Niederau

A snowHead

Hi all.
I'm thinking of going to Niederau with my wife, mid to late January.
I've only been skiing twice before and the wife once so we wont be doing anything fancy (not purposely anyway Happy

)

Are the nursery lifts free to use?
I think the main lift passes are about £180.00 each but there's no use buying them if we aren't going to venture too far.

We would be going half board, what are the prices like in town and on the slopes (meals, drinks etc)?

Is mid to late January a good time?

What's the transfer times to Niederau?

The deal I'm looking at includes blue ski hire, is this a company?
If so, how much do they charge for lessons?

Any other info much appreciated.
Cheers.

A snowHead

Lewie, welcome to snowHeads

A regular contributor Carolyn lives in Niederau and has been very helpful to any posters with questions about that resort and I'm sure that she will be able to answer all of yours. I'm sure she'll see your post and will be pleased to help you.

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

Thanks for the welcome Ray.
I await with anticipation (I think)!!

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Another welcome to snowHeads and I am sure that Carolyn will have masses of advice.
I first skied in Niederau in, sssh, 1971, and over the years have gone back lots of times and although we have our own chalet now in France we are going to be there for New Year this time round.
I haven't heard of blue ski hire but as far as lessons are concerned then the Niederau ski school, who wear red jackets are excellent.
Depends on where you fly to how long the transfers are - the last bit of the journey up the mountain is very pretty.
You will need a ski pass for Niederau but maybe not the area which encompasses Auffach if you don't want to go there on the skibus.
Eating and drinking in the bars and on the mountain is really really cheap.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You can usually get very good last minute deals to niederau. Did it a couple of years ago with the family and enjoyed it.

You'll need to Register first of course.

I think the "blue Ski School" is Aktiv http://www.ski-school-tirol.com/

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

First ski holiday for myself and my wife was Niederau. It was so good we went back to the same hotel (Sonnschein). Wouldn't go again now as now I've progressed a bit I prefer resorts with bigger piste areas. Ski school was great and by the end of the week we were skiing the whole of Niederau. Had a look at the website and I couldn't see prices for lift passes for just Niederau, it was the whole of Ski Jewel as they're now calling themselves.

After all it is free

Lewie,
I have been to Niederau many times in the last 25 years and will be based there this season.
Nursery lifts are not free to use, the local area lift pass includes Aufach and Alpbach as part of the Skijewel area.
Prices for accomadation and on the slopes are very good. Many do use the accomadation in Niederau as a base to ski the wider area including the Skiwelt.
Mid to late January should be fine. Snow should be good and the area will be reasonably quiet unlike February when it is half term.
Transfer times are about 1 1/2 hours from Innsbruck or 2 hours from Salzburg or Munich.
Never heard of blue ski hire, but there is a Blue ski school ( Aktiv ) but I don't think they do ski hire. The red ski school is a far better bet but then I am biased as that is where I learned to ski, my son has taught there for the last 2 years and I will be there this year. http://www.1-skischule-wildschoenau.at/cms/index.php?site=3&lang=en will give you prices

Hi Lewie,
I went to Niederau with the OH last year and had a great time.
I'm also not sure about the 'blue ski hire,' unless it's a grading code your TO maybe using.
As for ski lifts, I can confirm that they only do Ski Jewel Passes for the area, but you should use this to your advantage: although the nursery slopes are at village level in Niederau and very convenient, the slopes from the top of the mountain are all fairly tricky in places and a lot of my OH's ski school struggled to get down them even by the end of their second week. Don't get me wrong, they are lovely slopes, just quite challenging. Auffach has a greater variety of runs and higher terrain, so I would recommend the bus journey over at least once. the Journey only takes about 20 minutes and is very pretty in itself.
If you are feeling adventurous you can even go over the back of the Auffach area, where there is a fantastic red run which takes you to a gondola connecting you to the Alpbach region. This area probably has the best terrain for early intermediates of the lot. It's also incredibly picturesque (as is the whole area) and provides even more good restaurants. Prices are the same or less than pub food in the UK, even on the slopes.

Whatever you do, you should have a great time. FYI the hotel we stayed at was The Alpenland, which was a good VFM option and right at the bottom of the slopes.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Colours with ski hire often refer to the grade. Used by TOs and ski hire shops - actual colours depend on the particular vendor. For example, Inghams have on their website the following definition:

Blue
The 'Blue' category is a carving ski with flex and side-cut suitable for beginners and early intermediates.

Red
The 'Red' category is a carving ski which is only one season old or new this winter and is suitable for all keen intermediate skiers.

Black
The 'Black' category is normally the highest grade of ski available to hire. These are carving skis, generally this season's new models, and are suitable for good intermediate/advanced skiers who can benefit from the higher technical specifications of this ski.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Thanks for all the info so far.
We are still umming and arring.
We both want to go again but the wife damaged her knee cartilage last time and still gets jip but not too bad.
Throw caution to the wind Puzzled

Who knows, it could be brilliant.
It's one of those catch 22 things, if you don't do what you want to do then there's no point being here then again if you wreck yourself doing it..............................................
Lift pass for the area is €205 each for 6 days which covers Alpbach, Auffach, Kramsach, Niederau, Oberau, Reith i.A.
Ponder ponder..........................

snow reports

You know you want to, so just go for it!

Lewie, you know it makes sense. Just do it.....

You know it makes sense.

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

I have been to niederau before 4 years ago before the link opened. I think what would be best if you stated what you were looking for out of a skiing holiday then people can advise if it will suit your requirements. If it is any help when we were there we found the prices in resort to be very reasonable. But there were a few things I didn't enjoy about the place and would therefore not wish to go again but it's all down to personal preference. I found that the runs were not suited for begginers, I wouldnt class it as a resort building confidence. i think the brochures market it as a "great resort for beginners" but I did not find it great for beginners and I think the only reason it is marketed as such is because it is too limited for advanced. Anyway, If we all liked the same resort then there would be one hell of a lift queue somewhere Very Happy

A snowHead

I am also thinking about a week in Jan in Niederau. It will be OH's 4th week skiing and she is progressing even though the fear is there on steeper runs.

I will be following this thread closely and waiting for Carolyn's reply...

Hey Lewie we may bump into each other ther Very Happy

Help!!

Niederau

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