 Poster: A snowHead
|
"ROYAL SKIING AT THE KINGDOM OF SNOW"
Over lunch a month ago my uncle mentioned that he needed to move furniture from his home in Wales to his summer (ancestral) house in northern Italy.
Being the dutiful nephew that I am, I offered mine and Nerys' services to drive the van to the small village of Granelli just outside Bardi in Emilia-Romanga - the area where a large number of the Welsh Italians "Taffia" originated from.
And on the way back catch a couple of days skiing on the Stubai Glacier in Austria  - Nerys' first taste of European skiing.
We took the Dover - Dunkirk ferry with DFDS and drove through France, Belgium, Switzerland on the way to Italy.
We left at 8am on Sunday 08 June and after a short night's sleep just outside of Basel got into Granelli at 5pm on Monday 09 June.
Glorious weather all the way down, and earlier in the day we took the Gothard Pass road via Andermatt rather than take the Gothard Tunnel.
Nerys in Andermatt town centre
Birdos skis
On the way over the Gothard Pass we stopped to take in the views. Plenty of snow around and plenty of people touring and skiing.
We spent Monday evening, Tuesday and Wednesday morning in Granelli and Bardi kicking back, drinking espresso and red wine, and dining on fine food and catching some sun in the 30 deg temperatures.
Granelli
Bardi
Wednesday lunchtime we headed north over the Brenner Pass to Austria to spend two days skiing on the Stubai Glacier.
When I was looking into which areas were open for skiing at this time of year the Stubai Glacier won out because it had
good snow conditions
great coverage
comparable vertical and length of run to what Nerys had experienced on Hokkaido (thanks Clarky999)
and this killer deal
2-night B&B and 2-day ski package for 99 euros per person
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Search-Book/Packages/Sunshine-skiing-special
You don't know where you're staying until after you've booked the package and we were assigned the Gastehaus Danler in Neustift-Milders, about 15 km drive from the lifts
http://www.hotels.ru/eng/hotels/austria/neustift_im_stubaital/gastehaus_danler.htm
Neustift-Milders was all you could wish an Austrian alpine village to be. Beautiful and charming. And green green.
Gastehaus Danler is a lovely place. Great welcome. Plenty of room. Great continental breakfast. Free wifi. Walking distance to everything in Milders. Highly recommended.
Had dinner at one of the local hotels and then got an early night in preparation for the first day on snow in a while.
DAY 1 ON SNOW : THURSDAY 12 June 2014
We woke to glorious sunshine and blue skies and after breakfast drove up to the base station.
The lifts run from 7.30 to 12.30 at this time of the year and the place was deserted.
The Gamsgarten I gondola takes you from the base at 1750 m to the Mittlestation Fernau at 2300 m and you stay on to the start of the skiing at Gamsgarten at 2620 m.
From there it's a short skate over to the Rotadl 8-seater chair which accesses the blue and red runs off the Rotadlkopf and the blue, red and one black run off the Daunferner I t-bar.
The skiing goes from 2620 m to 3109 m for a respectable 489 m of vertical.
It was possible to ski to within a couple of hundred metres of the Mittelstation Fernau at 2300 m with a short walk back to the gondola station where the snow had melted - approx. 700 m of vertical.
Stubai Glacier Piste Map
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Ski-Area/Lifts-Pistes/2D-Piste-Map/2D-Piste-Map
The pistes were well groomed and the snow was soft but not wet. The off-piste snow was consistent, smooth and a little grabby.
No queues and plenty of terrain available despite the closed off areas for race training.
Available ski area
Nerys
Coffee & cake was 5 euros, and lunch of 1 beer, sparkling water, main meal was 15-18 euros.
We finished skiing around 1pm, had lunch, and got off the mountain around 3pm.
Back to the B&B, quick shower and then out for sightseeing and afternoon tea.
Grawa Waterfall
DAY 2 ON SNOW : FRIDAY 13 June 2014
We paid for an extra night at Gastehaus Danler at 24 euros per person and after breakfast headed up for our second day on snow.
After warming up on the warming up pistes we spent the rest of the morning skiing the off-piste terrain.
Big improvements for Nerys today.
Patience and lightness at the start of the turn to stay above the soft snow
Greater confidence and comfort accelerating in the fall line
Far more adventurous line selection, including skiing between rocks and in gullies
We left around 9am on Saturday morNing and drove back via Innsbruck, the Zugspitse area in the German Alps, and through Germany into Belgium.
Stopped for the night about 30 mins from Brussels, and 90 mins from Dunkirk in an Ibis Hotel. Excellent value at 65 euros for the room.
Got the mid-day ferry from Dunkirk on Sunday and we were back home in Aberdare by 6.30 pm
An excellent road trip to Europe and an excellent & cheap way to get a couple of days skiing on snow in the summer months.
Highly recommended.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Looks great! I should probably make the effort to get back up there for one more day before the lifts close.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
I would.
I was drooling over some of the couloirs up there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Fantastic!
I'm hoping to do some sitskiing at Stubai in November making it my 1st outdoor sitski experience, just got to find a wheelchair accessible apartment or hotel and a friend, relative or companion to come out there with me, can't wait! 
Thanks for sharing your experience and great photos btw.
Nick
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Tue 24-06-14 11:06; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Nice TR. Had a great short trip to the Stubai years go (in the winter!)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great report, reminded me of some of my motorbike routes 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks all.
Hope you get to the mountains NickRno77
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Great TR.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
Great read. Live not far from you so appreciate the distance and effort involved
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Cheers.
Being used to driving around the resorts in my part of Hokkaido, if we were to do a week in Europe next season (late March) then driving would be our preferred option.
Too may good smaller resorts and microclimates to be stuck in just one resort for the week.
And no hassles with kit.
Resorts in the Zugspitze area and Inn valley high on the list at the moment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I really enjoyed that, thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
My pleasure. Thanks for reading and commenting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Mike Pow, We done the train from Wales a few times, using the overnights from Paris, appreciate you want the flexibility of having a car but it does give you more time to ski as you use the nights to travel and sleep. Anyway, thread drift........ 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Not at all thefatcontroller. Always great to hear alternatives.
What kind of cost are you looking at on the train please?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
