Soll / Skiwelt help

A snowHead

Booked first ski trip with the other half for this coming Winter. We are staying in Soll.

Now I have been on 4 ski trips (Andorra, Austria x 2, and France). This will be the other half's first ski holiday, although she is planning on getting plenty of lessons here in the UK, so we are not stuck to ski school etc.

What are the red runs like in Soll?

How easy is it to get from Soll to the bowl in the middle of the Skiwelt area?

Are the village runs open all season?

Any other good advice for Soll??

Thanks

A snowHead

When are you going? The main runs to the village should be open all season, though maybe not at the extreme start/end of the season depending on conditions. Where else in Austria and France have you skied? The reds are pretty standard reds if that makes any sense, compared to much of the rest of Austria/PdS in France at least. I've spent most of my time in the SkiWelt in Westendorf, but I don't recall any difficult getting new/nervous skiers around the rest of the area (never been with a irst-time though). Looks like it's possible to get to the main bowl on blue runs from Soll, but I guess it depends on how well she picks it up! Even if she does have lessons in the UK, it will still definitely be worthwhile her getting at least half day/a couple of private lessons whilst there.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks....

Going for new year so start of the season. Thinking of getting her lessons to int level and spend the first few hours skiing on hol on the village slope to gain confidence.

I have been val thoren, kitzbuhel, soll and arinsal... Although over 10 years ago.

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I can't offer advice on area, but as someone who learnt to ski a snow dome, it was absolutely no preparation for the mountain! I 2nd the opinion of in resort lessons.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks... But there will be no chance of her getting lessons on the mountain.... Not what we have booked the holiday for. I am sure it will give her the basics needed.

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Yes... We have discussed it, and yes I will be having refresher lesson. I am not going to try and teach her... But I think if she gets the basics... But again we haven't booked a holiday for us to spend 3+ hours per day from each other.

Seems like this has gone a little off original qs'.

As for her learning or myself getting refresher courses... We will do enough to be ready for he holiday... And certainly take it easy to gain confidence on the mountain...

Now back to original qs hey

After all it is free

You are staring down the barrel of a disaster. UK lessons are great and by having them your OH will know how to put her boots on & click into her bindings. Other than that, not a lot.

The speed & gradient of real mountains will scare her unless she has a support to help her build confidence and going on your responses to others trying to help you she isn't likely to get this from you !

Good luck wink

Haha thanks.... Helpful forum this. We will see after the lessons hey.

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I've spent quite a bit of time in soll and have to say its a great area and at the time your going although early the village should have a good buzz around it as it the start of the winter

as for your questions

the reds are fairly normal quite wide and mostly lined with trees so if no space to run off haha

valley run both the red and the blue have snow making so should be open...red follows under the main hoch soll lift and can be narrow and steep in place aswell as bloody busy at the end of the day....the blue again is narrow but much more fun and mellow, lots of fun hairpins and theres a cracking wee bar halfway down on your left for pit stop with a nice view of the valley.

there is really only one way out of soll in the morning and it's narrow in places and gets busy and cut up easily so best advice is either get up and out early or stay on the hoch for a bit and head out late and just accept that the snow will be cut up

my only other comments are depending on your accomidation just walk to the base its easy and a nice walk, store your skis and boots in the garage under the base its called edringer sport....about 15 euro for a week

on the comments about lessons you dont have to split up....check out private lessons with black sheep ski...we have used them for the past 3 visits and my misses really rate them, private lesson for 2 hours on the sun-tues-thurs and they will have you both together with one instructor, doesn't matter if your expert and she's novice

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Thank you enduroaid.... Very helpful. Will take a look at the black sheep ski.

As I mentioned I am going to see how lessons go... I presume these would need to be pre booked?

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Hello, Mrs Snowmonkey69 here, just thought I'd add my tuppence worth, take it or leave it as you wish.... Our best friends sound very similar to you and your other half, ultimately they chose the same route as you, the husband always loved skiing, got his wife uk lessons and then stopped when they went on their first holiday. The consequences were lots of arguments, unhappiness and overall a pretty miserable holiday and again the same for a few attempts thereafter so much so he now has ski holidays alone. To the contrary my husband sent me to the snowdome for many, many lessons and then further lessons in France and Canada, it didn't impact our holidays as when we met for lunch I was full of beans and enthusiasm for what I had achieved and then I spent the afternoon practising and showing him my improvements, he was incredibly patient and now we enjoy our time on the mountain together. Indeed as our ski holiday comes to and end we're arguing over where to go next! Ultimately obviously the decision is yours but from our and our friends experience (more than the couple just mentioned previously) long term the more you will get out of it will strongly depend on your initial investment. Rest assured me and my husband will never stop having lessons, he's no Body Miller and I'm no Lyndsey Vonn........ If only............. And for more than just their skiing ability!! NehNeh

yeah they are a group of british guys and girls who teach in and around the ski welt / kitz etc etc we pre book and you can book as little as one hour to full weeks

my misses and I started with a 2 hour lesson on our first afternoon and we have now moved up to a 2 hour lesson 2 or 3 times in the week and its amazing how well you will progress and they will meet you on the mountain so you dont have to come off the hill.

just remember the bit about getting out of the soll bowl it can be very intimidating for a novice at peak times.

oh...apres and the village.......salvenstadl at the roundabout is the big apres venue...rossini at bit closer to town is a bit more mature and go have a meal at the restaraunt above the nightclub...think its the whiskeymule....amazing food and great steaks!

You know it makes sense.

Thanks mrs snow monkey,.. Lol. Each to their own I guess. Everyone is different.

I am not a pro skier... And will not expect the OH to be so after lessons in UK. We are there to have a good time and spend it together.

We will see how the lessons go here, and may look at black sheep for private lesson for the 2 of us... For 3-4 hours.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thanks again enduroaid... I have looked at their website and may consider doing 3-4 hours private on the first day.

Is that the village run you are talking about?

A snowHead

I've been to SkiWelt with a beginner who had had lessons in the UK and reached the standard of being able to ski top to bottom using controlled turns. She was confident and happy on the nursery slopes in Soll and Scheffau, but essentially not sufficiently instructed and confident to tackle the easier blues, of which there aren't that many. SkiWelt is an intermediates paradise with lots of interesting and varied blue and red runs, but an intermediate is not someone who has had a few lessons in UK fridges. Budget for lessons, your partner will need them and I suspect you will too if you are to make the most of your holiday and enjoy your skiing. Good luck!

A snowHead

Thanks... But it's not a case of having to budget for lessons Smile

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Fine. Just get lessons then, I guarantee you will both enjoy the holiday a lot more.

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no the run i was talking about was the run that takes you out of the soll bowl to access the rest of the area.....from the middle station take the 4 man chair then its blue 45 to start with then it joins red 51 which takes you out to the larger are.....both easy runs...the blue is narrow but flat the red steep but really wide, but as its the main way out it get chopped up and really busy in the morning between 9 and 10.30

as for the village run...seriously take the blue its way more fun and really quiet aswell as that bar i mentioned.....if you fancy the red do it in the morning and just take the gondola back up.

Night skiing happens on a wednesday and it great but is not covered in your lift pass but worth it....oh and try the toboggan run its great fun....its fully light open most nights and you get the sleds at the base shop...erdinger again haha

You can also request a female instructor with black sheep, if that helps your misses confidence...other than that ask for alex he has taught us and is great fun

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We have booked the holiday to spend time together.... So if we can get the private lessons then we will Smile

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d1e, you may need to start to take notice of much, much more experienced skiers than yourself and especially your wife, who you are assuming will pick it up with no problems at all.
I very much dought it will be possible to get a complete newbie to intermediate level in,and I'm assuming,a fridge. They are brilliant to get a newbie to a tame blue run level, maybe just( especially at this late stage) to get them to plough to parallel stage. Anything we have here will not fully prepare anyone for alpine reds and the last thing you want to do(if you want to keep taking her) is scare the poo-poo out of her.
This year is mrs ricfrench's 4th week in the mountains, we did arinsal for the first two years, just to get some confidence, then we did les arcs(1800) me and minime loved it to bits, SWMBO found it too big and in a lot of cases too steep. Next year it looks like we are going to soldeu as we know she is more than ok on Andorran reds(but not French, which aren't that much different)
Stop thinking of yourself.You really shouldn't try to make her run before she can walk.
And lessons every day(group or private) for both of you would work wonders(4 weeks hardly makes you and expert)

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Where exactly did I suggest I am an expert.... I believe I suggested on the contrary.

It is not my suggestion to not havr lessons... so do not presume I am thinking of myself only.

Not a very helpful forum with the exception of a few. Would have appreciated more answers to my original questions, than people presuming things about myself or my OH and how well or not we may be prepared for the holiday.

I dont really care for the advice of these so called much much more experienced skiiers than myself. I didnt ask for your advice on what lessons we should have.

I was asking qs about the resort of soll.

Any mods on here advise how to delete an account. Sick of these so called know it alls. Although thank you to some for your advice. Smile

I appreciate it!

After all it is free

d1e, Suggesting to not take lessons is like throwing a match on petrol on this forum in case you hadn't already noticed Smile

You will find that it is beyond the comprehension of most that anyone could possibly achieve anything without lessons and so massive assumptions and judgements will be made of your character.

I have never had professional lessons and ski well enough (comfortable intermediate) and importantly SAFELY enough for me and others on the slopes. You have opened a tin of worms for sure. HOWEVER we are not all the same and my wife by her own admission and judgement could never have learned to ski without professional lessons and had she not taken them I am certain her ski hols would have been ruined.......so whilst I do not jump on the bandwagon that says you must have lessons make sure you know the limitations of both of you before you make decisions. My wife thoroughly enjoys her lessons and then enjoys even more showing off and sharing what she has learned with me in the afternoons when we hook up at lunch. No one knows your wife's sporting ability better than herself happens it's best to listen and digest at least.

Back to Soll, I went for a week two seasons ago and its a great place for intermediates. My personal opinion is that its less good for beginners but still a good resort. Fully agree with previous post re ski garage at main gondola. Use Alpinresorts website to book equipment much cheaper than direct with Erdinger in resort. There is a very gentle green nursery slope with button lift right next to the gondola. The red back down from midstation is difficult for a beginner and if snow conditions are poor I personally would not take my wife down it to end the day and would download in gondola or use the blue track and take a leisurely descent!

The route across to Scheffau Bowl is pretty easy but if its slushy on the way back after a tiring day can be tricky. There are some nice blues and reds around the mid station to warm up on. The bowl at scheffau is ideal for beginners, and due to its position the snow was always good there when bad elsewhere. Further on to Ellmau was good too. You could set up base around Brandstadl which has some nice food for lunch and there are some nice runs down to Scheffau from there.

Apres was good in Soll, not rowdy as perhaps it once had a reputation for being. There are a few nice small bars on the walk into town from the main gondola before the Salvenstadl on the roundabout, The Whiskey Muhle and Postwirt Hotel all good.

Whatever happens enjoy....it's a holiday!!

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You know it makes sense.

And how about answering the original questions???

Though not.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

btw.... thanks Jirac and Bode Swiller

A snowHead

We have just come back from the skiwelt this year and found the terrain to be quite difficult in places. We passed through the Scheffau bowl most days and on the bluebird day that we got it was lovely and wide and you could traverse across it very easy. However the conditions that week were not that great in terms of visibility and also how mogully and cut up the runs got. On the usual snowy days where it was quite windy And visibility was poor, the bowl seemed to get very busy so not only were you having (in my case) to keep an eye on which direction the kids went and if they went to the right lift, you were also having to keep an eye around you making sure you didn't ski into anyone or they didn't ski into you and also an eye on your footing. We were fourth time skiers and class ourselves in the cruisy category. We tend to look for resorts suited to beginners with a lot of blues. The skiwelt unfortunately was not for us, the reason being was that I personally (not saying everyone, it's just MYopnion) did not find the skiwelt cruisy in the least in fact I found it the most taxing resort to date. For our family I wil admit it was a wrong choice. There wasn't really any run where I though "oh that was a lovely run, must do it again" and most of the blues were met with some steep sections you had to navigate. Also for me this year I wasn't as fit as the other three seasons I had done and that coupled with the fact the resort was more tiring meant that my husband and kids spent more time sitting T the bottom of the chairlift waiting for me, which for me I felt like I ruined their holiday. How long will it be before your temper gets the better of you waiting for your wife constantly trying to negotiate the piste while you "patiently" ski 5 yards and have to wait. It might be extremely "stop start" for you and your wife might feel bad for you having to wait for her. Good luck anywY

A snowHead

Oh dear! Some of the comments may.be a bit patronising granted but being rude back is not really the answer. People are actually trying to help. I think the way you put it got peoples backs up.
Regards lessons. I have skied for 7weeks now and my first trip i went as a snowdome top to bottom'skier'. Got there and we had some nice fresh snow. I could hardly ski a yard. The conditions are so different. We went to ski school and i got a 2hr private lesson for day 2 ()that was all they had that week). A friend that was with us was the same as me but refused the lesson as he 'would manage and was doing ok'.
i learnt so much in thosr 2hrs and took what i was told and watched others. By the end of the week i skied a black back into resort and had friday saturday fall free. My friend did not get on so well. He was still struggling on blues.
As i say i have had 7 weeks skiing in 4 years and am totally hooked. My friend has never been again. He 'enjoyed it but not that fussed'!!!!!
a few lost hours on one hol for lessons could lead to a lot more good holidays as opposed to being a one off.
I am sure you know best though!!!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Mattiwilkin... thanks. The thing is, I did not ask for advice / help on lessons. People have decided upon themselves to give me advice which I have not asked for, albeit I am sure with good intentions. Yes, we will know best. All depends how quickly it is picked up, and whether confident and able to ski without fear, and learn from mistakes.

I have taken a bit of advice, and would look to have 2-4 hours of private tuition for the 2 of us on the first day... to help with the different conditions as opposed to being in a fridge which some people refer to it as.

The holiday is going to be a chilled one... not intense skiing as some of the 'experts' on here go for.

But again, the thread has gone completely from what I originally asked about.

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d1e, I hope you both have a great holiday!

I can't comment on the area as haven't been there yet, and I appreciate you are saying this is off topic but I personally wouldn't do longer than 2hrs in one day of private lessons they are far more intense than group lessons and (at least for me maybe) as I am doing / learning new stuff my muscles get rather tired.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

d1e, to answer one of your original points and in line with polo99's point above, SkiWelt is possibly not the best area for beginners. There are good nursery slopes and ski schools BUT there aren't many flattish blues for a beginner to progress to and gain confidence and a lot of the connecting runs between areas are proper intermediate territory, steep in places, narrow in places and can get quite mogully. Personally I didn't feel a great deal of difference between many of the blue and red runs, I enjoyed them all. Much fun if you are a confident intermediate, potentially intimidating if not. However, snowmaking and piste preparation there is excellent and I would expect resort runs and connecting runs to be kept open barring a temperature disaster.

Above all, the important thing is to enjoy your skiing and stay safe. The helpful people on this forum are only trying to suggest ways for you and your partner to achieve this. We've all seen the potential problems that out of control beginners can cause/face, and most of us know someone who had a miserable time on a skiing holiday because they were forced out of their comfort zone before they were ready. No need to be so stroppy and defensive, we are only trying to help. Good luck!

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I normally ski Kitzbuhel. And when weve gone over the road to the ski welt, one of the comments from the less able skiiers was that it was much wider blues and more beginner friendly. We started over in Scheffau/Ellmau end. Admittedly over in Soll you have the Hohe Salve slopes, which can be more intimidating.

After all it is free

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Soll / Skiwelt help

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