 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, we are on the verge of booking a very good deal to Chalet Mara for a very large group. Can I just ask a couple of questions about practicalities? Firstly, does anyone know how fast and frequent the ski bus would be from the chalet mara? (It's going to be too far to trudge with several children in ski boots!). Secondly, are there any ski lockers near the ski school meeting point ( lechnerberg ski lift)? Finally, is the Chalet Mara within walking distance of the lifts for adults in ski boots, or would a bus always be needed? The distances in the tour operators website are rather ambiguous. Many thanks in advance for any advice/ info.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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am i allowed to bump on this forum??
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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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According to the location map and description on Crystal's website, it's 4 minutes to the bus stop and 10 minutes to the nursery slope (550m to slope according to Google). The bus stops are also marked on the map and it looks like your nearest bus stop is also the nearest bus stop to the nursery slope, i.e. a bus isn't going to help very much for getting to the nursery slope. However, the website also mentions a shortcut through an old railway tunnel which it says reduces the walk to < 5 minutes - this looks logical, as it would stop you having to go around and I can see something on Google Satellite that looks like it. This shortcut looks the easiest/shortest way to get there. If you need to be closer than this (I have no experience of skiing with children!) then I think you'd be better off looking for a chalet that's ski in/out or right next to a bus stop.
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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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Was a while ago but I stayed in the hotel next to the Mara.
the lechnerberg lift is just a relatively short drag lift. If you're arranging lessons through Crystal my guess would be that they'll be on the glacier.
Might be an idea to check with them.
It's only 10 mins on the bus to the bottom station from what I remember
In fact here is the timetable so every 15 mins in high season (except lunch time))
http://www.maiskogel.at/en/winter/skibus.html
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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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hi, thanks very much for this info. we are going to arrange creche ourselves, which meets by the lechnerberg. the affiliated ski school meets there too, which would work for us logistically. we may book ski school through Crystal, but only if the meeting point is the same, as we need to ditch our many children in one go!
i did read some of the info about location, but it's hard to factor in things like reliability and frequency of bus journey. just knowing there is a ski bus isn't quite enough, as it could equate to a bit of a nightmare if its infrequent and you're relying it (carrying skis, supervising toddlers... you can imagine!). thanks very much for the timetable link. that's reassuring. in a ideal world we would be ski in ski out, but we have found a great deal and the compromise needs to be location, unfortunately.
any info about ski lockers?
thanks all...great too to read about that short cut!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Noo72, The bus you would need is the Dorfbus, which runs every 15 minutes in a clockwise loop around the town, including stopping right at the Lechnerberg lift. You would get it from Zentrum/Ortsmitte, but it runs right round the town to get there, so would probably take nearly 15 mins. The positive would be only 2/3 minutes to get home. It would be quicker to walk from the Zentrum bus stop to Lechnerberg - about the same distance again as from the Chalet Mara, but understand difficulties with children.
If you were also to be skiing at Maiskogel, the main Kaprun area, no need to walk through the tunnel as Shaufelberg (the stop for Maiskogel area) is on the Dorfbus route. However, not an area for child beginners.
Crystal map link below. The nearest bus stop you can see is Zentrum/Ortsmitte, but their map does not show all the Dorfbus stops.
http://www.crystalski.co.uk/search/ac.26
Kaprun street map below shows Dorfbus stops, which are marked with a green H. Timetable is as per Hamish's link.
http://www.zellamsee-kaprun.com/dokumente/maps/ortsplan_kaprun_druckversion.pdf
With regard to ski lockers, I am not sure that there are any at Lechnerberg
A word of warning. Not sure when you are planning to go, but Lechnerberg can be closed by early March due to lack of snow. It is only just viable at present, although hopefully that might be improved with tomorrow's forecast.
Hope this helps.
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Be aware that getting onto an already crowded bus with small children in ski boots can be very difficult. Indeed even an uncrowded bus isn't terribly easy, especially getting out, as they can never walk down the steps (I sympathise with this, I always feel awkward doing it). I was using buses at New Year (because of the difficulty of parking, I don't usually) and felt quite sorry for some of the people with littlies. Personally I'd not take little kids (who can't walk in ski boots and carry their own skis) anywhere where a bus was required. I'd compromise on just about anything else.
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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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@Noo72, just read your other post. Have pm'd you in case you want more local information.
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@pam w, these are not your usual short Navettes de ski, but proper single-decker buses with plenty of seats and room and often lowered initial steps (they lower hydraulically as the doors open. Usually on they are on a continuous loop, so as one pulls in at either end of the route, another pulls out.
Early March will be low season as the schools have already returned in most of the countries that travel in their masses to this area. Once the OP has sorted the ski school and children out on the first day, there are lockers at the base stations of all the major uplift links in most Austrian resorts, many of which are heated. I would recommend letting the children travel in snow/walking boots the first day and carrying their and your poles if they are given any (often under 5/6 year olds and first timers are not given any). The ski school will be able to tell you the best place to find lockers if you feel you need them. Friends of mine used the buses in Wagrain at Christmas with their 5 year old girl and 8 year old boy and travelled about 15 minutes max (because of all the stops and people getting on) without any bother with all their gear on. The children carried the adults poles while the adults carried the skis. The little girl was a hoot telling her brother off for not carrying the poles correctly!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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thanks sooooo much hilary, pam, samberg and others. what an amazingly comprehensive lot of info to digest. to clarify, the children skiing have skiid quite a bit before and are aged around 10 to 15, so the ski bus isn't an issue in the way it would be for tiny tots. however, some in our group will need to factor in a creche drop off, hence my need to get a full picture of the logistics.
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FAQ
Some adults struggle with them. 
An old woman hit me really quite hard on the head yesterday when she was just putting her gloves on. Fortunately I had a helmet on but she was right behind me (god knows why as I'd been surrounded by acres of empty flat space just a few minutes previously) and the whack took me by surprise.
