 Poster: A snowHead
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I started my ski season yesterday on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier and this was the view I saw when I arrived at the Alpincenter...
And so it remained all day, blue cloudless skies and sun. Very little wind too. If the winter continues like this, I won't complain!
Despite the fantastic weather the pistes weren't too busy. I met several Brits, some there for instructor or race training. This was a typical queue at the Kees T-bar mid-morning; in the afternoon, as it became chillier in the shadows and the race training groups departed, there were no queues...
Here's a view from the top of the Maurer T-bar, looking towards Zell am See and showing a little snow on the top of the Schmittenhöhe (where they hope to open on 29th November)...
At lunchtime people enjoyed the sun at the Alpincenter...
There weren't a great many lifts in use, the central T-bars and the Gratbahn and Sonnenkarbahn I chairlifts; skiing only down to the Alpincenter (officially). There isn't any great depth of snow yet, so that stones weren't far below the surface. However, some people were skiing away from the pistes, as here beside the Sonnenkar lift...
All in all, a good start to the season. Long may it continue!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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espri, nice opening report. Enjoy your season, mine starts in a couple of weeks, though no lengthy ski trips til Jan.
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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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Sweet! Keep this thread going, hopefully conditions in Jan will be great (when i'm there!)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Ooooh roll on half term when we are in Zell...
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Today I went to Zell am See and it was tremendous. The weather was perfect and the pistes that were open were in super condition. This board shows what was available...
It maybe doesn't look like that much but effectively the whole south side of the Schmittenhöhe was skiable, though with only one valley run. I arrived at the trassXpress just after nine and at the top this was the view over to the summit of the Schmittenhöhe - not a skier in sight : you don't see that often here!
It stayed quiet all day, though I did come across groups from the British Army, some young soldiers and others who seemed to me more like school groups. This photo is of the latter, getting instruction alongside the Hahnkopf T-bar...
As I said, the snow was great, pistes firm but not at all icy and sometimes with enjoyable softer sections. The valley run open was piste 13, back down to the bottom station if the trassXpress gondola. There were cannons belting out snow onto it all day and I think the run was probably in the best condition I have ever experienced, not at all the icy descent I remember from the past. Piste 14 was still being worked on but I expect it might be open at the weekend.
I had lunch at the Kettingalm and was able to enjoy it outdoors, with my anorak off.
Not bad for 2nd of December (though there was some wind at the top of the Schmitten and it was chilly in the shade)! It was, indeed, a very enjoyable day's -easy- skiing.
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wow! empty looking! Definitely never seen it like that
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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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John Barr and I had some very enjoyable skiing in Zell am See today, with the pistes ski still remarkably quiet. The day started out sunny but clouds appeared in the afternoon. This was the view when we arrived in the morning, looking over from the car-park to the Areitbahn I gondola and with the beginners' area at the bottom on the right...
As you can see, away from the prepared pistes, at least on the sunny side, there is little snow remaining. But the pistes are in great condition, only softer in those spots exposed to much sun. We were able to ski down all five valley runs without any problems. We paid two visits to the Sonnenalm, morning and afternoon, and the photo below shows the view from piste 15, looking up to the Schmittenhöhe with pistes 13 and 14 winding down on the other side of the Schmittental...
For lunch we chose the Pinzgauer Hütte and had our meal on the terrace, admiring the view to the Kitzsteinhorn and a cloud-covered Grossglockner. Then there was the added excitement of the Skidoo taxi to bring us back to the Kapellenbahn...
Despite the dearth of snowfall recently, the skiing is excellent and only a few places on the pistes are suffering from lack of snow with a little gravel or grass showing through.
Edit: Forgot to mention that whole area was open.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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any update on the current conditions in Zell i am due out on the 18th January and a bit worried by mild weather and lots of green on some webcams
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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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looks like nobody else is going so i will have the slopes all to myself. 
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mikeelsa, it's a long time till 18 January - could well have a change in the weather before then. Keep an eye on the "weather outlook" thread to see the trends.
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You know it makes sense.
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Any updates on conditions? I've gathered that there's been no significant new snow, but the Schmitten webcams look ok. I'm heading out tomorrow & not sure what to expect. Wetter.at is saying snow early next week, Bergfex is saying rain (mountain and valley). Bergfex also saying 11* valley & 6* mountain top. Seems oddly warm!
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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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About 8cm fresh from just below mittelstation today but wettish stuff. At least it looked like January! Cold temps have turned crud underneath to solid ice which got scraped clean. Looks like some serious bashing going on tonight so should be nice tomorrow. Looking like Friday will be the answer to prayers. 
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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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"What a difference a day made, 24 little hours", Dinah Washington 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We're heading over next Saturday Feb 1st. Have been obsessively watching the web cams all morning - distracting! I'm particularly keen that 12/12b might re-open, we're staying at Haus Ashling which is a ski in/out but I don't fancy tackling all of black 11 to get there......... Fingers crossed!! A first-time to Zell Am See...Anyone with experience of that 'run home' down to the cityxpress I'd be keen to hear more. I'm a tame intermediate with 5 trips under the belt, including past two years in St Anton which can be tricky. I was ok on most reds there but was inclined to avoid the black runs!
Let it snow...
And BAJJ... yes indeed!
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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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Just come off the slopes today . The Schmittenhohe is looking much better now compared to Monday! Today it snowed all day. Yesterday conditions were near perfect. Don't believe all the scare stories about there being no snow.
lflanner, 12a/b is still closed I believe. However black 11 is not a very hard black - a couple of steepish sections but survivable. I'm only a competent skier (certainly not good!) and I get down it fine.
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Hi Zellmaniac - that is so nice of you to reply with an update. This is quite reassuring about black 11.. you're giving me the confidence to give it a try (even if it's at a snail's pace!)
Enjoy the Apres!
Anyone else skiing Zell this week, would be keen to hear the updates 
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@feefee - deal!
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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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@zellmaniac - awesome! Good to hear about 12b. Another boarder has just joined our little group to come over - inspired by this very welcome dump of snow! Safe trip home.
#
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Any updates for Zell anyone?
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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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feefee, you're every wish is my command - pondering where to ski today, your question swung me to Zell. And I had a very good day. When I arrived about 10 o'clock, I wasn't so sure, for it looked busy - car park full and a queue at the Areitbahn...
But it didn't seem all that busy on the slopes, apart perhaps from the beginner areas, and I didn't have any problems with lift queues.
I wouldn't classify the snow as great but the pistes are mostly in good condition, with only a few browner bits and getting softer in the afternoon. I was surprised to be able to ski down into the town, not only on piste 11 but also via the Zeller Skiweg (16), the track between the bottom stations of the TrassXpress and the CityXpress. I hadn't realised you could do that - not very exciting but a novelty for me. Here's a view from that track, looking over the roofs of the houses in the Schmittental...
As you can see, away from the prepared pistes there isn't much (any) snow on south-facing slopes. However, up top all is in pretty good shape, although the polar bear sculptures have melted a bit in the sun (I saw +8°C on the Sonnenalm)...
Off piste isn't all that inviting, mostly pretty well pisted with the lack of fresh snow, but there are still areas to try. The "Rodeo" mogul run beside the Osthang T-bar was something I had never skied before but I struggled down in no great style today...
I was able to ski all the valley runs, although piste 15 down from the Sonnenalm isn't very attractive presently and the run back down by the Areitbahn had become mogully in places by the end of the day - tough on tired legs!
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espri, thank you very much, I figured it wasn't looking great but as long as there's pistes open and skiable I'm sure we will be fine, forecast looks promising and temperatures going down at last, fingers crossed, keep me posted if you go again
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You know it makes sense.
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espri,
15 is attractive if you stop for lunch at the Jaga Alm!!
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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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| zellmaniac wrote: |
| 15 is attractive if you stop for lunch at the Jaga Alm!! |
Never tried that. Yesterday I lunched at the Hochzelleralm for the first time and enjoyed the views from there (and the food).
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, here is my belated report from Zell am See - Feb 1st to 7th. At the start of the week, we still benefitted from the dump that had taken place a week before: lovely snow above mittelstation but rather slushy and with some ice from there down. It was quite warm particularly lower down, and we even had rain two days. They closed off 12A for a couple of days, but re-opened after snowfall of a few centimetres on the Thursday. Since Sunday (9th) I see there have been some good additional snowfalls so this week's skiiers should fare well.
We were staying in a ski-in-out above hotel Berner just off slope 11/17. It wasn't the most pleasant to get down that last part, but do-able.
My friends became obsessed with the Kitsteinhorn (particular the powder-seeking boarders). We ended up travelling there 4 days out of 6 - however this is more of a reflection of their powder lust than any major problems with Zell. I left parts of Zell un-skiied. For an intermediate skiier, with good snow, there would be enough there for a week, with perhaps a day on the glacier for the novelty. On day 1 a friend and I joined a group lesson with the biggest ski school. We had an instructor mid 30s called Alex, who apparently usually only takes privates. He was seriously good, he really pushed our small group and I felt super-confident afterward. He had us on black 13 within 20 minutes - no way I'd have done that without an instuctor, but it went fine. After a disaster wtih a group instructor last year in St Anton I was very impressed.
We were lucky not to be badly effected by wind on the glacier - we happened to miss one very windy day and on the Friday a bout of wind and lift closures happened to coincide with our late lunch, then the top gondola re-opened and we were able to ski from the 3,000m point with the slopes virtually to ourselves - paradise.
A couple of stray thoughts if I may: taking the bus from Postplatz (adjacent to city express) to Kitzteinhorn is not so bad, as long as you allow 35 mins travel and about 25 for all three gondolas. As with any of these things, the earlier you go the better. I ate at a traditional mountain restaurant off slope 5 in Zell - gorgeous. Their tyrolergrostel (?) was the best of several I tried! In the town, we loved Zum Caesar for great value and lovely staff. The food in Crazy Daisy was understandably a blur... We rented from Hervis and they were great - easy and fast service, good location. A 15% discount for pre-booking (but not pre-paying) online - handy for groups. I only discovered on day 5 that I had a locker and storage included for free - whoops! I recommend doing the 'skimovie' over in sonnelalm for hilarity if nothing else. We stupidly handed back our lift passes without snaping the number, so we can't look up the embarrassing videos.
Overall this is a lovely part of the world, somewhat effected by a strangely mild winter, but with average to good snow, particularly above 1,500. To all who have yet to go this season - you have my envy. Enjoy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Currently sat in the panorama cafe at the top of Zell. Pistes are in awesome shape after a decent dump of snow Sunday and last night/this morning. Kitzsteinhorn was closed yesterday due to high wind, but I have it on good authority it will be epic tomorrow!
Still very mild, but the skiing is pretty damn good in the eyes of an idiot like me!
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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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lflanner, great report thanks for sharing, just 3 more sleeps for us!
Gerbil007, Just what we needed to hear thank you, just hope it doesn't warm up too much and melt it all! more forecast for the coming weekend
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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DB, thanks
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just arrived I'm zell am see and it's dark so can't report much. However rep said all runs open if a little soft. No snow laying in town but it has started falling on my balcony about an hour ago!
Will try and give more useful report tomorrow!
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Just returned from Zell am See, was snowing all night Friday and when we left Saturday morning so should be good for those going this week, we had an excellent week although it's still warm so any new snow soon melts at the lower level, the bottom runs were yuk, slushy, mogully and really busy as it was half term, stay on the higher slopes where the conditions are great
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Warm weather has really hit the lower slopes. Sudabfahrt (15) is closed - not a flake of snow to be seen. The run to the town is barely passable - it's mainly grass and mud. I'm taking the Cityexpress down - I'm not risking my skis on that!! The run down to Schuttdorf is also closed. Upper slopes are good - though some lifts were closed due to high winds😒. Raining all day today - so not a great first days skiing. Still better than work!!
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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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FAQ
Anyway -I'll be back in March 
