 Poster: A snowHead
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AlanB1976, love the photo of the trio admiring the view, stunning - I'd have been doing the same!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Chalk and cheese - that was the weather yesterday and today. After sun in the Hochkönig yesterday, today was gray and wet. It had sowed about a cm overnight but for most of the day it was just sleet and drizzle. The light was also very diffuse. Not the best conditions.
Our destination today was the Kitzbüheler Horn. This is a small area at the best of times and today the lifts to the top of the Horn weren't running, because of the high winds, I suspect. Nor was the Raintal lift operating, so the skiing available was quite restricted. This picture shows all the main lifts on the Horn, except the Raintal chairlift over the back (actually it shows the top of that too).
This is skiing as it used to be. All the chairlifts are pretty ancient but they were adequate for the few folk on the slopes today, mostly Brits and Irish from the sound of it. We skied around for a while and then had a run down to the valley. That turned out to be the best skiing of the day. The ski route 6 down from the middle station of the gondola was in good condition then, though when we skied it again at the end of our day around three o'clock, it was stodgier (my slight off-piste attempt on the way down wasn't a success).
The photo below shows the view over Kitzbühel to the Hahnenkamm, all ready for the races. It always amazes me that men ski down that in less than two minutes  . I thought that we might have seen something of the downhill training but that was cancelled because of the warm weather (to protect the course).
After lunch even the Hornköpfl chairlift closed down, so there was no way further up the mountain. We had several runs down to the middle station of the gondola, pleasant despite strong wind in places, but then called it a day. Not our best day's skiing but still enjoyable at times.
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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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Thanks espri, that is a cracking photo of the Hahnenkamm. I've not seen that view before. Hopefully today is only a one day temperature blip and normal service is to resume?
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robboj, snowing here right now. The rain turned to snow in the night and we are due to to have this for the next couple of days. I'm at a lower altitude due north of Kitz and Ski Welt. If it is snowing here, it is definitely snowing in the Ski Welt, Kitzbühel and all points higher in eastern Tirol.
The real problem for the race currently is the winds I would presume - blowing a hooley outside right now and has done most of the night.
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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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Dumping in Innsbruck again, apparently.
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Hi Espri
If it is windy over the next few days, to avoid closed lifts, is there anywhere near Kitz, that is less suseptible to wind
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| dublin1 wrote: |
| If it is windy over the next few days, to avoid closed lifts, is there anywhere near Kitz, that is less suseptible to wind |
I don't really expect major problems. Some lifts will always be running, e.g. I would think the Pengelstein I outside Kirchberg would keep going. Yesterday the skiing on the Kitzbüheler Horn was fine though rather restricted. Today I don't know whether the upper section of the Harschbichl was closed because of the wind or because they were still preparing the upper pistes after the new snow.
Should be good!
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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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For the last day of my friend's visit we drove to Leogang. Our plan had been to ski over to Saalbach but mist and some wind high up made us change our mind, so that we stayed on the Leogang side all day. Most of our time was spent skiing the piste on the upper section of the Asitzbahn gondola where the visibility was better - very enjoyable. Snow was fine but not spectacular. In between times we went up on the Asitzgipfel chairlift and had a few runs right down into the valley. A good day's skiing at the end of a week of mixed weather. The pisture shows the snow-sculptured roofs of the Alte Schmiede (Old Smithy) where we had a good lunch...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Arrived in Westendorf yesterday, loads of snow fell on Saturday, the conditions looked awsome, however woke up this morning to light rain in the village, and its been on and off all day. Pretty mild temps, a lot of wet snow in the lower regions, but still fine higher up. Really hoping the temps start to drop as forecast, as there is more snow due Tuesday, will not be happy if it arrives as rain  , lovely place to ski, not explored further into ski welt just yet, but definately plan to do so.
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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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neilkav, regular updates please, I'm off there a week on Saturday 
Have you noticed how are beginners getting on in the wet snow, or are they able to take lessons higher up the mountain? Thanks.
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12 days to go, keep those updates coming folks. the tension is building, deep breath and...... relax. thats some amount of snow on the old smithy roofs, still keeping that doorstep clear Espri
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You know it makes sense.
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sabreboy,
Hi, getting better by the hour, lots of snow today proably 25 cm up top and 10 in the village, temps have dropped so no worries now, and about 40cm forecast for tonight tomorrow. Wednesday is gonna be a blue bird day as is thursday so we'll be enjoying all the new powder!!!
Had a bit of a moment today, was skiing along nicely off piste, rented some volkl kendos OMG awesome all mountain skis, brilliant off, and better than my fischer RC4's on, and dropped over a ridge only to find a fcn stream in front of me, nothing I could do lol, skis went into the bank I I did a really nice somersault, and landed on my head, seriously legs were sticking out and i was buried....didnt hurt a bit, at least 70-80cm freash off piste. Worsr thing was none of my mates saw it, I was hoping such a spectacula wipeout would have been witnessed.....rest of the day was spent oveert the back of choralm in 6" powder on piste and about a foot off. Awesome - in 20 years probably never had such good conditions.
Beginners are learning at the bottom - its fine, AND at the top of the main gondola, really nice flat slopes to practice one, you will LOVE it...
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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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| breakdown wrote: |
| still keeping that doorstep clear Espri |
Rain during the day but more snow this evening.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Arrived in Ellmau yesterday. Rain all the way up from
Munich. Wet, sleety snow when we arrived. BUT, just looked out the window. The rain that turned to snow at 3pm yesterday was still falling as we went asleep last night and it's still falling!!! Looks like a strong wind too though. Not sure how great it's going to be up top however it looks amazing right now!
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yesterday was a great but tough skiing day! Driving snow at times with almost zero vis, but beautiful powder everywhere and the snow just kept falling! At one stage, the instructor, a local, wasn't sure where he was going due to the white out. But when it cleared it was magic. Fluffy powder, little wind and very few about. The snow eventually stopped falling at 10pm last night and sorry about this for those of you waiting to come out here, today I have to say was one of the best days skiing I've ever had. Clear skies, squeaky snow quiet slopes and loads of untracked powder. Skied with moonshine and her husband and friends. Great fun all round.
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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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Had two and a half hours of great skiing in Fieberbrunn this afternoon. The weather was fantastic and with more new snow overnight, though not much, there was plenty of powder around. The photo below shows the bottom station of the Lärchfilzen chairlift, with l-to-r in the background the Leoganger Steinberge, the Spielberghorn and Bürglkopf mountains. My impression on arrival was that the slopes were busy but, as you can see, they weren't
By the time I arrived on the slopes most of the powder was tracked out, so what I tried was quite hard work. Here a view looking down the lower section of the Reckmoos Süd piste. On the ridge in the background is the Reiterkogel Ost lift above Hinterglemm (and the Zwölferkogel further back still, I think).
Mind you, with the soft snow the pistes were quite mogully in places, so they were hard work too! The snow measurer on the Reckmoos Nord run showed 280 cms, which was exactly the figure given by today's snow report from the Ski Club.
All in all a good afternoon - and there was no snow to shovel away when I got home!
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espri, beautiful pictures!
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Another super day for skiing. I drove to Leogang again and this time the view from the top of the Asitzbahn gondola was more inviting than it had been last Sunday.
In perfect conditions I skied over to Saalbach and Hinterglemm, doing the "Ski Circus" in the anti-clockwise direction. In most places the pistes were firm but grippy, occasionally harder and with soft snow on some lesser used sections. The photo below, taken as I was walking over for my first ride on the new Bernkogel gondola, shows a view of Saalbach with the runs on the Schattberg on the other side of the valley.
The 6-seater chairlift on the Reiterkogel Ost was also new for me. The temperature shown there was 9°C which was hard to believe; there were quite low negative temperatures in the shadows.
Over on the south side of the Glemmtal, coming down the Zwölferkogel, I took the slight detour via the Seekar, which always seems like a lost valley to me. Fine snow up there, here a picture at the top of the T-bar.
Some slopes were quite busy but not enough to spoil one's pleasure. Not being sure when the linking lifts closed this early in the season, I didn't ski any of the big descents but kept going round the circus, so that I was back at the Asitz above Leogang just before four (having started out at 10:45). Having skied without a lunch break and purely as research for  s, I felt I deserved a visit to the new Asitzbräu for refreshments.
This new restuarant and brewery! turned out to be worth a visit. It describes itself as a brewery museum and does have loads of bits from old breweries as well as producing its own beer (though I'm not sure all the beer is brewed there).
Whatever ... the beer must be strong! For I went on to do something I normally would never have tried (on my own). When I was at Leogang last Sunday, I skied a short section in deeper snow beside the piste on the way down from the top of the Asitzbahn and had seen other tracks there, going off into the woods. Now I thought I would follow these  - not a very sensible move into the unknown at the end of the day. However, I assumed that it was just a "kid's diversion" and would come back onto the piste in another 50 metres or so. I was wrong. It wasn't kids, it was snowboarders, and the tracks led through the woods, deeper and steeper.
Well, it was interesting and the snow was great. I would probably have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been worrying about something nasty happening. As it was, I was happy when I reached a track which brought me back to the main piste!
An interesting day.
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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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espri, beautiful picture of the bottom of that chairlift; magical day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yesterday's sun was pretty well gone today, though there was an occasional glimpse. Mostly it was grey and overcast. For a more leisurely day, I paid my first visit of this season to the Steinplatte (above Waidring) and included skiing over to the Winklmoosalm (near Reit im Winkl on the German side). Neither area is very big but pleasant for a day. The Winklmoosalm is largely an area for beginners with mostly relatively flat slopes; the Steinplatte is best known as being great for intermediate skiers, with wide rolling pistes.
For old times sake while I was at the Winklmoosalm, I skied down the track back to the car-park at Seegatterl. The track is about 3 km long and the second half is pretty flat, involving poling and skating. But today it wasn't like old times at all, when the run was mostly like a moving human slalom. This time I didn't see any other skier all the way down (maybe most now go down in the gondola which has been there for about two seasons)! It was just a pure winter wonderland where you could enjoy even the flat.
Actually, my main reason for crossing the border was to take a photo or two of the Scheiblberg T-bar on the Winklmoos side in its last season before being replaced by a chairlift. Farewell, old friend!
The Steinplatte does have more challenging skiing as well as its autobahns. First there is the Nordhang with quite a steep, un-pisted descent (steeper than it looks in this photo)...
And then the Steinplatte and the Winklmoosalm to a lesser extent both have quite large un-pisted areas, e.g. around the Schwarzlofer chairlift or as in this photo on the run down to the Stallenalm hut under the 3-seater Kammerkör chair...
Plenty to keep me happy for a day!
P.S. Forgot to say: good snow on piste, a bit chewed up off piste.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Fri 27-01-12 21:26; edited 1 time in total
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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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| breakdown wrote: |
Never mind! 7 days left and it will be me on those slopes  |
Should be good! Hope to see you around.
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espri! are you still up for a meet if possable
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You know it makes sense.
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All is well here in Ischgl, getting a top up as I type, probably another 4 or 5 cms up top.
It's white out from Idalp up, -5dC.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, is anyone in the Zillertal Valley at the moment? Heading out to Pill next friday, hoping for some great conditions!
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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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| espri wrote: |
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Great pics as always, I remember skiing past those houses a few times a couple of weeks ago and then traversing at the end of the road over to the red gondola.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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After a very cold day in Fieberbrunn on Monday, today I skied with friends from Leogang over to Saalbach and back - a real bluebird day. Pistes mostly pretty hard. Busy for the first lifts but the crowds spread out after that.
Here is a view over Saalbach towards the Schattberg from above the Turmwiese.
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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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This may be a stupid question, but are any of the resorts better for sun than others. I had a tough zero vis week at New Year and will go again 11th March for a week. Need to get my confidence back and being able to see where I am going may help!
Presumably the weather might be better in March anyway???...
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Pilgrimage, Head south, maybe to resorts in to Carinthia, or the southern french alps I think there has more sun. But so far this season many resorts south of the alps have not had too much snow. Or make sure the resort is in the tree line, which most Austrian resorts are, so skiing below 1800m. Piste skiing where the piste are cut through the trees should offer decent vis even on overcast days, stay close to the piste edge for better contrast. Make sure you've good googles / glasses for low light conditions. http://www.wetter.at/wetter/sport-freizeit/ski-wetter/oesterreich/kaernten
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Some more good advice Waynow - thanks.
I've only skiied Soll (in Austria) since in recent years (I skiied other Swiss resorts as a boy) and have skiied Switzerland twice since then.
Will want a good mix of ski/ apres on this trip though, so any further suggestions would be appreciated.
As second trip of the season we'll also be on a really tight budget - possibly looking for a last minute deal.
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Resorts are often based on north-facing slopes (since they hold the snow better). It also means that they lie in the shadow for much of the day (at least early in the season). If the resort has south-facing slopes you may find the visibility on them better (though later in the season you may have to put up with soggy snow instead). You can use the picture of Saalbach above as an example. The slopes on the north side of the Glemmtal are in the sun but the (appropriately named) hill on the other side, the Schattberg, lies in the shade.
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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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Pilgrimage, I'm a tad biased but any where within the ski amade network would be good. Somewhere like Flachau offers some lively apres ski and sits in the middle of the amade network. As espri, points out many ski slopes are north facing to keep the snow better though in march the sun will be a bit higher. Flachau offers east, south and west facing slopes so can follow the sun around a bit. Schladming, also in the amade area, offers the 4 linked ski hills, predominately north face skiing. http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter
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Pilgrimage, I'm a tad biased but any where within the ski amade network would be good. Somewhere like Flachau offers some lively apres ski and sits in the middle of the amade network. As espri, points out many ski slopes are north facing to keep the snow better though in march the sun will be a bit higher. Flachau offers east, south and west facing slopes so can follow the sun around a bit. Schladming, also in the amade area, offers the 4 linked ski hills, predominately north face skiing. http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter
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FAQ
