr, we're looking in and around Ski Amade/Ski Circus. Tossing up between finding somewhere in a resort against a village/small town close by.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@hammerite, difficult decision I can imagine. During the ski season I'm sure you'd want to be in resort, out of it, perhaps a town would be the better choice (more going on?)?
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So, possible update for you all! I've found a few possible options in Niederau which look promising. We have decided we want to be in a resort so that on the days where we don't want to travel it is easily possible to ski.
Niederau is included in 2 larger area passes, and I'm not sure which is the best one for us to go for. We can either go for the Tirol Snowcard (as discussed above), or the Kitzbuhel All Star Card.
The Tirol card gives access to all (barring a couple of exceptions) resorts in the Tirol area for approz €700.
The All Star Card gives access to the whole of the Kitzbuhel alps plus Ski Circus (Saalbach - Hinterglemm), Zell am See etc, (approx. 1000km of skiing) for approx. €600.
Given that Niederau is geographically closer to most of the resorts on the All Star Card (being at the Eastern end of the Tirol), does this sound like a better option?
Cheers
Matthew
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@jellemr, I'd go for the All Star Card to be honest for a couple of reasons -
1. you are only there for a month and have said you probably won't be able to get back in the same season.
2. The Auhof offers fabulous value for money and you will be on the slopes pretty quickly on days you don't want to drive very much
3. You will have Carolyn and her family on hand if you need them for any difficulties but also to help you get the most out of your cards.
4. It is a great little resort in itself and very easy to get to and from when you want to try pastures new!
In a month you are not going to be able to get the most out of the tirol Card to be quite frank - the real advantages of that particular card are the length of the seasons and the variety of glaciers included. You said you wanted a month around January, so you should not need the glacier back up! If the season is so bad that you do, then a) they'll be packed and b) you'll have probably cancelled!
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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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^^ On balance I think I agree - Kitz and Saalbach alone have more than enough to keep you occupied for a month. Fieberbrunn is also included, right?
Slight toss up in that with the Tirol card you'd also be able to ski the nearby Zillertal resorts, but then you'd loose Saalbach...
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@Samerberg Sue, good advice, thanks. That was pretty much my thinking, there seems a lot of skiing to be had with the All Star pass, probably more than a couple of intermediates could do in a month to be honest
@clarky999, FYI, the pass includes the following 10 areas, I'm not sure how large each is, or how accessible they are for a day's skiing from Niederau?
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser - Brixental
Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang
Ski Area Kitzbühel - Kirchberg
Schmittenhöhe in Zell am See
Glacier Kitzsteinhorn - Kaprun
Ski Area St. Johann in Tirol / Oberndorf
Ski Area Steinplatte - Winklmoosalm
Ski Area Fieberbrunn
Ski Area Buchensteinwand PillerseeTal
Ski Jewel Alpbachtal Wildschönau
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FAQ
a day for a month's skiing? What an outrage 