 Poster: A snowHead
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Obergurgl trip report
13-16 December 2014
Getting there
Sleazyjet from Gatwick at 6:55, arrived early at Innsbruck at 9:45. Breakfast at the airport lounge meant that we didn't want to eat on the plane anyway.
We'd hired a car from 'Thrifty', however it turns out that they don't actually have an office at the airport...instead they share facilities with the Hertz office (so go to Hertz instead). The car came with Winter tyres, which other hire companies had been trying to charge an extra fee for!
The journey from Innsbruck to Obergurgl took 1hr, and that is in a gutless VW polo and a 15yo navigating.
The Hotel
We booked into the Haus Gurgl. This has been refurbished for Winter 2014 and looks fantastic. A whole new spa (which we didn't want to use) and dedicated, numbered lockers in the heated ski-room for each room. The hotel is not the Hotel Edelwies & Gurgl, so don't confuse the two.
The hotel is even better than the 4* rating implies. The evening food was as good as anything i've had in many 'posh' London restaurants, with a set starter, salad course, pudding, and a choice from 3main courses.
Arrive back at the hotel between 3pm and 5pm from skiing and there is cake...however they don't just leave it lying around so you'll need to either ask... Or maybe have a beer like I did 
Ski hire
There is an Intersport attached to the hotel which gives a 10% discount for guests. You can certainly get a bigger discount online though. The kit was of good quality (we only hired skis) and the staff very friendly and helpful. We needed to adjust my daughters boots on the second morning and they helped with this, even though it wasn't their kit.
Day 1
Having arrived around midday, we did a couple of turns around the Wiesenlift ropetow behind the Gurgl. You can get to this through the carpark behind the Hotel, so while it isn't a true 'ski-in ski-out' hotel, it is only 30m from being one. We then took the Festkoglbahn gondola up and had lunch. The food at the restaurant was excellent and i thought very good value for money. The pizza was definitely big enough for two...although we didn't realise that when we ordered...so two very full skiers continued down the mountain after lunch!
Taking the Blues 5 and 6 a number of times we found the snow cover excellent for this early in the season (this year, French resorts have barely had anything yet) and we finished the day going all the way back to the carpark behind the hotel.
Day 2
Up on the Festkoglbahn gondola at 9:30 and over to Hochgurgl. The #3 run down from the Festkoglbahn gondola to the Top-Express gondola isn't a bad Red, it is more of a tough Blue. The nervous first timer would be better taking the skibus to Hochgurgl, but anyone that can snowplough turn down a steep blue can make it with ease.
Hochgurgl is a blue paradise and well worth the visit if you want to pootle about on loads of different runs. We thoroughly enjoyed the Fun slope alongside blue #26 around the top of HochGurglbahn2 gondola. The 'Star' restaurant at the top of Wurmkogl is worth the visit for the amazing views and the platform which told us that London was only around 1000km away.... We couldn't see it!
Day 3
A day spent finishing off the runs around Obergurgl. Lessons learnt: The red #3 down to Obergurgl (lower half) is a tough red....whereas the Black #8 is so wide it should be a red. the moral is... Obergurgl has some 'interesting' categorisation going on. The lower half of Blue #15 down to 'David's Hutte' was nice and quiet but the upper half which runs along with Blue #6 is plagued by ski-schools and a little crazy. I went up to Hohe Mut Alm which is out on a limb and the only ski-route down is Red #1. It was deathly quiet, so we hoofed down red #1, blue #15, then blue #6 and went to the bar behind gurgl&Edelweiss where the Rosskarbahn chair and Hohe Mut Bahn1 start. This looks like a good après bar with music and great crowds.
Day 4
Checking out of the hotel at 9am, we left the car in their car park, and had a final couple of hours messing around on the Blue 5. The cloud was low, and snow was falling which coupled with a flat light meant that it wasn't the most enjoyable skiing. We downloaded on the gondola and finished our holiday on the gentle green behind the hotel. It is always better to finish a holiday with a clean couple of turns, rather than a broken leg!!
Journey Home
The good thing about Innsbruck Airport is that it is close to the mountains. The bad thing about Innsbruck Airport is that it is close to the mountains. Our plane outta there didn't manage to land due to low cloud (a common occurance) so flew overhead and high-tailed it back to Munich. Once Sleazyjet had found a couple of coaches we followed it. A 4pm departure turned into a 10pm departure from a different country. To add insult to injury, we landed at Gatwick North, not south.
In summary
I would go to Obergurgl again with the family, since they love cruising blues although I personally would find it limiting for the final few days of a skiing week. The fact that it had good snow so early in the season is the deal maker in my eyes.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The fact that it had good snow so early in the season is the deal maker in my eyes.
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absolutely - this year, above all.
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| this year, French resorts have barely had anything yet |
This has cropped up a few times today. Are Austrian resorts telling guests that although the snow is not great, it's much better than in France?  Not the case, I think and there are some happy skiers in the higher French resorts, too. This very poor start to the season hasn't really favoured one country over the other - freezing levels going high in next few days, pretty well everywhere. Forecast to rain to the summits in many lower resorts (including mine, sadly) and at village level in lots of places, including Obergurgl. You timed your trip just right - before the Christmas crowds flock to the few places with good snow.
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