We went to Dachau yesterday. Walked the trail from the train station to the camp like the prisoners had to 80 years ago. It’s three kilometres with plaques every now and then with some information on them. The camp and museum itself was more than interesting but strangely not as harrowing as I expected. I would describe it as sombre. My eleven year old son Tom probably summed things up best with a question while we were in the museum - “but why did the soldiers do those things to the prisoners in the camp if they didn’t do anything wrong”.
Went into the city in the afternoon and the kids and Kylie did some souvenir shopping and more Christmas market stuff before we went to the Hofbrauhaus beer hall. It was much livelier than the Augustiner that we visited yesterday. The band was good and there was animated clapping and singing from the crowd. A great atmosphere. The beer was pretty good too.
My kids are very impressed with the number of Porsche’s and high end Mercs and Bimmers in the city. They’re a once a month siting back home.
I can definitely recommend the Novotel in Munich. Good spot, clean, nice breakfast and friendly staff.
We’re catching the train to Kaltenbach this morning. I’ve seen plenty of mountains over the years but they continue to wow me time after time. Can’t wait to see the valley with 2000 metre (from valley floor) mountains on both sides. That is not seen in Oz and not that common in North America either - will be something new for us. There is some r@in predicted to high elevations tomorrow but we’ll be on skis! (For the first time in a number of months).
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
sbooker,
Thanks for the update. Very interesting. We've visited Dachau but I wasn't aware of the walk from the station.
Enjoy the Zillertal. It's a lovely train ride, so I'm sure you will also enjoy that.
How's the tiredness/jetlag, by the way? Overridden by excitement?
And keep up the good work (reporting)!
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?
Can’t wait to see the valley with 2000 metre (from valley floor) mountains on both sides
Then just wait for the Dolomites. Much, much more impressive than the Zillertal (not that it's not nice in itself)
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Bergmeister,
No jet lag. We were tired before bed on the first night.
We can sleep on planes which helps I guess. We’ve never experienced jet lag when flying the 13 hours across the pacific either.
congrats on getting served in Hofbrauhaus!
An achievement in its self!
Are you visiting Neuschwanstein?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Enjoy the next part of the trip.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Mr.Egg wrote:
congrats on getting served in Hofbrauhaus!
An achievement in its self!
Are you visiting Neuschwanstein?
No plans to visit but it looks impressive.
Service at Hofbrauhaus wasn’t exactly speedy.
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.
No jetlag!
Aussie family in superhuman shocker!
So none of you have been wide awake and hungry at 3am yet? Wow!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Will give a detailed update later. We’re on the hill at Hochzillertal (Kaltenbach). Just stopped for a quick coffee. Must go - it’s a genuine powder day for our first day of skiing in Europe!!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
We took the train yesterday from Munich to Jenbach and then swapped to the narrow gauge Zillertalbahn line to get to our digs in Kaltenbach. Easy enough to negotiate.
We dumped our bags at the Explorer Hotel, grabbed a bite to eat and headed up to Mayrhofen to check out the village. Kylie and the kids bought some stuff they didn’t really need (as you do when on holidays). It was a cruisey day and fairly early night as we were a bit up in the air what to do with regard skiing - the forecast suggested rain down low and snow up high.
This morning we opted to go to the local Hochzillertal hill. After buying lift passes (432 Euro for our family of 4 for three days skiing - reasonable I guess) we jumped on the gondola. Just before the midstation the rain turned to big wet flakes of snow. By the top of the gondola and effectively the bottom of the ski area proper it was snowing dry snow.
We haven’t skied powder since last January at Mammoth so without a warm up on groomers (and sporting rental skis that were really carve skis) did a few laps. It all came back pretty quickly. The snow was at least 15cm deep and a lot deeper in some spots. We made our way over to the Hochfügen side after lunch and found it to be very quiet with heaps of untracked snow. We really got lucky with a proper powder day for our first day of skiing in Europe. Visibility was a challenge at times though. The legs will be sore tomorrow I think.
I hope they don’t groom all this lovely soft snow on every piste tonight??
Tomorrow should be fine weather. I think we’ll ski Zell am Ziller/Gerlos because it has apparently has a bit more tree lined skiing which my wife enjoys.
I’m now in the bar enjoying a Zillertal Pils while Kylie and the kids get ready for a special Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant up the street. The hosts are putting on some entertainment and a 4 course meal.
Like Germany we’ve found that everyone we’ve had contact with in Austria have been very friendly and more than happy to help the family of Australians that can only speak about five words of the local language (and three of those are beir and wein and kaffee).
My whole crew are having a ball.
Merry christmas to all.
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.
Xmas powder, you can't really get any better! Merry Xmas & glad you are enjoying Europe so far.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Watch out for that Zillertal Pils. It's strong! I learnt to my cost.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Yes. Zillertal does indeed brew lovely beer!
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I wasn't familiar with the Explorer hotel in Kaltenbach but I see it's a modern hotel which only opened in 2017. I see it's close to Kaltenbach station and the Gondola base station so very convenient for you and it has a spa and bar. Looks to be a good find!
P.S did you find somewhere nice for your Christmas Eve meal?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Alastair Pink,
We had Christmas Eve dinner at Hochzillertal Hotel. It was a lovely night. Great ambience and good food. Christmas trees, decorations and a duo playing carols on a french horn and piano accordion. All the punters in the restaurant sang along with gusto to Silent Night.
It was about a five minute walk up the hill from our hotel.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@sbooker, glad to hear you are having a great time. Merry Christmas.
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?
Loving this thread. So glad you've had some powder and a lovely Christmas Eve. I can't remember your itinery but I believe tickets are still available for the four hills. I doubt youll be in the right time at the right place to catch one of the events but try and watch some of it in a bar and savour the atmosphere. It's a massive thing in Germany and Austria. If you're looking forwards to peaks 2000m above the valley then the Dollies are going to blow your mind. Civetta 2000m above the lake at Allege (best view from the petrol station north up the road and Pelmo above the Zoldo valley best view as you ski down to Zoldo from the Alleghe side) will simply blow you away.
Loving this thread. So glad you've had some powder and a lovely Christmas Eve. I can't remember your itinery but I believe tickets are still available for the four hills. I doubt youll be in the right time at the right place to catch one of the events but try and watch some of it in a bar and savour the atmosphere. It's a massive thing in Germany and Austria. If you're looking forwards to peaks 2000m above the valley then the Dollies are going to blow your mind. Civetta 2000m above the lake at Allege (best view from the petrol station north up the road and Pelmo above the Zoldo valley best view as you ski down to Zoldo from the Alleghe side) will simply blow you away.
Four hills?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
sbooker wrote:
cameronphillips2000 wrote:
Loving this thread. So glad you've had some powder and a lovely Christmas Eve. I can't remember your itinery but I believe tickets are still available for the four hills. I doubt youll be in the right time at the right place to catch one of the events but try and watch some of it in a bar and savour the atmosphere. It's a massive thing in Germany and Austria. If you're looking forwards to peaks 2000m above the valley then the Dollies are going to blow your mind. Civetta 2000m above the lake at Allege (best view from the petrol station north up the road and Pelmo above the Zoldo valley best view as you ski down to Zoldo from the Alleghe side) will simply blow you away.
Four hills?
Ski jumping, a lot of fun to see live. Brilliant thread, merry Christmas!
After all it is free
After all it is free
So I’ve loaded photos to the snowmediazone thing but they’ve spun them on the side. Any clues on this? I’m obviously no rocket scientist.
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.
So today we skied at Mayrhofen. Busier than yesterday at Hochzillertal - by a fair margin. Is this normal? Or was it quieter yesterday being Christmas Eve and snowy?
The clear day provided tremendous scenery. It felt to us the mountain was a little steeper than the local Kaltenbach hill. My son was disappointed the Harakiri run wasn’t open. The red 66 run from Rastkogel mountain back to Mayrhofen was carnage at about 3pm. Too many skiers, flat light, bumps (that were invisible) and a few steep bits - there were a few wreckages that I saw.
A couple of general observations. 1 - Austrians know how to do lift infrastructure! Escalators at the gondola stations, heated 8 person lifts with bubbles, super fast gondolas etc. Vail Corp, Aspen Ski Co etc could learn a thing or two that’s for sure. How do the Austrian lift companies make a dollar?
Observation 2 - food on the hill is cheap, cheap, cheap. Even factoring in the exchange rate about half the price as Australia and much cheaper than the big North American resorts.
Observation 3 - (This is not a criticism). The smoking in the apres bars is surprising. It’s obvious taxing cigarettes reduces the number of smokers. A pack in Oz is about $25 I think. Here it is about $6 I believe. Very few people smoke in Oz nowadays.
Anyway a great day had by my lot. I think the ‘on the go’ is catching up to them. A few yawns from the kids on the train back this afternoon. We’ll have a easy day cruising around Zell am Ziller tomorrow - hopefully a little quieter than Mayrhofen was today.
I’m about to order my second Zillertal Pils. Kylie, Emily and Tom will be here soon for dinner.
Hopefully you all have had a big day overindulging on Christmas food and drink!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
sbooker,
Sounds like a great trip so far. That medicinal Zillertal drink sounds like it's hitting the spot!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@sbooker, your observations are pretty much spot on.
Much of the apres is outdoors so smoking is less of an issue, but it is something that needs sorting.
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.
@sbooker, Smoking was all set to be banned in bars etc in Austria as it is in most other countries. However an election intervened and as part of the inevitable post election coalition negotiations the smoking ban was dropped. I am not sure of the exact details but I believe if food is being served then no smoking, bigger places must have separate smoking and non smoking areas but smaller places can continue to be old fashioned smokey bars.
The Austrian lift companies certainly seem to be able to turn a profit, though many are effectively owned by the local community / hoteliers and so have an interest in ensuring a steady stream of visitors and maybe not so concerned about how much money they give back to their shareholders.
I am afraid crowded pistes are very likely at this time of the year especially given the glorious weather at the moment. The 3pm carnage is a common sight in many resorts.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
We certainly noticed last year that it stepped up in busyness from Chrismas to boxing day and beyond as the more local of skiers finished celebrating Xmas at home and headed for the slopes.
The smoking thing was sometimes was really obvious in some restaurants but less so in others. Depends on how separate the areas are made but I didnt realise this requirement was different depending on the venue's size, I thought it was at the venue's discretion . So sounds like you can then find places which have more separation by going for the bigger ones
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@sbooker, yup the smoking is disgusting.
It’s worth doing the full valley run (if open) at Ziller from the very top in the morning. It gets very bumpy and busy come close of play. However if you are planning to go over to Gerlos tmrw you won’t have time to do the valley run first I think. The link over the pass can be quite slow so make sure you give yourself enough time on the return leg.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Sounds fantastic. Trip of a lifetime stuff from the other side of the world .
Keep up the reports.
I've never had Snowmediazone pictures become flipped - but am fairly sure there's an 'edit' button....
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
The four hills as a ski jump.event set over the New Year period in southern Germany and Austria. It's a massive thing in the region and millions will watch on TV. You'd have to Google it to find exact dates and tickets etc. but it would be awesome if you could catch an event.the crowds are big and the Gluwein flows .. . http://youtube.com/v/VvdGmlnCgII
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@sbooker, once the pics are in the snowMedia zone, you click the photo, then on the RHS you'll see some text that says linked medium.
Cut n paste that whole code into a reply.
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?
@sbooker, so is tonight your last night in the Zillertal? I hope you and your family liked it - it is a typical Austrian ski area and easy to get to via train from Munich to suit your arrival plans.
@sbooker, once the pics are in the snowMedia zone, you click the photo, then on the RHS you'll see some text that says linked medium.
Cut n paste that whole code into a reply.
Thanks. I’ll try that.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Alastair Pink,
Yes. Last night tonight sadly. I’ve just left the Postalm to get dinner with Kylie and the kids.
We’ve loved the Zillertal. We skied at Zell am Ziller and Gerlos today. I’ve often wondered why European ski resorts don’t primarily face north like a lot of those in North America - now I know why. It was a beautiful day and the scenery at Gerlos was spectacular! Beautiful sunny slopes overlooking the most magnificent valley. The lake was unexpected. We had lunch out on a terrace bathed in sunshine.
Zillertal Arena was most certainly less crowded than Mayfhofen the day before. We started out at Zell and worked our way over to Gerlos. The tree line seems a bit higher that side of the valley? It was nice to ski the tree lined runs. The run back down into Zell at the end of the day was interesting to say the least. Pretty icey and there were people skiing down that should have caught the gondola. Anyway it was entertaining.
Kylie mentioned she would love to come back to the valley in the future for a longer stay. I agree it is very easy to do for foreigners - the trip from Munich is easy.
I’m still shocked at the good value food and drink. Today we bought two huge smoked salmon baguettes and two super large salads for $19.80!! Great quality grub too.
We’re catching an early train to Verona tomorrow morning. It will be a great chance to chill for a few hours.
The kids are super excited at the chance to try their Italian out - they’ve learnt it at school. I’ve consciously avoided any pizza and pasta since we’ve been in Europe so we can experience it in Italy.
I’ll try to get some photos up later.
@Alastair Pink,
Yes. Last night tonight sadly. I’ve just left the Postalm to get dinner with Kylie and the kids.
’
The Postalm has typical Austrian apres-ski, hope you liked it!
The train trip to Verona will be scenic- after leaving Innsbruck it goes over the Brenner Pass which is the border between Austria and Italy (although before WW1 Austria extended much further south into what is called the Süd Tirol.)
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:
once the pics are in the snowMedia zone, you click the photo, then on the RHS you'll see some text that says linked medium. Cut n paste that whole code into a reply
....ie like I said earlier
Quote:
(After uploading the pics on Smowmediazone) you can then click on each uploaded image and cut and paste the code for each photo into a post on the normal Snowheads site
One point to note though: I can't see the codes when viewing Snowmediazone pics on my mobile phone - only when looking at them on a laptop or PC. This means I can't post them on Snowheads using my mobile phone...
After all it is free
After all it is free
Alastair Pink wrote:
sbooker wrote:
@Alastair Pink,
Yes. Last night tonight sadly. I’ve just left the Postalm to get dinner with Kylie and the kids.
’
The Postalm has typical Austrian apres-ski, hope you liked it!
The train trip to Verona will be scenic- after leaving Innsbruck it goes over the Brenner Pass which is the border between Austria and Italy (although before WW1 Austria extended much further south into what is called the Süd Tirol.)
The apres is really rocking isn’t it.
I must admit that because I am with wife and kids I’ve been pretty subdued. If going away with mates I could imagine it would be easy to let things get out of hand to such a point that getting up for skiing the next morning could be challenging. (Although I’ve always found cold weather guards against feeling sluggish from overindulging).
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.
@sbooker, hope you enjoyed Verona, the Roman Arena is quite impressive if you got to see it, they do Opera performances there in the Summer. Also of course there is Juliet's balcony which is also one of the tourist sights in the city.
Hope the car rental from Verona worked out OK in the end?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
^^^^
We’ve not collected the car yet. That mission commences tomorrow morning.
The train from Kaltenbach to Verona was dead easy and the scenery once in Italy was pretty impressive. We dumped our bags and walked the town/city. We took in all the tourist sites. I think Verona has a lovely vibe although it’s much cooler than I expected.
Today we jumped on the fast train into Venice and we did the tourist thing there. I’m glad we didn’t stay there - dragging bags from the train station through the throngs of tourists would have been poo-poo. The sights were nice and the kids liked all the souvenir stores but I found it way too touristy. It’s been done now though.
Off to dinner now - no doubt pasta of some kind.
By the way the coffee here in Italy is noticeably (mind over matter?) better than Germany/Austria.
Driving a few hundred kms would not faze me if I was in Oz, US or Canada but after seeing the craziness of the traffic in Verona I’m thinking I may be stressed tomorrow.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Looks to be a good find!
