 Poster: A snowHead
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@Meltus, Bergfex always seems the most optimistic and meteoblue the most pessimistic with yr.no in the middle. Looks like rain in St Anton and snow in St Christoph just now but forecast for snow line to go below then above then back below St Anton village level over the next 24 hrs. Looks mostly positive but I tend to the optimistic generally. I guess it’s pretty windy as lots of higher lifts and Auenfeldjet have stopped. At least there will be snow.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@what...snow, I'd ignore the apps for specific heights/snow levels and amounts, they give you a general idea and that's about it! Even so you could have snow in one valley and bright skies in the other!
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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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@what...snow, Oberlech is a lovely place, with plenty of truly lovely views. With plenty of lovely food, and plenty of lovely people too. And a great spot to meet the non skier, also because of its many walking-paths. Just need to look beyond the superficial here and there.
Balmalp: great views, but busy, noisy, and very often windy....
Don't trust everybody. Oberlech is famous, and there are many reasons for that.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@kitenski, I ignore them if they forecast rain and see if I can find one that doesn’t. I always ignore the quantities.
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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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I understand where @ulmerhutte, is coming from re Lech, it is a nice place and Zug really can be a stereotypical "winter wonderland" given the right weather. However there is a small minority who cause a certain amount of amusement & irritation, usually wearing Bogner ski kit  . A small example earlier this season, I stopped for a coffee at one of the hotel bars on the main street (cappuccino cheaper than at Basecamp in St Anton) to observe a bright yellow Porsche convertible cruise up and down the street, man with ray bans driving, female companion by his side, German plates, it was sunny but hardly the weather for driving around in an open top car. It was a little like watching a Harry Enfield comedy sketch. These folk can certainly be found on the terraces at Oberlech or drinking Bollinger in the "VIP" area at Balmalp, no issue to ignore them, the skiing is great no need for such displays.
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All sorts of weather today in Oberlech/ Lech (and not too many tossers). Snowline was just above oberlech and we skiid (last day so had to make the most of it) in pouring rain, thick snow, thin snow, high winds and a tiny bit of sun. Snow was slow but most people (I suspect tossers and non-tossers  ) packed it in early and by 2pm everything was very quiet. The weather was calmer by 3 and we had a lovely last jour or two on 200 from petersboden down and 208. Lovely place and next week shoild be great.. hope anyone arriving has a great time!
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That’s the sort of thing she finds hilarious. Her favourite people watching experience was a large group of obnoxious Russians in a restaurant above Courchevel 1850. After berating the waiter at length because the only vodka available was Grey Goose, a large flambé dessert was presented to one of the diners. Somehow this managed to set alight his lady friend’s ski jacket, provoking quite the reaction from all concerned and vain attempts to keep a straight face from us. The smouldering jacket had Bogner in large letters across the back, of course.
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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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The local forecast, on https://www.stantonamarlberg.com/en/weather-report, is suggesting that next week should be quite good, especially for April. Broken clouds and well-below zero temps.
@what...snow, a random thought: all 3 lift co restaurants, ie Rendl, Galzig, and Gampen, are readily accessible via gondolas. You could easily catch up with your wife for lunch at any of them during the ski day.
One more restaurant worth considering: https://www.tenne-stanton.at/das-restaurant?lang=en Local food presented elegantly, in an atmospheric restaurant. We ate there last year, and loved it. Came back this year and were delighted again. You will probably need a taxi - it is in St Jakob. The bonus is getting a nice view of nighttime StA on the way home.
Gosh, the fishing is very good here today!
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@what...snow, not many Russians around at the moment or likely to be in the near future, Lech probably not as impacted as much as as Courchevel or Ischgl
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Well having foolishly opted for the predictable whiteout and lift closures in engelberg, what are conditions and lift offerings in the Arlberg like?
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You know it makes sense.
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Not skiing today, but drove over pass on arrival. It was snowing steadily above Stuben altitude at 1200. Raining now in Pettnau and can see fresh lying snow higher up hillside above us. 
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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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Landed to a pretty green and damp St anton, webcams looks better up high but the powder skis have stayed at home. Food and beer seems extortionate - and I've lived in chamonix! Where am I going for happy hrs/more reasonable prices in town?
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Meltus,if all you are looking for is not so expensive beer then the Mondscheinstüberl not far from the Nassereinbahn, it might be described as an old fashioned "boozer", they might do frozen pizza but other than that just booze, cant think of anywhere else like it in St Anton. Maybe Bar 37 opposite Murrmel has reasonable beer prices though it is apparently due to close at the end of the season. Pomodoro for pizzas next to the tourist office is cheapish. All the various steak and burger places charge too much (have to pay the rent!) and are much the same. You could try the Fuhrmannstübe beyond the Spar, Austrian, often a queue to get in, prices a bit above what you would pay in non tourist places. Prices generally have gone up over past couple of years.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cheers, we're half board so food taken care of we just needed something yesterday. We were about 8e a beer in a bar in town and the cheapest bottle of wine in the hotel with dinner was 39e! Needless to say, the supermarket will be seeing our custom for some room beers.
Can hear bombing going on now so there must be some snow up high  gonna book a guide for Tuesday or Wednesday we think.
Just need to decide where first day skiing is gonna be!
A gout flare up has come at a bad time...
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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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@munich_irish, Fuhrmannstübe has been destroyed by the new owner.
The previous owners (who still live in the building) prepared everything fresh that s why there were aways Queues to get in and you had to share tables...
You can just walk in now any time of the evening .. The food all comes out of individual portion plastic bags and is heated in a magnetron.. The schnitzels are frozen & very poor quality ..
Really a shame this excellent Austrian business was ruined .. The new owner (I wont mention his name) should not be involved in catering of any sort ..
New Orleans Music festiival last day ...
Live Band at Griabli
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Meltus, €8 seems a bit steep (Basecamp? though they only sell bottled beer for apres) most places around €6 but you can find some places with "normal" Austrian prices of less than €5. Train station bar €3.90 for a 0.5L. Grumpy at not being there today after a run of poor luck with weather this year, Schindler is the obvious spot but will be skied out by now (probably was by 09:30!), Rendl probably good too.
@stanton, There was certainly a queue a couple of weeks back, not even space at the bar. Would be a shame if it has gone downhill St Anton has a lack of choice when it comes to food, Pettneu is better despite far fewer places.
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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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@stanton, I heard something similar about the Rodel-Stall. Based on that, we did not go this year. Sad, for I enjoyed their pork knuckle in past visits. Getting a table by the fire was a welcome bonus.
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@munich_irish, Webcams show empty slopes, looks like a decent day on the high up pistes.
Was just reflecting on our 2 visits this season, probably the poorest 2 week’s skiing we’ve had in 25 years skiing the Arlberg, in fairness I wasn’t particularly on it at Christmas with a bad left knee and also a badly bruised instep, but both were much improved for second week early March although even then not particularly inspiring conditions, off-piste slop and pistes below Gampen level washed out. A few good runs on Kapall and Schindlerkar in early morning ankle dust a couple of days but overall not as good as hoped. We toyed with the idea of a late season week but sacked it and it doesn’t look particularly inspiring really, looking forward to our annual late august 2 week mountain fix, a Vorarlberg/ St Anton road trip and mountain bike/ hiking week planned, it’s a fabulous place in the summer (as well as winter - even this one just gone its a great town and area…..snow next winter season will hopefully be better!).
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Went up Rendl in the morning, icy pistes but fresh tracks on various bits of side piste and the ski routes. Great morning.
Skied down 1 which was a slush fest but not without its charm. Went up Kappal in the afternoon and did ski route 40 which was OK if heavy higher up but utterly disgusting lower down. Sacked it off for some food around 2.30pm.
Rethinking the guide now unless they can find some fresh... Pistes should be great for the week though in the cold.
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We headed up Gampen first thing, pistes were lovely and grippy with a bit of fresh. Needed a warmup before hitting the itineraries so we were later than would have liked before doing Mattun (tracked out but great higher up; already heavy in bottom half). Several laps of Schindlerkar and Schindler west face (both great, partially tracked out but still mostly nice and not Sun-baked) took us until 1330 when we headed for beer.
A hint of more fresh snow Wed-Thu which would be very welcome too up.
@munich_irish, where do you recommend in Pettnau? Looking for something fairly traditional.
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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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@Inboard, Gasthof zur Traube is a decent traditional spot with a locals table. Kirchplatzl is a family run place, the Italian next door is reasonable too. Unfortunately Friedl's bar does not seem to have survived the zombie apocalypse. Think the Schwarzer Adler serves non residents as does Hotel Alpina.
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We went to Dolce Vita last night. Reasonable in every way which was just what we wanted after a day travelling. Nice waiters.
After the faff of ski hire, ski depot finding and getting to the right bit of ski school which took the full 8.30-10 we had, I finally got the option of adding lunch to skischool so had a full day on my own from 10-3. Mattun was still pretty good, lovely snow. Ochsenboden off the Flexenbahn into Zurs was also quite reasonable considering the time.
Nice scenery up Muggengracht. Liezen was on its last eggs and the last proper itinerary I did.
Long way back from Steinmaderbahn especially as I got quite confused after that and ended up at the Wiebermadbahn, the piste map really is atrocious for this area. Otherwise I was s man on a mission to get back, lasering through the dawdlers at every lift. 201 into Lech was a bit slushy but otherwise had decent to great conditions all day, until the last run into St Anton. That was bloody awful but a great day nonetheless. May have overdone it as my brain doesn’t appear to be working. Need some food then might manage a photo.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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What's the received wisdom with getting to lech from St anton? Fancy a bit of stubenbach during the week but getting there on skis seems like an enormo-ballache?
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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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It can be fairly swift, especially if you set off from St Anton on first lift. Once you get down to Zurs you can get a free ski bus (which would definitely be faster than skiing Zurs-Lech). Or take postbus all the way from St Anton. Costs, but not much. Thats the fastest option short of a v spendy taxi…
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@what...snow, Muggengracht?.....you were in Amsterdam? 
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You know it makes sense.
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Been through Lech today, which did take all day, but only because I did lots of detours on the way there which meant no time for messing on the way back.
Think I could get there in about 90mins  pushing it and doing 173, god knows how far that ends up from Rufikopfbahn though. I have the bus times on my phone, it takes just >40 minutes.
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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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@Langerzug, muggengrat. Must have been some sort of autocorrect
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Poster: A snowHead
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 Here’s the nice scenery
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Meltus, The quickest way to get to either Zürs or Lech from St Anton is with the Postbus, it goes from the train station (not the bus station!). Cost is around €4 (best pay driver in cash). The bus at 08:40 gets you to Zürs for 09:10, no chance of doing that with lifts and skiing unless you have a mate in the lift company to let you on early. Some buses go on to Lech but there are ski buses every ten minutes from Zürs in any case. The bus from Lech to Zürs is again the quickest way as it saves a fair amount of faff walking to the Rüfikopfbahn then a slow drag lift. If snow conditions are good you can ski Madloch - Lech pretty much all the way to the bus stop via various front gardens!
I know there are comments along the lines of "why not ski rather than get on a bus" but the best conditions are usually first thing in Zürs and getting the bus gets you there a good deal quicker. Similarly the connection between Zürs & Lech is not always good (Madloch was pretty ropey earlier in the season) the bus is quicker and often allows fast access to better skiing.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Food tonight was at Bodega. Thank you to whoever recommended that place earlier in the thread. Rammed when we got in and I thought no chance but the waiter said “couple of minutes” and so it proved. Well TBH there was some prize faffing from the young drinkers but the meal was…absolutely fantastic and only €8 more than last night so definitely felt like a bargain. We were well jammy and got a really nice table at the back…eventually.
@Inboard, what time did you do Mattun? I did Galzig, Kandahar, Mattunbahn, Kappallbahn to get there but I only got to Galzig just before 10 due to kids. Only the last section into the run was off for me but maybe I have low standards. 
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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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Winter has started .... April 3rd 2023
Kaiserwetter .... -5-5C on Galzig -11C on Valluga
Early morning Piste 08:00 conditions up there on Rendl were perfect..
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@munich_irish, The ownership of the Fuhrmannstübe changed over the Covid Period..
The Food has never been the same .. Ask anyone who has been there when the old owners used to run the place they tried it once with the new owner but never gone back and would certaily not recommend the place .... Not even the the old locals at the Stammtisch ..
they have a moved across the street to Max's
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St Anton will be definitley losing another Bar (and Restaurant most certain) ..Closing for good April 24th.
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Official Weather
A high over northwestern Europe takes command of the weather. We come to lie on its southeast flank in a northeasterly flow, whereby during the first half of the week cold air masses in late winter, but only in deep air layers more moistened air masses reach us.
Until Tuesday, the air in the valleys will also dry out temporarily, so that on Tuesday even generally very sunny weather will prevail. On Wednesday, a little more clouds will join the sunshine during the day, but this should do little to detract from the good weather. On Thursday, the mostly sunny weather will change little.
At the same time, the peak of general cooling is reached. With Friday, a frost weakening begins. However, the slightly less cold air will also become more humid, so that the sun is expected to have a hard time on the extended Easter weekend. However, precipitation is hardly to be expected.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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It was a pick your top day today with very thick cloud in the valleys. Did run75 first. Literally find the pole, ski to it, peer through the murk to find the next. Snow was terrible too. Skied really badly but managed to direct a couple towards a marker essentially hidden in a gully. Got to Albona and skied some easy off piste in the sun. As it clouded over I had a Germknodel and a beer before heading back down into the gloom towards St Anton. On my 2nd lift up Schindler I shared a cabin with the same couple from run 75, 3 hours earlier, so we had a lovely chat. They told me Langerzug will probably be open tomorrow as it was open today. Did a few of the routes then up Kapall and that was me for today. Legs banjaxed from yesterday and a winter working rather than exercising. Did far less than yesterday but still some tough stuff and although there was no fresh snow, probably had a better day by being a bit more sensible. Daughter managed to lose her group in ski school but thankfully only ended up at Nasserein and the instructor went off to collect her from there.
Dinner at Skiing Buddha, another hit! Decent entertainment from the climbers too.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 3-04-23 21:05; edited 1 time in total
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Headed up valluga early doors to get above the mist where we found good snow traversing high on the north facing aspect to the side of ski route 86 so we lapped that from schindler spitze a few times. Beer and pretzel in ulmerhutte and then random pistes for the afternoon which were all in pretty crap nick. Standard spring pistes, icy in the morning slushy in the afternoon.
As an aside, the arlberg piste map is by some distance the worst I've come across. Makes navigation pretty difficult, especially with crap vis.
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@Meltus, indeed it is, really bad. I showed the Austrian couple where Langerzug and Tanegg actually are on Fatmaps as that area is so badly drawn. Also used Fatmaps to navigate down from Kapall this afternoon as the official piste map essentially shows multicoloured spaghetti and is almost useless.
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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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@Meltus, @what...snow, try the piste map on the arlberg app, might help?
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@kitenski, I am but it’s terrible in some areas. Think I’ve got things roughly sorted over here but it gets hazy above Oberlech.
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FAQ
Madloch was fine today, but essentially just like any other red, except the occasional little uphills. But I went via Zug so didn’t do the bottom end.
