 Poster: A snowHead
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Pros
Transfer Time 1hr 30 mins (Ended up being 2hrs 30 having to wait on the bus for 1 hour for no reason!)
It was very pretty but one snowy mountain is the same as another snowy mountain as far as i'm concerned!
The skis i hired were the best quaility i've ever hired but then i did pay nearly double the price for them
Most of the lifts had a pull down hood to keep you warmer! Nice!
The food on the mountain was lovely and generally reasonably priced!
Cons
The queues! Absolutely insane! Every morning over 30 mins weather we were early or late into a STANDING gondola! There are no runs back to the resort and the queue back in the evenings was even worse!
The pistes were very busy due to the volume of people there
The pistes didn't always get bashed and there very cut up towards the end of the day.
The resorts were not well linked.
The piste map was mad. The runs have numbers instead of names, ok you would think except they had more then 1 number 1,2,3 etc which were not linked!
We managed to find some quieter areas and nicer runs and got some good skiing in towards the end of the week.
Safety - there seems to be loads of pistes crossing, loads of blue "trails" with huge drops on the side and no fencing!
There was alot of poling near lifts.
We stayed in a 4 star hotel beside the lifts. The rooms were a good nice with a nice sized bath. There was also a pool/spa but the food was terrible in the evenings. The food was only a salad buffet and the salads were terrible, everything else was served to you and it was just not enough food after skiing all day.
The measures in the bars were all done by machines and were tiny! 20ml of vodka! 125ml of wine!
So overall i won't be recommending Mayrhofen! I won't write austria off completely but i won't be going back to Mayrhofen.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Catzer, What sort of time were you getting to the gondola? Someone on a recent thread asked about going to Mayrhofen so they'll find your review helpful I'm sure.
Def do not write Austria off, sounds like you've had a bad hotel and ski experience. It's a while since I was last there butg it's usually the gondola that puts people off, I don't mind waiting to go up but wating to get back just got on my nerves after a few days.
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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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We tried a few different times between 9am and 11am. One morning was so bad we just went to the Ahorn for the day.
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We went to mayerhofn on the 21st of jan. never had any real problems with lifts up or down. We used the hornbergbahn as we stayed in ramsau. We were straight up on the lifts no messing about.
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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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Was this last week during the school holidays?
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Was it all the gondola's that were busy or just the Penkenbahn? Heading out to Mayrhofen in March for the first time and heard the Penkenbahn can be busy but the other two gondala's up the mountain are ok.
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School holidays are this week.
Just the Penkenbahn, we figured by the time we waited for bus and got it it would be the same waiting time. Seemed mad to stay in hotel next to lift and then get a bus to another lift!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| depthjunkie wrote: |
| We went to mayerhofn on the 21st of jan. never had any real problems with lifts up or down. We used the hornbergbahn as we stayed in ramsau. We were straight up on the lifts no messing about. |
+1
Went to Ramsau last year, also used the horbergbahn to get up in the mornings. No issues whatsoever lift wise. Same coming home (and we used the penken too, again no issues for queues) good apres ski at the bottom. Wouldn't ever choose to have to get a gondola up in the morning or back down again but we just accepted that was part of the deal really.
We found the resort fab, pistes were well enough maintained, and on the whole we didn't particularly struggle with the piste map either/linked areas as long as you plan where you're going. As an eg, skiied from mayrhofen almost all the way over to the Glacier without too much trouble. Sorry you had a bad experience, but from my own opinion (and to give anyone contemplating going some balance) - mayrhofen was one of the best holidays I've had.
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Catzer, How can you expect to have short ques when you get up so late? If you arrived at an earlier time you wouldn't wait long. 8am instead of 9am-11am....
I was there two years ago, had an amazing time. Our group (mid twenties) Wanted somewhere with good skiing/ good party scene. Great resort, everything was with 10 mins walking from the centre of town. Apres ski was unbelieveable! 4pm and the bars were jumping!
I highly recommened Mayrhofen, great resort for skiing/ partying. Also, its only an hour & 1/2 to the airport- luxury when you're used to going to france.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I was also there from 21st jan but stayed in Hippach. No problems with queues. We skied the whole valley, almost a different resort a day using the free buses and trains. We skied off 3 days down the ski routes but they were definitely combat skiing - either very soft and little snow or sheet ice.
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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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I've been a couple of times now and can't say I've had trouble with queues. Stayed in Mayrhofen town itself and was always out by about 8.15-8.30 and getting either Penkenbahn or going on train elsewhere in the Zillertal. The only time I've personally seen a queue is about 4.30pm to get the Penkenbahn back down as the last one is 5pm I think. Other than that I was away from there by about 3.45pm.
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BlueBird13, I don't think 9 am is a bad time to want to start a day's skiing. It'd be a rare day that would see me out at 8 am (anyway, the lifts where I ski don't open till 9 am). Catzer, it sounds as though it was a significant school holiday week. It's always a holiday somewhere or other - well worth checking here with people with local knowledge.
Even within one country, the pattern of crowding on lifts varies enormously. Generally, mid Feb seems to be peak time everywhere; mid January, or later in March, tends to give you much quieter conditions.
125ml of wine is a standard glass (of which there are 6 in a normal bottle). But having to buy every single drink is certainly expensive - that's why we tended to favour the "catered chalet" style arrangement where wine was included. Not always great wine (drinkable though). Did you really only have a salad buffet in the evenings? That sounds unusual, and not what you want after a day's skiing.
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You know it makes sense.
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I didn't see a huge amount of children on the slopes, mainly adults.
Yes i think 9am is a reasonable time to ski, all the resorts i've been to before have always opened at 9am and closed at 5pm. It was dark one of the evenings i was coming down in the Penkenbahn, well after 5.30 getting it down one evening the queues were so bad.
No we had a salad buffet that none of us liked (6 of us, so not just 1 picky eater). Then there was soup (hit and miss) and then a tiny starter and main course.
Unfortunetly i had no say on the date or location this year. Based on other reviews i was expecting queues but some people had suggested we go up the lift a bit later to avoid the queues. I was shocked at how bad they were though. We tend to ski all day and only stop for a quick 30 mins so starting at 10 or 11 still leaves us with 6 hours skiing.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I'm sorry Catzer didnt enjoy Mayrhofen - but when we were there at Christmas/New Year we found the best way to make the most of skiing time was to get up early for first lifts and then get down by 3 ish. I thought the skiing was good and I am looking forward to going back again - suggest that Catzer tries somewhere like Obergurgl where you can ski to the door and very few lift queues.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Was in Mayrhofen last March. Found that once you were on the Penkenbahn by 9am you missed the buses coming in to the resort and offloading loads of skiers at same time. Can be an issue in the really busy weeks though according to ski guide. Apparently there has been talk of a second gondola up to Penken for years but no concrete plans.
Plenty of long empty blues and reds to cruise once you were prepared to venture a bit away from area in vicinity of Penkenbahn.
To be honest, after holidays in Mayrhofen and Zell Am Zee in last few years, will find it very difficult to go back to France with the surly service and rip off prices, on and off the mountain.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Try the Finkenbergbahn - one morning last week there was about 20 people in front of us ( at 9.00am) but the other mornings we just walked straight on... and as for accommodation try the smaller family run places, there was always more food than we could eat.......
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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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Catzer, what was the hotel called? As much salad as you can eat, soup, starter, main, (wot, no pudding, in Austria?) Sounds filling enough to me!
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We were there (aas usual) on the 21 st of jan, Sunday was busy but fine apart from that. Penken is usually a bot busy but it's not the end of the world.
Coming back down, the trick is a few beers and get the last car when they call you. Or go down to Tux or Finkenberg rather than via the Penken. Good pub in Tux, the Hexen Kessl, if you descend there you get a seat on the bus unlike if you get on at Finkenberg. Be back on 7 April with family, can't wait.
Amazed food in hotel was poor, I never had a bad meal in any of the Hotels, although I would esp reccomend the Zillertalerhof and the Perauer. Give it another go.
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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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We are currently in Kaltenbach-Stumm and have had a great time at Hochzillertal-Hochfugen even with school holidays. We chose it because of the availability of offpiste & some trees.
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moosewurst, where have you stayed in Kaltenbach? Apartment or hotel? I've considered a DIY deal there before, great resort.
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Pretty awful resort, Que to go up the mountain, que to go down.
Vomit in the streets form pissed kids.
Mountain full of out of control skiers and boarders, I got hit three times on different days whilst skiing above a three year old whilst trying to protect her.
Supermarket and shops close at 6.
Resort is very low.
Hintertux is a far better resort so keep driving up the valley!
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Just back from a week in Mayrhofen, never had to queue, but then we didn't go up penken or hoarberg. Did do Ahorn, Ramsau (the longest single chair in the world surely?), Fugen, Kaltenbach and Zell. There's buses and trains or take a car and have total freedom. If you don't like vomit and pissed kids stay in one of the villages.
Don't get put off by bad reports, it's a great place 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
it's a great place
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despite the vomit and pissed kids?
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pam w, To be honest I've never seen any vomit and the pissed people (not just kids) have always been harmless friendly staggering drunks, not like a UK town centre on a friday night.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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robapplegate, I'm with you there. I was there last year and out most nights. From what i could see there was no problem at all with drunks - it all seemed very amicable. I didn't see any vomit at any stage.
As far as the queue for the penken goes I went up a couple of times at 8.15 or so and walked pretty much straight on (maybe 10 or 15 people max).
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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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Had to admit I saw one guy vomiting, but the drunks are all very amiable (well, I was anyway). The supermarket only closes at 6 on a Sunday, you're lucky it open at all on a Sunday, a few years ago it was morning only, and before that, not at all.
Apart from tons of runs up and down valley, cheap food, cheap beer, modern uplift, great hotels and some cacking apres, let's face it, the Zillertal is crap. Oh, and my new favourite snack, Wasabi Crisps. Yum.
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+1 for no vomit evidenced anywhere in my 2 visits so far.
Having been to Meribel a couple of times, I'd say in my experiences that seemed rowdier and with more drunks about.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Moonshine, the ski hire shops seemed to all close about 6...
Friends of ours were in the snow homes and were unimpressed!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Catzer,
Oh dear, its to late now. Holiday is booked and we have to make the most of it.
I am hoping that we avoid the queues as I hate them.
Moonshine
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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moonshine, keep an open mind and explore your options with regard to uplift/download, there are alternatives which may require a little effort. Some people want the sun the stars and the moon all for a cut-price, then slag off the places when it does not match their "high" standards. Just because one miserable person decides they don't like the place because they had to queue for the lift they had chosen and tolerate cigarette smoke in some of the bars does not mean that the thousands of others who have had brilliant holidays in the area are hopelessly deluded.
You will have a brilliant holiday in the mountains skiing/snowboarding and that is what you want isn't it?
If you land at 6 o'clock, you should be in your accommodation by 9.00pm at the latest as the roads should be relatively free by then, less than an hour from the airport to Jenbach/Vomp where you leave the motorway and then up the valley to Mayrhofen. Explore all your options as the Zillertal has a fantastic variety of skiing and ways of getting there.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Catzer wrote: |
Pros
Transfer Time 1hr 30 mins (Ended up being 2hrs 30 having to wait on the bus for 1 hour for no reason!)
It was very pretty but one snowy mountain is the same as another snowy mountain as far as i'm concerned!
The skis i hired were the best quaility i've ever hired but then i did pay nearly double the price for them
Most of the lifts had a pull down hood to keep you warmer! Nice!
The food on the mountain was lovely and generally reasonably priced!
Cons
The queues! Absolutely insane! Every morning over 30 mins weather we were early or late into a STANDING gondola! There are no runs back to the resort and the queue back in the evenings was even worse!
The pistes were very busy due to the volume of people there
The pistes didn't always get bashed and there very cut up towards the end of the day.
The resorts were not well linked.
The piste map was mad. The runs have numbers instead of names, ok you would think except they had more then 1 number 1,2,3 etc which were not linked!
We managed to find some quieter areas and nicer runs and got some good skiing in towards the end of the week.
Safety - there seems to be loads of pistes crossing, loads of blue "trails" with huge drops on the side and no fencing!
There was alot of poling near lifts.
We stayed in a 4 star hotel beside the lifts. The rooms were a good nice with a nice sized bath. There was also a pool/spa but the food was terrible in the evenings. The food was only a salad buffet and the salads were terrible, everything else was served to you and it was just not enough food after skiing all day.
The measures in the bars were all done by machines and were tiny! 20ml of vodka! 125ml of wine!
So overall i won't be recommending Mayrhofen! I won't write austria off completely but i won't be going back to Mayrhofen. |
+1. All the same issues but also agree with the good too. Long queues (7th Jan). Yes if you want to get up early and be at the lift for 08.00 then it's queue less.
Get a bus then train oh and then another bus to the Zillertal Arena.
Poling? My arms nearly dropped off.
Linked runs and lifts. Of course sir, just pole.
Won't be going back to Mayrhofen. But will do in Austria somewhere.
Beer 3 euro's a pint. So the more we drank the more we saved. 
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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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I don't remember much in the way of poling in the Hoff. Runs/chairs all link fine.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Neither do I. Nor such bad queuing, except at around 9.30am, perhaps. And even then it wasn't than bad (1st week Jan). There was talk (and planning consent) to put in an additional cable car. Anyone heard any updates?
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| Chasseur wrote: |
| Neither do I. Nor such bad queuing, except at around 9.30am, perhaps. And even then it wasn't than bad (1st week Jan). There was talk (and planning consent) to put in an additional cable car. Anyone heard any updates? |
We heard the new Gondala would be up and running by the start of the 2014 season. They best get moving.
30-45 min queue at the Penkenbahan at 08.45 w/c 8th Jan.
0min queue at 08.00.
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Jerby, thanks. Indeed they should - the planning was granted a few years back and probably runs out in the not too distant.... 
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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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been to mayrhofen 5 times and love it . sounds like the OP was staying in the strass? yes the penkenbarn gondala is busy 9-10 because people are heading up then for lessons. the best bet is to stay at the bottom end of the village (the obermairs a good B+B) and either get the bus to the horberg lift , or jump on the train to zell or kaltenback . this year (mid jan) we stayed in hippach. nice and quiet and only 5 mins to the horberg lifts. never had to que there even at peak time . walked straight though every day. dont go to hippach looking for night life though 
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FAQ
