 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
We are arriving on Saturday . What are the snow conditions like? Will there be much skiing by next week. Thanks
If anyone would like to meet up let us know.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Looking at webcams and resort website, they only have manmade snow, and only a few runs at the top open. Kitbuhel has a lot more open, and is only 10 minutes on the train (free with the kitzalps lift pass), or there is a free ski bus to Fieberbrunn (again you need the Kitzalps pass to ski there, but it is now lift-connected toSaalbach-Hinterglemm).
I'll be arriving there on the day you leave( assuming you are there for a week).
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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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@djfletcher, I skied in St. Johann today and enjoyed the slopes, though the possibilities are restricted. Putting the positive first, the snow was quite good, mostly very hard packed but with few icy spots (many of the pistes are north-facing). The not so good is that in the main area only three lifts are running with their associated pistes, the Harschbichl gondola and the Penzing and Jodlalm chairlifts (+ the Bauernalm gondola - previously called the Bauernpenzing - as access from Oberndorf). Here's a photo of the top station of the Jodalm lift and then a view from that lift of the middle section of the piste, showing the strip of manmade snow typical virtually everywhere at present...
And this is the track that leads over from the top of the Jodlalm lift to the Harschbichl piste 1a...
Skiing there is only possible to the middle station of the Harschbichl gondola. Here's the picture taken as I exited from that middle station, downloading at the end of the day. The lift company has been making snow but it all seems to me too scrappy and narrow to allow them to open the piste lower down...
The Jodlalm piste is probably the easiest skiing currently. Over on the other, sunnier side of the hill the piste 6a at the Penzing chairlift offers a bit more challenge with short steeper sections. Here is a view down one of the steeper stretches and then another photo lower down the piste with the Wilder Kaiser mountains towering in the background. The weather was again superb, sun and blue skies - there was one brave lad stripped to the waist as he ate his lunchtime Schnitzel at the Pointenhof...
For completeness, here is a picture I took a couple of days ago from the Eichenhof area which is more suited to beginners. There was plenty of action there. Currently you can't ski across from there to the main area because the Eichenhof II T-bar isn't in operation (Eichenhof I is running). I haven't seen piste 4a but that maybe could open in the days ahead (presuming the tow track is complete)...
alex_heney has summarised the alternative possibilities well. Another choice to add more variety might be the Steinplatte at Waidring (there's a bus to there too, I believe). The webcams don't look too inviting but there are 5 lifts running there for the pistes. I haven't skied there yet this season but maybe tomorrow?
I hope you enjoy your holiday. Just ask if you have any more questions.
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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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I did ski on the Steinplatte today and a good day it was. The weather continues to be superb (for summer), only blue skies and sun. The snow was varied, hard packed in the shade, turning to sugary crystals in the sun. The latter was particularly true on the piste at the Kapellen chairlift. Here's a photo looking down that piste...
And another from the bottom, looking back up with the Steinplatte chairlift on the left and the Kapellen chairlift on the right. In a proper winter all this area would be covered with snow...
However, with the pistes still relatively quiet, no lift queues, the skiing was fine. The runs down from the Plattenkogel, the highest point in the Steinplatte area, were good, mostly hard snow. There was one novelty: to reduce the risk of collisions where the track coming from the Möseralm area crosses the Kapellenbahn piste, there is a new tunnel - sadly without any snow presently (though there was currently no skiing over by the Möseralm -and I don't think any lifts are operating at the Winklmoosalm over in Germany)...
For lunch I skied down to the Stallenalm, the piste 1 track being the roughest I came across in the day. Something else I hadn't seen before were cars parked right up by the Stallenalm - and one car even drove by and up what would usually be piste 1 (presently just a track)...
Another surprise was that the run to the Kammerkör chairlift from the Stallenalm wasn't down the usual path but lower down in the valley, past the bottom station of the old lift. Presumably the snow holds better there, shaded by the trees.
All in all, I would say that the Steinplatte currently offers more variety than St. Johann can, though both areas are considerably restricted from their usual offerings.
But merry Christmas and merry skiing to all!
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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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Thanks for those reports Eric.
Just hope that at a minimum, what they have stands up to the traffic it is likely to get in the next week.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Too much snow! My friend and I skied on the Steinplatte at Waidring today but not for very long. The weather was lousy, snowing quite heavily and with high winds. The winds were such that on the slopes only three lifts were running, the Steinplatte, Kammerkör and Mösern chairlifts, so there was no chance of reaching the area's higher slopes. Though in general the snow on the pistes was good, I was surprised to see that there were still numerous bare patches not far off the pistes. I had expected that the recent snowfalls would have built up a more general base.
The slopes seemed quite busy initially with numerous groups but around lunchtime most people had disappeared. In an earlier post in this thread I had said that the new tunnel near the Kapellenbahn lift was to reduce the risk of collisions at the crossing there. Since then I have heard that the real reason is rather different: the purpose of the tunnel is to allow the fun park to be lengthened, to become the longest in Austria, I believe. Presently it still wasn't in action.
We had a stop at the Stallenalm for hot chocolate but shortly afterwards decided that the weather was too unpleasant to continue and took an early bath around 12:30. Well, not really a bath but, in the poor visibility, I ran off the piste and bathed myself in snow. And as my faithful friend looked to see whether I needed help, he did the same. So that was an ignominious end to a day when I had actually been enjoying the skiing 
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Popping out to St johann Monday..... Nice to hear that it's snowing!!!
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