Large Group Holiday to....Austria!

A snowHead

So my fellow graduates and I at work have been discussing a potential group ski holiday around Easter next year. I offered to look into it seeing as I go skiing ever year. However I go to France and they insist Austria is the place to go! This means I know nothing about where to go! So I have a few questions which I am hoping you can collectively help me with;
-Where is Austria would you recommend to go? We want a good range of slopes to cater for intermediate to advanced groups, but we would also like a good selection of bars and après ski ...obviously!
-How many would you recommend we limit the numbers to? Is there a good number for cost negotiations?
-What type of accommodation should we look at? In France I stay in a catered chalet...would a hotel be a better option for a larger group?
-Anything else you think I should know or consider?

All help is very much appreciated to get this kick started!

Thanks,
Laura

A snowHead

@!fox_girl, welcome to SnowHeads

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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Go to Saalbach/Hinterglemm. Stay at the Hotel Konig. Sorted. You could always stay in different hotels if the group is very large.

Another option for great skiing and (the ultimate for) apres is Ischgl. Stay at the Chalet Abendrot with Ski Total (but book asap as it gets booked up fast). Ischgl is expensive for Austria though.

Also look at St Anton. Great skiing and a party town. You also might like Mayrhofen.

The larger your group, the more difficult it will be to get you in one place, but if there's no more than about 12 of you it should be OK.

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If skiing in Austria in April check the snow records and go high! Ischgl normally has skiing right through to the end of April I think.

Either way you'll need to move quick to book a large group. Good luck snowHead

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@!fox_girl, echo the recommendation for Saalbach. Get apartments and then eat/drink out every night. Eating and drinking is very reasonable.

Around that time Mayrhofen host the Snowbombing festival, might be worth looking at.

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Catered Chalets aren't common in Austria, most of the accomodation is hotels. St Anton is the main exception to this and as long as everyone in your group are decent skiers that's where I recommend you go. The Apres is mental, it's common to see people heading home along the Main Street at 3am still wearing ski boots.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I agree with @hammerite, wink

Unlike typical French and Swiss ski resorts, in an Austrian resort you don't generally need the ready-made social circle, or the affordable dining, of a catered chalet; also you may have to keep checking your watch and deny yourself the pleasure of staying to the end of the early evening apres-ski parties. I well remember many years ago staying in a First Choice catered chalet in Saalbach; we invariably arrived half-way through the soup course, still in our ski gear, fresh from the Hinterhag Alm apres-ski party, still in high spirits, grinning like Cheshire cats and and singing apres-ski songs, much to the irritation of other diners.

Dining is something that can be pleasurably fitted around other things, either by having a big lunch, eating on the way down or grabbing a pub meal or pizza later in the evening. For example in Saalbach, you might want to end up in Hinterglemm at the Goassstall apres-ski party, which starts at 4.00pm and ends around 7.00pm, then maybe go night skiing on the floodlit piste (open till 10.00pm) or go night tobogganing on the Reiterkogel, or have an evening at the Spielberghaus (you're taken up on the back of a piste basher, and then, after a meal and a party, you toboggan several km back to the village, or you may want to partake of Bobby's Pub's famed mid-week spare ribs, or experience Hotel Peter's house speciality, the 'Felsensteak' (a big, juicy steak served sizzling on a hot stone) followed by a hilarious magic show from your host (Hans Peter, a sort of cross between an Austrian version of Tommy Cooper and Benny Hill in lederhosen mode, is a renowned figure in Austrian magic circles). Just some of the innumerable things that you might struggle to experience if you opt for a catered chalet (except of course on the chalet staff's once-weekly night off).

I should add that I have greatly enjoyed staying in catered chalets (and organising chalet parties) in France and Switzerland - the comfort, catering and conviviality of staying in a chalet greatly compensated for the extortionate prices in bars and restaurants and the deathly hush in some of the solitary bars in certain ski villages that I shall not forget in a hurry (for all the wrong reasons). There you do need to be in a chalet - but definitely not in Austria.

After all it is free

I can count on one hand the number of times guests have failed to turn up for dinner in a catered chalet in the 4 seasons or so I did in the Arlberg. On those occasions I would leave out a tray of meat and bowls of veg and spuds which the guests tucked in to at whatever time they finally got in from après/night out. Was much appreciated by them and meant I avoided the situation that others had whereby the guests went in to the kitchen and helped themselves to whatever....

TBH, as long as your hotel doesn't insist on a 7.30pm dinner, it's fine. Most apres ski parties end about 7, enough time to pop back and shower before dinner at 8. The Konig in Saalbach was ideal, we ate at 8pm. You have to drag yourself out of apres at some point, and most resorts prefer people to sober up and get a shower before the evening, not be staggering around in ski gear all night. St Anton is actively trying to stop this, I believe.

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@HoneyBunny, Each to his/her own, and vive la difference! I agree that it's good to get back after apres-ski and change for dinner (if there's time). However we always found that we didn't like being regulated, and also dinner can drag on and you can sometimes get bogged down in your chalet/hotel whilst the apres-apres carries on without you (I should say "one" instead of "you", because I'm aware of course of your reputation for taking any ski resort by the scruff of the neck!) As time has gone on, we've appreciated the flexibility of being able to eat whenever we like, and to be able to do things that we we'd find difficult if we were stuck with a fixed dinner time. I've mentioned a few above, but it's also nice to pig out up the mountain (e.g. half chicken 'n' chips at the Asitzbraeu, or Tirolergroestl at the Alte Schmiede, or Speck mit Ei and Apfelstrudel at the Bergeralm, or Schweinshaxe at the Grabenhuette, or fillet steak at the Hecherhuette (all at £1 = EUR 1.40+, hopefully!)), or to enjoy one of Bobby's excellent pizzas whilst watching a live band, or savour the excellent cuisine at the Kohlmaisstub'n or the ambience of the Baeckstattstall, or mosey up to my personal favourite, Wallners (open for dinner till 10.00pm) - stop me, I'm getting excited

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Young some quite young. St Anton and Ishgl are noted as probably the two biggest party towns in the Alps.

snow reports

We travel as a group of 12plus and normally have to book 9 months in advance to make sure we get in somewhere we want and with a bit of discount. Always Austria and we have been tempted to St Anton in January. We are a little older than your average but we do like our après!

Easter in Saalbach has some real risk around snow reliability. You may want to consider somewhere a little high which might offer better snow reliability. Artificial snow via snow canon is no substitute fro the real stuff.

My thoughts would be Ischgl, Solden, St Anton, all have good après, sufficient altitude to make skiing viable later in the season. Maybe Obertauern too.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@!fox_girl, persuade them to go to France Twisted Evil

A snowHead

Iris-girl I have no doubt the skiing is excellent but you need a mortgage to enjoy après!! 😞

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Fox_girl even! 😊

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Foxgirl never returned to this discussion......

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Pruman, Just my experiences of two previous Easter holidays in Hinterglemm over Easter school holidays.
Average snow depth for the whole of march is probably not a good indicator for the last week, given that temperatures tend to rise.

Late (and to a degree early) season skiing is less consistent than the more predictable mid season periods. Of course we could be lucky and have a late season, where snow depths are maintained for longer. However common sense would suggests that lower resorts loose snow cover and quality sooner than higher resorts. And, likewise south facing slopes loose cover and quality sooner than north facing.

There is a mass of data out there to review, and draw conclusions.. eg
http://www.onthesnow.co.uk/salzburg/saalbach-hinterglemm-leogang/historical-snowfall.html?&y=2014&q=base&v=list.

Personally I always leave decisions on late season trips until late feb/ early march. If, however I had to make a decision now, I'd go with the safer resorts (higher).

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

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. A local commented to me a few years ago that snow is now more reliable at Easter then at Christmas - as was borne out last season!

Normally we stay in Saalbach until the first or second weeks of April, and we have found that the snow holds up well, right down to the village, in fact there are invariably useful top-ups of fresh snow right up to the time we (regretfully) bid farewell until the summer. Normally it pays to get out early in the morning, as conditions inevitably become heavy in the afternoons, particularly when it’s warm and sunny - as in any resort. However during April it is not uncommon to be blessed with cold, sunny weather and to be able to ski all or most of the day on perfect, uncrowded pistes - and the pleasure of skiing in a tee-shirt and having long, leisurely lunches whilst basking in the sun is not to be under-estimated!

A good example was the 2010/11 season. The second half of March 2011 became unseasonably warm right across the Alps, worse in France than in Austria since it was an anticyclone over Spain that was causing the trouble. Nonetheless, Saalbach had plenty of snow (as per this 24 March 2011 article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/8403773/Skiing-Where-to-go-for-snow-Saalbach-Davos-and-Vail.html .The pistes leading down to the village were still open by the end of March (when we left), although we had to go high to find good quality snow.

Another good example was the 2012/2013 season, when the first week of April was possibly the best week, from the point of view of skiing conditions, of the entire season. I remember a local describing it as "millionnaires' skiing" on account of the perfect piste condions, cold temps and lack of people.

After all it is free

I agree entirely that Austria does a superb job on season prep and piste maintenance right the way through to the end of each season. I've enjoyed many ski holidays on hinterglemm and saalbach over the year, not just at easter. And I'm looking forward to another vosot this season.
But, I maintain that altitude with genuine snow is preferable to man made snow. And I prefer not to put my faith in the weather gods on spring in the hope that the guy on duty is a skier.

@Bob, snow cannons don't operate in the spring the nights are too warm.
So the exposed base you are skiing on may have been initially created by a cannon in the winter but it really isn't worth being called 'man made' by the spring.

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Good to know

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Mayrhofen would fit the bill. http://thegasthof.com offers a range of good value accommodation.

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remember that austria can often come with an 'austrian twin' bed arrangement which is basically a double (yeah i know it's technically two separate mattresses on a double bed base) but you'll never get blokes to share, so one ends up taking the mattress off and sleeping on it on the floor. Not very appealing for a week holiday in a 'nice' hotel

I'm surprised they haven't cottoned on to how much business potentially goes elsewhere...

@bertie bassett, On the other hand, whereas a standard UK double is 4' 6" wide, Austrian twins are usually at least 6 feet wide (each mattress being about 3'), so a barrier can be constructed down the middle to guard against any accidental, nocturnal bodily contact.

You know it makes sense.

I've never had a problem with Austrian twins. As @Tatman's Tours say, they are pretty spacious, easily room for two chaps without the need for physical contact. Anyway what are the alternatives, doubles each? Singles with supliments? Austrian twins seem like a good idea.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I can't comment due to discrimination against non graduates.

A snowHead

@bertie bassett, having worked in Austria for the best part of 7 winter seasons, most in chalets or B&B's, I have very rarely come across guests who have moved a mattress to the floor because they didn't want to be in an Austrian twin, so can't affect business that much. And I should add that there was enough space for a mattress on the floor, should the occupant wish, on almost all occasions.

A snowHead

@!fox_girl,

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

4'6" beds purporting to sleep 2 people are a crime against humanity.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The Austria twin is a pretty sharp idea. Of course I am pretty bias as I have 5 of 'em.
But for almost every nation there is no problem with 2 blokes sleeping on a 90cm wide mattress with their own bedding.
This creates a lot more versatility for the room as it is twin enough for the majority and double enough for the couples.
(IMO it isn't double enough for couples!!)
So it prevents not selling rooms to families and couples as they are set up as a twin (which is much more likely).
It also allows a better use of space.
We have just replaces one of our rooms with this same set-up as it works so well.

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@pam w,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

It's not the homophobia it's the snoring and farting without the benefit of a couple of feet of non-militarised zone that I see as the fundamental flaw with Austrian twins.

After all it is free

Even the double beds invariably seem to be equivalent to what we would term king-size or super-king-size. We have an apartment with two such double beds and another with a double convertible sofabed, and I regularly have to reassure enquirers that they are really like two single beds stuck together and wide enough to permit a barricade of suitcases to be erected down the middle (if necessary).

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Large Group Holiday to....Austria!

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