 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All
Looking into getting our week on the slopes sorted out for next year. Crystal currently have 1/3 off lift pass/ski hire bundles, but the offers seem to vary resort to resort.
Annoyingly at Obergurgl the offer only covers the area lift pass and not the "superior" lift pass, covering, a days skiing at Solden (I understand) . However, it does represent a £133 saving (per person). Does anyone know if it is possible to upgrade the lift pass in resort? or would the only option be to buy a separate days pass for Solden?
Also in your extensive opinions if there enough skiing at Obergurgl & Hochgurgl for a week? We are used to skiing large ski area's or multiple resorts so don't want to feel overly limited in Obergurgl. We had looked at St Anton or Ischgl but Obergurgl seems to be working out a fair bit cheaper.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Depends on your ability and what you want out of the ski holiday. .. oborgurgle and hochgurgle are skiable in the day including a long lunch.. solden is a bit bigger. We once got the cheap deal in solden and bought a day pass in hochgurgle. When we got there we could not upgrade the pass...but it might have changed since 2010
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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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I've twice had week long stays in Obergurgl and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. It's not vast by any means but it's a very likeable ski area. I've done a couple of away days to Solden and wasn't greatly taken with the skiing there. Nice views from the top of the highest glacier but the skiing isn't really worth the gondola queue.
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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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Probably best to email Crystal about the lift pass. I go to Obergurgl for two weeks at a time and don't get bored but this includes a lot of off-piste skiing and ski-touring. Only skied in Solden three times in thirteen years' worth of trips to Obergurgl.
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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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Sorry for the late replies all, been a bit of a manic day.
@yorkshirelad, I would say we are fairly advanced piste skiers but haven't done any off piste in Europe, we have skied quite a few north american ski resorts with 'in bounds off piste'. Being skiable in a day concerns me a bit as it would be quite a change to what we're used to.
Good idea @Kelskii, I might try it on a bit with them as the difference between the two passes normally is £10 or £15 I think.
I've had a look into Saalbach after it was highlighted in another thread, its coming out practically the same price as Obergurgl. The skiable area is much larger but the altitude of the resort concerns me regarding the snow cover in late January.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Cancelled this message - it was gibberish!
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the altitude of the resort concerns me regarding the snow cover in late January.
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I wouldn't be unduly concerned about the height of any major resort in late January. The following extract from an article I wrote about the snow-reliability of Saalbach, may be of some help:
"Regarding snow-sureness, there are many factors to take into account. You can look at historical snow depths on www.skiclub.co.uk and you can also find out a wealth of objective, unbiased information from www.snowheads.com
Austrian ski resorts are typically snow-sure at lower altitudes than say French ones, because, being further east, they are governed by a different weather system. The same goes for countries like Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. I have heard it said that the French Alps and the Pyrenees suffer from their closer proximity to the Gulf Stream. It is generally accepted that the snow tends to be better in Austria and that you can add 50% to the height of an Austrian resort to find its equivalent in France. At 1,000m Saalbach is up to 300m (1,000 feet) higher than most Austrian resorts, e.g Mayrhofen, Kitzbuhel, Soll, Westendorf, Alpbach, Niederau, Zell am See, to mention just a few. Despite their relatively low altitude, all of these resorts have a thriving winter season.
Snow-sureness only becomes an issue at the beginning and end of the season, i.e. December and late March/April, for reasons which apply to most other resorts; i.e. how early will the snow arrive in the autumn, and how early will spring arrive in March/April? I've never known anyone to worry about snow-sureness in mid-February, when snow depths tend to be achieving their maximum just about anywhere in the Alps. (Any ski resort that struggles to maintain adequate snow depths continuously between Christmas and mid-March is probably not going to be very successful). However, due to the millions of euros that Saalbach has invested in snow-making technology in recent years (90% of pistes are now covered), not only has the ski season been effectively extended, but snow reliability at the extremities of the season has been greatly enhanced.
Saalbach opens for skiing in early December and closes around the second weekend in April - they like to keep it open for Easter. In the many years I've been skiing in Saalbach, I've never known a season in which we have been prevented from skiing through lack of snow, and we've spent most Christmases there and have usually stayed until early April. In the third week of November 2007, when we bought our first apartment, the snow was so plentiful (half a meter deep on our back lawn) that the resort opened early; however a knowledgeable local man commented to me recently that the snow at Easter is now more reliable than at Christmas. Whether this is a realistic aspiration entirely depends on which way the wind is blowing, when Easter falls, and how early spring arrives."
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Thanks for the very detailed post Tatman! I take your point regarding the lower altitude resorts in Austria still enjoying a good season but it still concerns me and I think ill try to confine those resorts to late bookings when I know the snow is good. Saalbach is definitely on my radar for future trips.
We're currently being lured back to the scale and altitude of the French mega-resorts  Never been to Val D'Isere before but the skiing seems right up our street and it's only slightly more per person than Saalbach half board. I shall be putting up an airport query in a new thread shortly.
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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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What are the prices like in Val d'Isere? I've heard horror stories but I guess that the current strong pound will help.
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Just paid a fraction under £1100 each including area lift passes and ski only hire, this is half board the hotel Samovar in Val which is very well reviewed on tripadvisor. Was looking at slightly over £1000 each in Saalbach but the hotel reviews combined with Val/Tignes being pretty snow sure swung it for us. This obviously doesn't take into account the cost of food and drink in resort but booking half board and not being ones for mountainside restaurant lunches shouldn't affect us too much. We went to Courchevel/3V's two years ago and as long as you stayed away from 1850 at lunch the we didn't find the prices too extortionate.
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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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size doesn't always matter you know
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Mrs TT seems to think it does. 
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