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Mayrhofen and Zillertal

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Just posting a visit report on the last day of my weeks trip to Mayrhofen. Snow conditions are good - it snowed in the early part of the week. The red run from the top of the Ahorn is open all the way back down to the cable car. Incidentally, although the Ahorn only has blues and the aforementioned red, the snow conditions there are very good and relatively few people on the slopes. Most tend to use the Penkenbahn lift from the centre of town and the queues for this in the morning are quite bad. On Tuesday I went down to Kaltenbach on the Zillertal train, which is included with the liftpass. Kaltenbach is now linked with Hochfugen for the first time this season, and together they give a big ski area - 145 km of piste. The only potential problem is that the return route from Hochfugen to Kaltenbach uses a piste which is marked as black, which may put some people off using the link. However, I found it an easy black, even on telemark skis, so perhaps they are just being conservative.

I went to the Hintertux glacier yesterday - plenty of sunshine, but still -20C at the top Shocked
I believe Hayley T is arriving in Mayrhofen next week - Hayley you will certainly have a good time snow wise.

Bye

Original posting had numerous typos due to foreign keyboard Mad - now corrected snowHead


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 26-02-05 18:03; edited 1 time in total
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Thanks Alistair. We were thinking of starting off on the Ahorn as we have some beginners with us and we planned to spend the morning with them. I saw the piste map for Hochfugen and it looks brilliant. The train station is near our hotel so that's even better. I saw the black and I'm glad it's ok as my sister in law is a bit wary of them. We'll do it mid week after we've warmed up. I bought some thermals as temperatures are set to drop! Enjoy your last day.
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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?
hayley t, Since you are staying near the station, it will be convenient for you. The train leaves at thirty five minutes past the hour from Mayrhofen station, or there is a bus leaves from the station at 09:10. I believe in a previous post you asked for any tips for eating out in the evening. I can recommend the Kaiserbrundl restaurant which is opposite the Neuhaus Hotel near the station. Also the Hotel Rose which is on the street going up on the left hand side of the church does a daily choice of 3 different 3 course meals priced between 13 and 15 Euros. Opposite the Hotel Rose is the Restaurant Edelweiss which I can also recommend. Finally in the main street opposite the photographers shop "Foto Willy" Toofy Grin and one building down is a restaurant called Grillkuchl.
Hope the above is useful.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
Thanks for the tips Alistair. May bump into you at Innsbruck airport!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Just returned from Mayrhofen and managed to ski a few resorts in the Zillertal Valley, most are only 30 mins journey away from Mayrhofen. Mayrhofen is about an hour from Innsbruck airport. The conditions were amazing, the best I've experienced with fresh tracks all over the mountain (my first time) on the first day, after heavy snow the night before. It was incredibly cold but the lift system is very good with more bubble chairs that I've expereinced elsewhere in Austria and most lifts are high capacity, quick chairs or gondolas in and around the Penken and Finkenberg. Buses and trains are all included within the lift pass which covers around 600km of piste - excellent value for money providing you don't mind using transport to get to these areas. You cannot ski back into Mayrhofen at all, unless you ski from the Ahorn area.

In and around the Mayrhofen ski area, the infamous Penken queues were non-existent between 8.30 and 9, so get there then. This gondola is pretty high so if you have issues with heights go down the valley to the Hochberg gondola which incidently, is the best one down the mountain at the end of the day with just a 5 min queue. The area around the Penken can get quite busy but is good early in the morning both for lifts and quiet pistes. Head over to Finkenberg for long, quiet reds.

The Ahorn is also quiet and mainly blues but all our beginners were on the Penken. The red/black back into the resort is very steep at the bottom. I found some of the reds in general steeper than other areas in Austria.

Alastair has covered probably the best area for intermediates at Kaltenbach/Hochfugen. It offers long reds and fairly quiet pistes, although the gondola queue between 9-10am is about 20-30 mins so it's best to get there early. We had perfect blue skies here and the skiing was amazing. The home run starts with a black (Stephan Eberharter's piste!) which is fairly easy just a bit narrow in parts, this then becomes the red and the most difficult bit at the end of the day! Very crowded, lots of moguls and very long. Exhausting!

The Hintertux glacier was absolutely freezing (-20) and everything was white! It was also windy so the snow was blowing around which made it impossible to see the terrain. Go on a sunny day! The gondolas are all on double cables due to the wind I presume!

Another excellent area is Lanersbach/Eggalm. It's best to go on the Sunday as its very quiet compared to the Penken. It has mainly reds, some quite steep in places but long runs and mainly through the trees. Well worth a day trip.

Apres ski - best place in Nikki's bar at the top of town. The reputation of Mayrhofen's apres ski is true! We stayed in the Neuhaus hotel - very good, quite big so not the usual cosy atmosphere but the hotel has a skittles alley and 2 bars and is close the both bus stops and the train station. The food was fantastic and I would return to this hotel just for the dessert buffet and huge vat of warm chocolate sauce!

Overall, Mayrhofen is perfect for intermediates and good value skiing. High standard hotels, good prices, good value lift pass and a variety of skiing. I'd rate it better than Kitzbuhel and the Ski welt, but not quite the charm and convenience of Saalbach, but it costs more for that![/b]
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