 Poster: A snowHead
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Lift pass office at the chair lift in the village.
Sorry, no idea about taxis.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks Sinner. Any of you other helpful lot point me in the correct direction for Taxi's?
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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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Heavy snow and whiteout conditions on the hill this morning, skiing in the Pengelstein area.
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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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Bluebird day yesterday, followed by fresh snow this morning. Vis is pretty poor.
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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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It's no good without pictures . . . .
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sorry, sh1ty Wi-fi means no pics uploaded today. Dumping it down this afternoon. Pity i’m Leaving tonight. 👎👎👎
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-21 degree on the mountain according to kitzski.com. Any first hand experience there ?
I will snowboard there two week later.
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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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I may have an opportunity to ski for a week in SkiWelt in a couple of weeks. It's a course based in Itter, and a bit later in the season than I would like (18-23th March), and I haven't skied in Austria for 30 years so don't feel I really have my finger on the pulse regarding what conditions are likely to be like.
I'm guessing that Austria is having as good a season snow-wise as everyone else in the Alps is, or have they missed out on the bumper snow? If conditions are good now then I'm sure they will be fine for me in a couple of weeks time. Can anyone fill me in on what things are like this season?
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@cwyuen, it's going to warm up significantly over the next few days. As to what the temps will be like in two weeks... anybody's guess, but I'd be surprised if they go that low again.
@kieranm, Austria is having an outstanding season. Would have to turn ludicrously warm for the situation to change in any significant way by the time you get here.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hi Kitz people, hoping you might be able to help with the wider area... we're off to Westendorf on the 17th for 6 days (doing it DIY, managed to bring in flights, car hire, bnb near the lifts, ski hire, 2 x private lessons and pass for under 900 quid each, pretty good I thought - would be even cheaper if we got the train!)
Anyway, was wondering if folk could recommend the easier reds and good blues in the area for a couple of slightly chicken improvers? We're 5th week skiers, this is our second trip this year. I've read about the Ki-west run and the red down to Brixen being amazing, but that may be 'amazing for people who are good skiers' rather than 'amazing for people who are trying to improve'...  Also, is it worth us doing a day in Kitzbuehel or will it be wasted on us? We'll only have 5 days skiing.
Looks from the above comments like the snow will be decent if spring like, can't wait! 
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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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@Steilhang, thanks - that's what I wanted to hear!
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@ElzP,
You should make the effort to go to Kitzbühel. The skiing there doesn’t have to be difficult, for example the long blues down to Kirchberg. The FamilienStreif (?) red 21 is a must, the infamous Hahnenkamm race track. Luckily it misses out the steeps and you just get to do the easier bits. It is an easy red.
I haven’t skied the KiWest run yet, but you can view it on YouTube to get an idea.
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You know it makes sense.
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Thank you for the tip! Went over from Westendorf today, for anyone else thinking of doing it the Ki-west is a really lovely run and it doesn't take a huge amount of time to ski and bus over (we are slow novice/inters so everything takes us ages, took us about 2 hours from westendorf til having a drink at the top of pengelstein, similar back to westendorf) Thoroughly enjoyed the Kitz ski area, had perfect weather for it... My legs are telling me all about those long valley runs (30/31 back to the ki-west bus was another gorgeous run)
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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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@ElzP,The Ki West run is definitely a good piste, mostly fairly straight forward but with a short steeper section near the bottom, I guess you took the path diversion around that bit? Did you take the 3S lift over to Jochberg, it is an experience in itself. The runs up at Pass Thurn usually have the best snow and are very straight forward but you might feel it is a bit far. Great views from the restaurant at the top. You might find the run back under the Zweitausender chair a bit on the steep side though it usually has very good snow so is not difficult to ski.
There are buses from Kirchberg to Westendorf so it is possible to get back without stressing about the lifts.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We did avoid the steeper bit, but wished we'd not bothered - we're both more worried on the narrow tracks. Next time...
Didn't make it on to the 3S either - alreadyplotting to come back to the area, maybe stay in kirchberg so we can ski in Westendorf again as well, really loved this area.
Snowing hard now as we prepare to leave... This week was not quite as expected in terms of snowfall! Only chance of a spring goggle tan was yesterday.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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And conditions are still pretty good, at least up at Pass Thurn where I was today. My original intention was rather to go to the Fleckalmbahn and ski the Kirchberg side to the Steinbergkogel. But when I looked at the Kitzski website this morning it only showed pistes open in the Pass Thurn area, so there I went and indeed from a distance it did look as though the Fleckalmbahn wasn't running. In retrospect I think now that it was probably closed for today because of high winds (this evening it is shown as running - strangely this morning the website didn't display any lifts).
At Pass Thurn the wind was blowing quite strongly in the valley but it was surprisingly never bad higher up. I arrived about 10 o'clock and had the whole area entirely to myself (apart from a couple of touring skiers going uphill) for about the first hour. The lifts were even started specially for me - that's what I call service! Here's a view of the crowds on the Hanglalm...
The pistes were perfecly prepared up top, though with heavier snow on the valley runs. The website, which seems to have been completely mucked up this morning, has shown pistes open as far as the Trattenbach lift. But that wasn't the case at all. The Hartkaser chairlift was as far as one could ski - here was the end of the road up there, looking over to the Zweitausender chair, which wasn't running...
There were dark clouds over the Hohe Tauern mountains to the south but the sun shone on the Resterkogel slopes for most of the day...
By about midday a few more people had arrived but there was never more than a handful of skiers on the slopes. I skied on the Hartkaser and Hanglalm for a while and by the time I arrived back atop the Resterkogel the Panorama gondola was running. There were also a couple of pistebashers piling up snow there for next season (which starts on 13th Octber - only six months away  )...
The pile of snow (and two other pistebashers being used to anchor the working machines) blocked the normal entry to piste 77 but there was a detour round the area where the snow was being gathered, so I had a couple of runs down to the middle station of the Panoramabahn at Breitmoos, quite hard work in the heavier snow.
But nevertheless it was a very enjoyable and interesting day, the first time I have skied at Pass Thurn outside the main season.
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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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I had some pleasant hours skiing at Kitzbühel on Friday. There were only a few lifts running, which led to confusion on my part initially. I drove first to the Fleckalmbahn near Kirchberg, where I usually start my Kitzbühel skiing, but found that it wasn't operating. Ooops. But the solution wasn't difficult. I moved on to the Hahnenkammbahn gondola and went up the hill from there (after exchanging my car park ticket for the one which gives skiers free parking - at times when the Fleckalm car park isn't being used).
Going up in the gondola it was clear there wasn't much snow remaining at valley level. But, as the photo above shows, the Family Streif piste was still open, here winding down the Ganslernhang (where the Hahnenkamm slalom race takes place). I skied the Family Streif a little later and the snow wasn't at all bad, soft lower down but frozen up top. Here's a view over Kitzbühel to the Kitzbüheler Horn, taken from the Hausberg Kante.
Only the Hahnenkamm and the Steinbergkogel/Jufen pistes were skiable. There was still plenty of snow higher up. This photo was taken as I went up the Steinbergkogel chairlift.
And here another taken from the Jufen Steilhang with the Steinbergkogel and Jufen slopes on the right.
It was a bluebird day with very few skiers on the slopes. Beautiful. I skied for four hours, till about one o'clock. And my day ended with more confusion. When I had finally skied down the Family Streif again (via the Super-G start for a change), leaving the car park, I ended up stuck at the level crossing there. There was quite a delay and the gates seemed confused, opening once but not showing any green light before closing again. Eventually I and others decided to turn around and drive into town by the back road. That evolution wasn't too successful, for we all ended up in another traffic jam when a digger was being loaded onto a trailer. I suspect that more patience would have got me across the level crossing quicker 
But it all added to the interest and another good day's skiing.
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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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@espri, excellent! Despite it's reputation for being a low resort Kitz is always the first to open (well one piste at least) and one of the very last to close!
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FAQ
If you are thinking about next year I would aim for a bit earlier in the season. This year has been exceptional. Normally the lower slopes would be pretty much green fields with the odd white strips by now, especially anywhere that gets the sun. Great for sunbathing less so for skiing, though conditions higher up are usually good. From memory the Pass Thurn area is open until the end of April but most of the rest of the area will be closed long before then.
