 Poster: A snowHead
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Yesterday afternoon I had a few hours skiing on the Buchensteinwand, oficially called the Pillerseetal lifts. The Buchensteinwand is a hill at St. Jakob in Haus, a small village near Fieberbrunn in the Tyrol. Here is the view from the top of the Buchensteinwand chairlift, looking west towards the Kitzbüheler Horn...
The ski area is also small but enjoyable for a day or maybe as a change if you have been skiing other nearby areas. Yesterday it was even smaller than usual, for only one piste and lift were open (+ the beginners' area), although I imagine they will open more around Christmas. Piste 3, the Buchensteinwand's black was the open piste but it is not really very black...
About 5 cm of new snow had fallen overnight, so the piste was in good condition, firm underneath but with patches of soft snow here and there to add to the interest. I belted up and down the hill, taking about 15 minutes for each circuit, 15 times. This is probably a novelty in my long ski life - a day using only one lift and piste 
For completeness here is a photo showing some of the beginner slopes, a veritable paradise for anyone starting a skiing career, with perfectly prepared pistes and no sign of a Christmas rush. Indeed, although there were a few other skiers, I virtually had the area all to myself most of the time.
Not the most varied skiing day I have had but enjoyable nevertheless.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Christmas greetings froma somewhat wet and windy St. Johann in Tirol, where I skied today. The slopes were in general still very quiet but there were some ski school classes about, here gathering at the foot of the Eichenhof area...
The weather wasn't the beautiful blue skies and sun that we have grown used to in the recent weeks of high pressure zones. Today it rained/snowed lightly off and on from about midday, though never very much. Over on the Penzing side there was also more wind. The snow was softer than in recent days and heavier away from the beaten down bits. Again it was mostly artificial snow but, now that more snow cannons have been installed, the main pistes were all complete and skiable, though with rather bumpy snow. Here is a view looking up piste 4a from the foot of the Eichenhof II T-bar...
There are plans to replace the Eichenhof T-bars with a gondola. I hope it might be there for next season but a liftie I asked about that said he wouldn't bet on it. Though a gondola would be faster and more comfortable, I fear it might attract larger crowds. That wasn't a problem today, though.
The chances for the new gondola were improved when recently the Swedish ski area operator Skistar bought a share in St. Johann. There is some evidence already of their involvement but largely seems to concentrate on putting their branding on the area, e.g. as on the Harschbichl gondola cabins...
Their website does offer a 15% reduction on St. Johann lift tickets (details here: https://www.skistar.com/en/stjohann/skipass/15-online-discount/) but not for the larger Schneewinkel area, as far as I can see. There is a catch, though. To get this discount you have to register with their MySkistar. And to do that you need a ski pass number. Seems a bit daft and I have pointed that out to them. However, hopefully their investments will stretch to the gondola which would make the area more attractive.
Coming back to the skiing, here's a view towards the Kitzbüheler Horn from the top station of the Harschbichl gondola...
In the morning I had skied the Eichenhof and Harschbichl runs. Then after lunch I went over to the Penzing area. There I was slightly surprised to find that piste 7a down towards Oberndorf was open (and in quite good condition). And I was even more surprised to be able to ski down the blue alternative 6b. All quite enjoyable though not with the quality of the pistes in the Hochkönig area earlier in the week. Here's a photo of the short steeper section at the top of piste 7a, before the top station of the Bauern-Penzing gondola, showing that typically pistes don't have their full width yet...
A day that was harder work than earlier in the week but enjoyable too.
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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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@espri, Thanks I enjoyed that. There was talk of the gondola being ready for this season, but these things can drag on!
Btw do you know if the Reit im Winkl side of the Steinplatte has snow making? The Austrian side is all up and running, but no lifts on the German side of the border as yet.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Today I made my first visit of the season to the Steinplatte at Waidring, just for the afternoon - and forgot to take my camera  Maybe that was just as well, for the view wasn't really what you might want to see for a ski trip. Apart from pistes largely of artificial snow, there was very little snow cover, the least I've ever seen on the Steinplatte (though probably I haven't skied there previously before there had been proper snowfalls). And what snow there was was rock hard and polished like glass, apart from occasional patches of softer stuff to catch you out. Added to that the slopes were the busiest I have seen so far this winter. However, the lift queues were never bad.
Not my favourite skiing conditions! Nevertheless the skiing was interesting, at times challenging, I found. Most of the pistes were skiable, though often narrower than usual. That is, in the Steinplatte area. The Winklmoosalm is still closed and I'm not surprised having seen the Steinplatte. The weather was overcast and towards the end of the afternoon chilly.
So that wasn't a very encouraging report but the good news is that it started to snow just as the lifts were closing and by now a few centimetres have fallen 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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From the Steinplatte Facebook page:
❄ let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... ❄
Starting tomorrow, Friday, 6. January will be skiing on the winklmoosalm opened. You can now also starting tomorrow seegatterl / reit im winkl from the resort Steinplatte drive. The area around the black lofer alm is still covered with snow and prepared and open from Saturday. 
The Winklmoosalm opens tomorrow, Friday 6th January. So you can go up from Seegatterl/ Reit im Winkl to the Steinplatte.
The area of the "Schwarzloferalm" openes on Saturday
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