 Poster: A snowHead
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For our first trip of the season myself and MrsS need to go 13th-20th December. We will be driving, and are both experienced skiers, can ski any piste, bit of off-piste etc. I have come up with shortlist of resorts (where we could get a decent deal):
Les Deux Alpes - never been here - opinions?
Solden - nor here
Saalbach/Hinterglemm - nor here either - is it high enough to stand a good chance of early snow?
Mayrhofen - only been here at half term (too crowded!). Has Hintertux as a fallback, but what is the local skiing likely to be like pre-Christmas?
Kaprun - been here on a course, but without instruction the glacier could be a bit limited - what is Zell likely to be like?
Kirchberg - not been, what is the skiing like early season?
I have read up a bit on these places, which are mainly quite new to us, but would welcome others opinions. I am well aware of the "wait to see where the snow is view", but want to have a pretty good idea of a plan in advance.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
I am well aware of the "wait to see where the snow is view", but want to have a pretty good idea of a plan in advance.
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Good idea to do some research, but at that time of year it really won't be hard to find accommodation and you could have a much wider choice than you've indicated (though many smaller resorts in France won't be fully open on 13th no matter how much snow there is). I'd decide on the broad area, book flights, then wait and see.
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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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RobinS, You can add Obertauern and Schladming to that list. Both open relatively early and usually have good snow cover and plenty to ski. Being further east, no need to get hung up on height. I regularly ski from the beginning of December in non-glacial resorts. Last season on those days I had a fabulous day skiing with Annemarie Moser-Pröll and in the 27kms we covered we were never higher than 2000m or so and skied down to about 800m with ease.
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I have booked my Dad in for a trip to Mayrhofen the week before. If he drives all the way here for no snow, then he is not going to be a happy camper. You can never guarantee anything, however taking the last few years into account then I am reasonably confident it will all be ok. In fact last season some of the best weeks were at the start. Only thing is that it will not all be open the week he is here, as they will start to open more the week you are thinking of.
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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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Samerberg Sue, Obertauern will certainly look at, as never been there. Schladming we have skied several times before, and on balance would prefer somewhere new.
googiew, Thanks for the feedback on Mayrhofen (while we have been there it was back when our skiing was nowhere near as competent!)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Solden is high so should be fully opened, and you could drive as well to nearby Obergurgl which usually starts early as well.
Saalbach is a great place but you are not guaranteed early snow, it should be fine, but I do not think they will try as hard as other similar height resorts to be fully opened before XMS, if you know what I mean, for example Schladming will, as they are known for early starts.
Obertauern is a nice option, although not that big, so if you driving I will definitely do day trips to Zauchensee, Flachau or even Katschberg. http://www.bergfex.com/katschberg/
Ischgl will be another place to consider, great for early season.
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LDA is a marmite resort.
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Thanks Tom W, useful info, especially about Saalbach. A lot of Austrian resorts open early, but they do seem to vary in enthusiasm. been to Ischgl a couple of times and did consider it, but it is bit out of budget for this trip!
Layne, Since I hate marmite does that mean I won't have fun at LDA? What do people love and what do they hate? Or will we have to find out for ourselves.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| RobinS wrote: |
| A lot of Austrian resorts open early, but they do seem to vary in enthusiasm. |
How nicely said! Vary in enthusiasm....
Normally the week just before XMS should be fine everywhere, assuming there is enough snow.
Again if you have a car and do not mind short drives, from Zell you could do Saalbach and Kaprun on day trips.
I posted many times about LDA, usually negative, but in fact my only problem is that the place feels small, more like 80km resort rather than 200km they advertise.
Saying this, the rest is ok, views, glacier, some runs, lifts and I even liked the village. Just expect to ski down the same runs every day  (almost)....
There is so much more in Saalbach and they also adverise as 200km.
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I know I'm biased but have you considered La Plagne or Les Arcs? Both have a glacier so there is sure to be skiing, and the lift passes that week are heavily discounted. The Vanoise link and some of the lower village-areas are shut at the beginning of those dates, but the same applies for most other resorts too.
Hope you find somewhere which suits . . .
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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RobinS, I skied one day in LDA on an excursion from ADH. It was bitterly cold but even taking that I wasn't attracted to the place and haven't been back. The town itself is strung out along the valley floor either side of the road and isn't attractive. The skiing is, what can I say, just OK. There are some bottlenecks, the resort level runs are challenging, there is no tree level skiing. There are a couple (probably more) mammoth threads on here about your favourite and least favourite resorts and LDA cropped up regularly with I'd say a 60/40 or 70/30 dislike to like ration. But the ones who liked it, really liked it. And clearly it wouldn't exist if there weren't punters who liked it. I do actually think I could happily spend a week there. It's not purgatory! But I don't know, somehow I more attracted to other places.
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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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| Quote: |
Normally the week just before XMS should be fine everywhere, assuming there is enough snow.
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That's a bit of a big generalisation; some resorts won't be fully open until the Christmas week. The places with the highest skiing are often not the most attractive and if it's cold and snowy having tree skiing will be far more important than having high altitude slopes. But if it's a bit warm, and the "snow-making" claims irrelevant, then you'll be desperate to find high altitude skiing. There really is no good argument for booking accommodation for that very low season week until the last minute.
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| Quote: |
Normally the week just before XMS should be fine everywhere, assuming there is enough snow.
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What Pam said. Even assuming there's enough snow, many places (n.b. in France... other countries/regions differ) don't plan on opening until Xmas week. Chamonix for instance, with the exception of the Grands Montets (and Les Houches, ploughing their own furrow as usual) isn't even suggesting opening until the 20th. They just don't generally get the trade to justify it.
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You know it makes sense.
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Most Austrian resorts open fully the weekend before Xmas week, especially the bigger places. Sölden was fully open 9th Dec in 2009 for example, that was the first Outside for Rob and Co.
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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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We would generally plan to go somewhere scheduled to open a bit before our arrival. It does seem that many Austrian resorts open before a lot of the French ones (except the obvious Espace Killy etc.) Obertauern as mentioned schedule to open late November, Ischgl ditto, Solden is open early, even Zell am See, which is quite low we skied on about 5th December last season.
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Poster: A snowHead
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RobinS, how about cervinia?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sarah, Thanks for the suggestion, but we did Cervinia that same pre Christmas week several years ago, it was good, but the skiing there suited our abilities at the time - we were mainly blue run skiers. Nowadays we would find it a bit tame, apart from going over to Zermatt - and we have been there more recently as well.
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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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RobinS, if you're driving, you really can wait until the last minute.
Another thought might be Champoluc, "official" opening, 9.12.14. Fully snow cannoned and reasonably high. We'd have skied there Nov 30 if we hadn't had chores to do.
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RobinS Espace Killy is as guaranteed as you'll get for snow at that time of year. We've been most years since 2007 in the first two weeks of December and have always had a fair bit of the ski area to go at (including links to Val D'Isere). Powder's not unknown at that time as well.
PM me if any interest in our Tignes apartment - cheap at that time of year and Snowheads discount too .
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