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Where to go to avoid the crowds (last week of Feb 2014)?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'm currently looking at booking a ski holiday and could do with some advice on possible destinations.
We are bound to the Welsh half term week (Feb 22nd - March 1st 2014) and I'm hoping to find a large skiing area that won't be too crowded. I was gutted when I realised that the French school holidays overlap with this week! On previous trips I've mainly visited large French resorts (3 valleys, Tignes, Les Arcs etc) - but I'm guessing they will be really crowded that week??

So, I'm open to suggestions, but I'm currently thinking of giving Austria a try.
So a couple of questions:
1) Am I right that Austrian resorts will be less busy than France during that week?
2) Which Austrian resorts have large/interlinked ski areas? (preferably high and snow-sure)

Any advice would be great!
Many thanks.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Try Solden or the Milky Way in Italy.
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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?
alimac, welcome to snowheads. snowHead Yes, the French resorts will be busy. But you need to check the German and Dutch school holidays too - there's time to get a range of advice including from people who know Austria well. I suspect Italy might be your best bet, as suggested by Bigtipper, likely to be busy at weekends but quieter during the week.
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Thanks for those suggestions. I'll check out Solden and definitely have a look at Italy too.
From what I can gather online - the schools in Austria, Italy and Germany aren't on holiday that week - but roughly half of the Dutch regions + about 2 thirds of France will be. Do the Dutch tend to ski in Austria?
+ are French families likely to venture into Italy (to bordering resorts such as the Milky Way) during school holidays?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
alimac, Take a look at any of the resorts in the Ski Amadé region. Most are within 45 to 60 minutes transfer from Salzburg Airport. Loads of snow-sure interlinked ski areas: Sportwelt Amadé includes from west to east, St Johann-Alpendorf, Wagrain, Flachau and Altenmarkt/Radstadt-Zauchensee. Also in the same region Schladming with more than enough skiing of all grades for holiday skiers, spread over 4 mountains plus Fageralm/Forstau (linked by bus if you don't have your own wheels). Another is the Hochkönig area skiing between the 3 centres of Maria Alm, Dienten and Mühlbach.

Further away but with masses of skiing is the Zell am See/Kaprun or Saalbach-Hinterglemm-Leogang. All of these resorts are snow sure due to their much further easterly position to the French ski areas, so altitude is not quite so critical. They have invested in snow-making facilities that ensure that the base lasts for the whole season. The investment in lifts and other facilities will ensure a relatively fast trip up the mountain and the variety of runs down will also keep you happy.

Currently in line with just about all the alpine countries, off piste is a) not too good but more importantly where it is tempting it is bloody dangerous and not advised.

Hope that gives you some food for thought as well. A good idea is to get in touch with our own inimitable flangesax, as they have a very good chalet/pension in the middle of the Amadé region. They even cater for you as well if that's what you want!
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Quote:

are French families likely to venture into Italy

I'd be surprised if they venture to the Dolomites - it's a long way - and that is maybe the nicest part of Italy to ski.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:

are French families likely to venture into Italy

I'd be surprised if they venture to the Dolomites - it's a long way - and that is maybe the nicest part of Italy to ski. Yes, I believe that a lot of Dutch people ski in Austria - but Samerberg Sue could confirm.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Invaluable information! Many thanks everyone.
Will check out what deals are available for the various resorts you've suggested.
Samerberg Sue - Do you know how busy Austria is likely to be that last week in Feb? Are Austrian resorts noticeably busier during Dutch school holidays?
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Good Austrian resorts are always fairly busy - but the nationality of the guests changes weekly. This week and next week there are many Russians and Ukrainians, then it goes a bit quiet before the Danes arrive in Weeks 7 (from 8th Feb.) and 8 and then the Dutch in the later weeks in February. The first week in March includes Fasching and Ash Wednesday, so many Austrian and Southern German families will be on holiday. The busiest week last season in Saalbach was Week 8 and the longest lift queue that I experienced then was 10 minutes (at 9.45 when I arrived just after the ski school groups).

Resorts to consider: Any of the Ski Amade areas and resorts, Zell am See, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Zillertal (Mayrhofen/Zell am Ziller). Kitzbuhel, St Anton or the resorts around Innsbruck. Use the search function for other Snowhead's trip reports.
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alimac, As quinton says it changes on a weekly basis and there are always people looking to bag "quiet" weeks. You are only going to get empty pistes in the pre-season weeks to be honest.

Look at the resort's abilities to distribute the quantity of skiers across a wide area for example. Today I was skiing in St Johann/Alpendorf on the first skiing day of the peak week of the season. Visibility was almost zero due to continuous heavy snow so everyone was on-piste. I don't think I queued for longer than 5 minutes even at the notorious bottlenecks and at many lifts we did not wait at all. These are all modern chairlifts and gondola (bubble) lifts, mostly 6-seater+ with hoods and bum warmers on a lot Toofy Grin Very welcome the latter was too!.

You give no indication of your ability or preferences. You may have skied some big resorts but in a snowplough, off-piste or racing around making sure you never do the same piste twice? There is a huge variety of resorts, including big interlinked areas but also some smaller gems with masses of touring and off piste opportunities.

Another bit of info that would help people focus you on specific areas is an idea of cost; no limit, high end, medium or budget for example.
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Quote:

Visibility was almost zero due to continuous heavy snow

I find that thins out the crowds nicely!

alimac, I could find you some pretty empty pistes in France. But not in the last week of February, especially this year.

Yes, some more information about what you are looking for would be helpful. There is not so much knowledge on Snowheads about Italian resorts but it's possible some of them might suit you well.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
This is probably the second busiest week of the season in Saalbach. Fresh snow and good conditions all over the mountain yet I didn't queue once all day - i.e. straight on to a gondola or chair - and there were many occasions when the piste was empty for 100-200 m ahead. The mountain huts were busy today, but that's because it was snowing heavily at lunchtime and it was impossible to sit outside.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Many thanks everyone - really useful information again.
I can see that the efficiency of the lift system is a big factor to consider when thinking about avoiding crowds/queues.
A bit more info - to help narrow down any further resort suggestions:
Cost: We're definitely still at the budget end of things unfortunately! ...currently looking at 'low cost' package deals.
The group will be made up of two couples with varying abilities. The guys are experienced skiers/boarders - keen to explore as many different pistes as possible. Easy access to some decent off-piste would be a big plus for me. Our partners are beginner/intermediate skiers who prefer to stick to the piste and avoid black runs! We'll do a mix of skiing together as a group and splitting into pairs of similar ability.
This will be our one ski trip of the season - so our preference would be to be based in a reasonably large interlinked area to avoid spending time travelling between places/resorts.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
alimac, Contact flangesax on here as they should be able to either help you by offering you a good price for their place. Or if they do not have the capacity, then suggest local places to suit your needs and budget.
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