 Poster: A snowHead
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After 4 pretty unsuccessful holidays to Austria in my skiing career (and dozens of successful ones to France, Switzerland, Italy and Canada) we were persuaded to try it again by one of our ski party. So we booked a week in Soelden (or Solden) for the first week of Easter (23-30/3/2013). It cost just over £500 each with SkiWorld in a catered chalet. This is what I thought of it.
The Tour operator. (10/10)
The flights were at 5:15 from Manchester. The journey there was hampered a bit by snow in the UK, but we got to the airport OK at 3:30 in the morning and parked for the amazing price of £30 for the week. The flight left on time, arrived on time and we were clear of the airport for 9:00. Instead of the usual waiting for hours for a flight from Gatwick or Glasgow we were bundled into a taxi and taken straight to the resort, where the chalet staff gave us breakfast and somewhere to change and we were skiing at 11:00
The chalet was only a 10 minutes trek from the Giggijoch lift. It had a nice dining room and the rooms were the largest and most comfortable I have ever had in a ski chalet. The food was excellent with large cooked breakfasts and high quality evening meals with unlimited wine. The staff were also excellent. From what I could see every room had double beds.
The journey home was equally as comfortable. With a taxi to the airport and a half empty plane
The resort (5/10)
Soelden is a purpose built ski resort in the Otztal Alpes, The resort is a sprawl along a main road with hotels spread over a large area, and some of the hotels are a long way from the ski lifts and the centre of town. There is an efficient skibus service through the town.
When we were there a large proportion of the visitors were German, Russian and Dutch with almost no British. The resort is clearly upmarket with many expensive shops (1400 euro for a ski jacket and 300 for some gloves) but eating out and drinking in the town was still about the same you would pay in French resorts. There were lots of bars in the town, but they allowed smoking and as a consequence they were unpleasant and your clothes stunk in the morning. Unusually for a ski resort there were 4 strip/lap dancing clubs in the town.
There is a large swimming pool/sports centre complex, but on being told that it was 16 euros for a swim we didn’t visit it
Ski lifts and queues (6/10)
There are effectively 2 ways from the town to the ski area: the Giggijoch tal and the Gaisachkogl tal cable cars at opposite ends of the town. First thing in the morning the Giggijoch tal lift had horrendous queues of over 30 minutes. These were not the pleasant chatting queues you get in Bulgaria, but full on pushing, barging rugby scrums. In the end we discovered that it was much nicer to get the bus (every 10 minutes) to Gaisachkogl tal and face the 5 or 10 minute queue there. The only other significant bottleneck was the Einzeiger lift at the top of the Giggijoch area which you need to get to the glaciers. If there was a queue there when we arrived we just went somewhere else for an hour or so until it dissipated.
A lot of the lifts were fast demountable 4, 6 and 8 seat chairs, but there a few beautiful, slow, antique 2 man chairs that I actually preferred because you never had to queue for them. There are 4 ‘T’ bars, 3 on the glaciers and one from Gaislachalm which cannot be avoided if you ski down to the minerals museum. It has been a long time since I have been on a ‘T’ bar.
Skiing (6/10)
Though not a big resort it; in fact I wonder if without lift queues it may be possible to ski every run in a day. It has a phenomenal vertical range and it is possible to make descents of almost 2km from the top of the glacier to the town, so no matter what the weather you should be able to find somewhere to ski. We spent most of our time debating whether or not to ski above or below the clouds and almost inevitably skied in them.
The majority of the pistes are best for early intermediates with large gentle bowls. The glaciers in particular are, like most glaciers, very gentle. Piste bashing is excessive and even the blacks are bashed. The two tiny mogul slopes even have warning signs and the “skiroutes” were bashed! The blues on Giggijoch were very crowded, whereas the black pistes were relatively deserted. No slopes were challenging and I generally preferred the Gaisachkogl area. My favourite slope was from the Schawazkogl, a 450m black slope that was fairly steep in places and you could cut off into the powder at the side. Others in the party preferred the black on the glacier that though shorter was very wide and could be really belted down. This slope also form part of the long run from the top of the glacier going from blue to black to blue to black and finally to red. It forms a pleasant run down at the end of the day. The red piste from the Gaisachkogl also needs mentioning in dispatches, first of all it is a single piste served by a single big cable car. The views from the top are amazing and there are a number of popular alternative routes to the main piste.
Some of the pistes down to the town were very heavy and hard work at the end of the day, but what more can you expect at 1300m at the end of March. I thought it was just good that we could ski all the way down at all.
When the weather cleared for a few days while we there the Otztal alps looked fantastic. The top of the resort is not much lower than the highest mountain in the region so the views were very far ranging.
The piste map is clear and easily read, but is too big for the pocket. It does have some interesting reading on it for when you are sitting waiting for your lunch. IIRC the lift passes were just over 250 euro each, which is about what you would pay anywhere.
Mountain restaurants (7/10)
There are two types of mountain restaurant in the area: small huts with waiter service and huge self-service barns. One of these barns boasts 1500 seats and in that respect they make a motorway service area look small. But they do serve decent food at reasonable prices. Most days I had a bowl of soup and a drink, which cost about 6 euro (remember the big breakfasts at the top of this report). Sausage and chips cost about 8 euro. In Les Arcs a Burger and chips would cost 10 euro so it is a bit cheaper than I would spend in France, but in France I would usually have a plat du jour at 14 euro, which is a bit better quality. We were persuaded to go to one of the waiter served huts on the last day. There were no seats inside so we ate outside in the falling snow. It was then that I made my big mistake and ordered curry wurst and pommes. When it arrived it was a plate of chips with masses of tomato ketchup on them topped by a sausage and then sprinkled with curry powder. It was disgusting. Never again.
Overall 6/10
Do I regret going: no, not at all, it was a very good value holiday and I enjoyed myself
Would I go again: no, the unique selling points of huge vertical and strip clubs do not cancel out the disadvantages of overly bashed pistes, no challenging runs and smoking.
Who should go to Soelden: The resort is best for beginners and early intermediates, especially those that like strip clubs and smoke. If your accommodation is out of town be prepared to pay for 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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My only memory of Solden about 25 years ago is the main road through the resort... And an awesome toboggan run down an iced road after being liquerfied up in a mountain top restaurant.
Keep at Austria. I love it..... and the Dolomites.
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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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Great Report.
I plan to go there for some pre season skiing, and now my expectations are sufficiently set.
Thanks for taking the time to describe and rate everything, and compare!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| johnE wrote: |
| The resort is best for beginners and early intermediates, especially those that like strip clubs and smoke. |
Brilliant - straight on the front cover of the Tourist Office brochure for that 
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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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johnE, Thanks. Have you not been tempted by a day in Obergurgl?
Looked at Solden many times and hope to do it one day, it does not look that big though so will try to mix a day or two with the neighbour - Obergurgl.
There are some plans to connect Solden to Pitzal glacier if it ever happens that will create some great vertical terrain.
Alastair Pink, Classic 
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johnE, it is most certainly not a purpose built resort, the town has always been there as a staging post on the route over the Timmelsjoch Pass into and from Italy. Perhaps had you moved back away from the occasional strip joint along the High Street and taken the sodding great plank off your shoulder (it seems to be interfering with your broader vision), you may have noticed the older buildings, including the church which dates back way earlier than tourism and skiing.
It is not France, it does not pretend to be France, so stop making stupid comparisons such as they are are pointless. If you can't afford to go to France, why not admit it! Curry Wurst and Pommes are disgusting but then it is not Austrian food, it is something the Germans in the Ruhr dreamt up as a joke and is held by most outside of that area to be revolting. May I suggest that you remove your prejudiced carcass back to France where you obviously feel more at home complaining about the natives and the prices.
Sölden (please note the correct spelling) is a great base for skiing for ALL abilities - I defy you to take your beginners and early intermediates down the face of the Rettenbach Glacier. There is loads of off-piste and masses of varied pistes to suit everyone with an open mind.
I'm also happy that you will not return there as that means you will not be polluting the area with your narrow-minded views!
Those of you thinking of Sölden, you will get more sense and balance from Saveloy Joy's report among others. This one is for those of you who wish to dip your toes outside of France just so you can say you have skied elsewhere!
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Samerberg Sue, congrats on being the first to "do a Wayne" since the phrase was coined.
johnE, thanks for the review. Very helpful stuff. I like to smoke and look at b00bs so it sounds like Solden is the place for me.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The population of Sölden in 1869 was 968 rising to 4113 in 2011. Not a lorra a people know that.
"Soldin, the smoking norks of the alps" does have a nice ring to it.
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Samerberg Sue, Blimey - defensive much about one person's honestly stated & amusing opinion?
Is the Austro-mafia wurst than the Froggyphiles when it comes to anyone who notes a slight demerit about their favoured ski geography?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Spectacular!
I looked into a trip to Solden, but discounted it for several reasons and went for Saalbach instead. Very glad I did.
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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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Tom W, Yes I was tempted to go to Obergurgl, and should have mentioned it in my review: With a 6 day or more lift pass you can pay an extra 10 euro and get a days skiing in Obergurgl. This must be done when you purchase your lift pass and cannot be added on later. We wanted to go to Obergugl for a day but were told we would have to buy a day pass for the resort at 40 euro.
Samerberg Sue, Sorry you do not like unbiased reports. I thought I was very complimentary about the place. There may be a church and some older buildings but the vast majority of the resort consists of hotels and shops. If that is not built for a purpose then I do not know what is. BTW I cannot recall saying that Curry Wurst was Austrian food just warning people that it is not good. Nor can I recall saying that I couldn't afford to goto France. Just that I wanted to try something different.
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http://www.currywurstmuseum.com/en/
Never mind the ski resort but to more pressing matters: Only because you don't like Currywurst doesn't mean, nobody else does or that it is universally bad...
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You know it makes sense.
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johnE, can I just say, there is currywurst and then there is currywurst The one down my local footy club is amazing, nothing to do with the litres of beer consumed before hand, honest!
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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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schneeflocke, Amen!!! lol!!!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Outrageous trip report - Currywurst is bloody lovely!
I've been to Solden a few times and recognise quite a bit of what you say. The skiing is really good but if you want picture postcard Austria this isn't the place to go. Serfaus on the other hand......
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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 about Serfaus?
Might just as well go to Disneyland resort and say you've been to Paris.
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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 about Serfaus?
More extensive skiing than Solden? tick
Cute Village not dominated by a busy main road? tick
Lift systems every bit as good as Solden? tick
Distinct lack of titti-bars? tick
Solden wins hands down if you want lively Apres Ski but otherwise Serfaus is far superior. In my opinion of course.
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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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IMO Serfaus is just as authentically "picture postcard Austria", like Pammy A. most precious assets.
Plastic phantastic.
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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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| Quote: |
so stop making stupid comparisons such as they are are pointless
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There's a fine tradition of stupid comparisons round here. For example:
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| I'll stick with the way better value AND cheaper prices in Austria as well as more reliable snow at lower altitudes, better and more modern lift systems. |
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| I learnt my technique from years of skiing in France - Austria is nothing in comparison |
The skiing, and the piste-bashing, in Soelden sound fine to me; being an elderly wimp I quite like nicely bashed pistes. But I couldn't be doing with long, barging lift queues (was it not fairly low-season)? nor the smoking and would prefer not to have lap-dancing bars "in my face". . I can't abide lift queues; the longest I have ever encountered were in Cairngorm and Chamonix. The former very well behaved, the latter pretty well behaved; certainly no shouting and barging. The little Italian racers in Tignes and L2A can be very irritating. The worst behaved people I have seen in my area were Germans in Les Contamines - shouting to each other over people's heads, shoving and barging - they were big lads and it wasn't a big queue; they were truly objectionable in a generally very friendly, well-behaved, low-key family resort.
I NEVER ski in Paris holidays; I can well believe they can be objectionable too. Most French people seem to behave reasonably well in queues, like most Austrians and visitors to Austria, no doubt.
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250 euros for a six day pass seems expensive to me, Zillertal pass is about 200.
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Ghost Dog, Sorry if it wasn't clear in the report but the tour operator were really good in taking us straight to the resort; we were there for 10:00 and on the slopes by 11:00 so got 7 days skiing in. 250 euros for 7 days is about the norm.
As an aside (and another comparison I am afraid) but I called into a UK hotel over the weekend, a very average sort of place and saw their rates: £120 per night for a double room bed and breakfast. Just how a tour operator can do flights, transfers, 7 nights accommodation, 8 breakfasts and 6 good dinners, with wine, for £500 is amazing.
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johnE:
Having skied Sölden on 3 occasions I have to say I'm finding it hard to look at your review as "unbiased" when compared to some of the offerings from France and Alpine Italy (as opposed to Italian Dolomites). I spent most of my first 20 years skiing in French resorts, but just became fed up with soul-less villages and same ole - same ole, open bowls. But the over-riding bug-bear is the utter contempt 'the average' French resort worker has for Brits, as opposed the friendliness 'the average' Austrian worker displays. The only French resort I retain any affection for is l'Alpe d'Huez: and frankly a small number of Brits in a resort is sometimes a pleasant change, I'm thinking of the hoorays that despoil many French resorts.
As for being able to ski Sölden in a day, I'll take that wager: as collateral I'll put up 2 houses, 2 cars, 3 20something kids, a cat, a dog...............and the wife!
Unless of course those are red underpants you're wearing outside your trousers? 
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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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mozwold, Couldn't disagree more about the friendliness of the resort workers in France and Austria. In Les Arcs, in particular, you sort of get use to the lifties smiling and saying good day, I sort of missed that friendliness in Soelden. The resort staff were formal and correct and there is nothing wrong with that, but I wish they would smile occasionally.
Actually I thought the small number of brits was one of the things I said in Soelden's favour. I do wish people would read what is actually written.
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I did, and you didn't!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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johnE, very informative and helpful report, thanks.
Could you say which Skiworld chalet you were in please ? Reason I ask is becuase I have just booked us in Chalet Karl Riml the week before Christmas.
Also I have read comments by some people that the black runs in Solden are somewhat easier than those in France - I know it is hard to generalise but what do you think ?
Many thanks
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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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johnE stayed in Paul Gruner (I was the chef), cant say if the blacks are easier than france they're still fun (and get me to some of my favourite off piste bits).
Nick
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Thanks Nick, I hope the next chef as as good as you then!
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