 Poster: A snowHead
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For the first time in january '16. I'll go to Maria Alm in Hochkonig ski resort with my family.
I would be grateful if someone sends his experiences as:
conditions of slops, using ski-bus, good restaurants on slopes and some prices,
how difficult are red slopes for beginners... thank's
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's a few years since I visited, can't remember restaurant names and prices would be out of date but we ate well and it didn't seem expensive.
The ski bus route was easy to navigate and ran pretty much to time BUT we were staying the far end of the resort, it was INCREDIBLY snowy while we were there and the bus did not run all the way through the resort because it couldn't get down the road. This of course meant snow conditions were awesome, thigh deep fluffy white loveliness for 5 days. We went 2nd week of January.
As previously stated conditions were amazing, all runs were doable easily by all of us intermediates, whether that would be the case in more borderline conditions I can only guess.
Have a great trip.
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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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If you are staying centrally then their is a bus stop at the natrun ticket office and then across the road from hotel Eder . Buses are reasonably regular and it only takes 5 mins.However if there is enough snow you can take the gondola up to the top of Natrun and ski off the back side right down to the road and just pop off your skis and walk across to the Aberg gondola.plenty of mountain huts ,we especially liked the steinbock Alm . There is lots of easy stuff at the Maria Alm and Mulbach ends but in between the reds are quite steep and can be icy and hard packed if there is no fresh snow.Not ideal for beginners.the red from Gabuhel down to Dienten doesn't ever seem to be groomed and gets really churned up and is steep at the bottom.
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Thank you for informatios.
One more question, did you made the ski loop from Aberg to Muhlbach and back,
and how much time it take?
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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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Takes about half a day to do the loop, without stops for hot choc or lunch.
Most reds OK, one is sunny and slushy low down
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Which is the longest slope in Hochkonig?
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@lilywhite, @Angus og, @hobbiteater,
Is there some Off piste and how can we get to it?
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There is lots of off piste but tricky to give directions. Easiest to find would be top of Aberg. Out of chair lift and turn right for off piste marked runs.
Also on Aberg, as you come up on the chair to the top, you will see natural bowls between the black pistes. These are all good in powder.
There is good off piste from the top of Gabuhel down to Hinterthal or to Dienten through the trees, also from the top of Kings Park under the gondola.
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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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Longest slope maybe blue from top of Aberg to bottom.
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@ColP,
Thank's for good informations.
Is it better driving with car to Aberg gondola or by ski-bus?
We booked the apartman in Schinking street and the ski-bus station is about 400m.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I wouldn't drive to Aberg. The car park is not very big.
The longest run is probably piste 1 or 3 from top of muhlbach then onto 1a back to gondola
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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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Forgot about that one, can be very slow when warm as it's a very shallow gradient.
The ski buses are pretty efficient but I've also never had a problem parking at Aberg.
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Does anyone know what is the condition of pistes from Aberg to Muchlbach in this moment?
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You know it makes sense.
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Conditions today very good. All machine made snow but decent depth, no bare patches very few ice patches. Piste from Hinterthal to Dienten (Gabuhel) very lumpy, good fun on the board!
Getting colder at night so the cannons will be used more.
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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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Does anyone know if the Hintereitt pistes are open?
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Poster: A snowHead
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They are. Good condition too apparently although I haven't boarded there.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks @ColP 
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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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Thank you @ColP
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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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Arrived this afternoon. Looks like they have runs open on Natrun. Not super cold but below freezing in town.
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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 would advise to park at Aberg. Been here for over a week one and never had any issues. Also been here during Fasching which is busiest week and still got parked there OK.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I skied the Königstour in the Hochkönig area today, from Maria Alm to Mühlbach and back again. Although it was again super weather, blue skies and sun, I wasn't so enthusiastic about the snow conditions as ColP. I found most runs hard packed and often icy or down to frozen ground. There was also sometimes snow with a sugary crystal consistency which at least gave a better grip, often where the pistes were in the sun, e.g. on the Gabühel, piste 21, shown in the photo below...
I stopped at the Fellerbachalm for lunch. Then the only way down to Mühlbach was piste 1a; there is no snow on black piste 1. I took this photo from near the top of the King's Cab gondola on the return trip, looking down piste 11. The Hochkönig scenery is as great as ever - the strip of snow in the background is piste 21 on the Gabühel...
The next photo shows the view looking back up piste 14 beside the Bürglalm chairlift, coming up out of Dienten...
As was to be expected, the slopes are busier now than they have been in the past weeks but there were no real lift queues. The skiline below shows that the circuit took me just under five hours (including about half an hour for lunch). You can shorten the circuit by missing out the Fellerbach and Hochmais chairlifts - or lengthen it by repeating runs (and trying alternative descents when more runs are open)  . I wouldn't say that the 292 minutes were unadulterated fun but still an enjoyable day, quite strenuous.
Enjoy your holiday, borisaric.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 29-12-15 10:05; edited 1 time in total
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Edited to remove a post I had inadvertently quoted instead of editing. How can you delete a post? I couldn't find that option.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Tue 29-12-15 10:08; edited 1 time in total
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Nice report Espri.
I had a day off today but my lad was out with friends (all 14) he did MA to Muhlbach, they forgot the time while playing in the park, then phoned me from the bottom of King's cab at 4.05pm to say the lift was shut! Dad's taxi. He said it was icier today.
On the first lift tomorrow hopefully if I can drag everyone out of bed.
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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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Sounds good, ColP! Probably it was your lad and friends who raced past me 
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thank you @espri, for excelant report.
I'm steell looking for weather forecast with BIG snow 
Seems like tomorrow will be some snowing.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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excellent*
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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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| ColP wrote: |
There is lots of off piste but tricky to give directions. Easiest to find would be top of Aberg. Out of chair lift and turn right for off piste marked runs.
Also on Aberg, as you come up on the chair to the top, you will see natural bowls between the black pistes. These are all good in powder.
There is good off piste from the top of Gabuhel down to Hinterthal or to Dienten through the trees, also from the top of Kings Park under the gondola. |
Good info above thanks. I am staying at Hinterthal on the last weekend of January and will give them a go.
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A friend and I did the Königstour in the Hochkönig area today, from Maria Alm to Mühlbach and back again. The new snow has made a great difference to how it was when I was there about a fortnight ago (see above). Today the weather was mixed, starting with the occasional patch of blue sky but mostly overcast. Here is a view looking down from the top of piste 19, near the Thoraualm, with the Steinernes Meer and Hochkönig mountains forming the background...
The snow was good. There were occasional scraped spots but nothing very bad. Beside the pistes there was about a foot of new snow in places, fine stuff. Skiing down to Dienten on the Gabühel (less mogulled than it sometimes is) we met a group enjoying a snowshoe expedition - a friendly lot they were and enjoying the improved conditions. Spot the odd man out...
We had one extra excitement when the King's Cab gondola broke down, leaving us wondering how we would return to Maria Alm. A lift operator explained that sometimes they provide uplift with a piste basher. Sadly, by the time we had had lunch at the Scheppal Alm (recommended) and gone back up, the gondola was working again, so we got back without an exciting ride.
While we were having lunch, it started snowing quite heavily again and the weather was unpleasant for first part of the afternoon, driving wet snow, though not as bad as yesterday. However, it was adding yet more snow to the pistes. The slopes had been quiet all along but now they were often virtually empty. Here is a view of piste 11, under the Dachegg chairlift...
Somewhat to our surprise, the weather improved again as we reached Hintermoos, so that the final descent to Maria Alm was very enjoyable. To finish, here's a photo of the Schirmbar near the top of the Schwarzeck chairlift. The snow on the tables maybe gives some impression of how much snow has fallen...
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You know it makes sense.
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Looks fabulous. We are just the far side of Zell and fancy trying the Hochkönig. Is Maria Alm the easiest place to start and access the rest of this region?
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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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@LizAtk, drive to Bischofshofen and then park up near the lift at Mühlbach. You can link blues and reds all the way to Maria Alm. But if it is the usual spring conditions then it does get soft later in the day and it can be hard going getting back via the 2 Dienten lifts (Gabühel and Bürgalm) The lifts are fine but the approaches lower down to both are "interesting" in Spring conditions. The trouble is (as I found out to my chagrin, there is a bus link between Maria Alm and Hinterreit and and another less frequent one from Dienten to Mühlbach, so skipping these two sections is not possible unless you have 2 cars. If you are not happy in lumpy bumpy porridge then I'd advise starting and finishing around the Aberg lift in Maria Alm
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thank you - Bischofshofen is a bit of a trek, but the Aberg lift in Maria Alm is less than 30 mins away, so would be fine.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I haven't checked the distances but from Zell I think I would start from the Maria Alm end rather than Mühlbach via Bischofshofen. Although in the report above we did the whole King's Tour from Maria Alm to Mühlbach, the last two times I've been there we started out at Hintermoos, the next entry point after Maria Alm (I suspect that Samerberg Sue doesn't mean Hinterreit -which is out on its own towards Saalfelden- but rather Hintermoos or maybe Hinterthal). However, at this time of year you'll probably find some soft snow wherever you start. The Aberg lift is the extreme western end of the Hochkönig area, so if you do the King's Tour from there, you'll soon be skiing the Gabühel piste (although I have also enjoyed days just staying in the Maria Alm area, skiing only as far as Hintermoos). If you want to do the whole King's Tour or at least a good chunk of it, you can hardly avoid "lumpy bumpy porridge" somewhere, e.g. piste 30 coming back down to Hintermoos is mostly a smooth run but it does tend to become mogully near the bottom...
However, doing the King's Tour is certainly fun, if you don't mind occasional hard work - and particularly if you have good weather to enjoy the splendid views.
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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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Thank you - we will prob just ski around the Maria Alm end - have dog with us and can't leave him TOO long, although the King's Tour sounds like a great trip to do when we haven't got him - and there's a bit more snow. I would get too tired skiing through porridge for any significant length of time!
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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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Did a sneaky 3 day trip to HK earlier this month and to be honest, the condition of the pistes was probably the worst ive had in a long time. There was light snowfall pretty much the whole time (Sun afternoon til Tues evening), and despite heading out by 8:15am, pretty much from the off piste were chopped up with early March temps making it pretty hard going - "survival" skiing as opposed to "enjoyyourself" skiing.
I did notice a lack of a) snow canons and b) groomers, and zero evidence of grooming. Yeah I said there was overnight snow, but if that had fallen over pistes that had been groomed, i cant figure out why it was so chopped up and messy in a quiet resort by 9:00am...? I cant totally eliminate the possibility that for whatever reason, they couldnt be bothered to groom the pistes...but that would be a national scandal in Austria!
Wierd.
Also found the one hill/one lift/one piste (give or take) a bit odd. Nice enough resort but there are much better places within spitting distance...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hmmm... that's food for thought. We are going to do Kitzsteinhorn tomorrow. Maybe on Wed - means to be snow Tues night - we will head back to Hollersbach. Schmitten just heaving.
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@shiva_71, they have been dismantling the snow-making systems all over Salzburgerland because they are not allowed to use them from early March (15th I think) onwards. It is the same in all the resorts with snow lances as well as cannons being removed. Many areas will close at the end of play on Easter Monday because it is too expensive to keep them functioning in terms of the infrastructure, the uptake by skiers is just not there to make it profitable or to even break even. Come Easter, most people's thoughts are heading south to the Mediterranean and points further south and warmer!
I was in another part of the Amadé region not a million miles from the Hochkönig the first full week of March when we had lots of fresh snow in a 48 hour non-stop dump. I was surprised that the pisting of most slopes was not done, but was told by friends who ork for the lift company that the water content was too high and that they were waiting for it to cool down a bit more. Had they sent the piste bashers out there was a risk of losing/breaking down the base. When the temperatures did drop they were out doing their usual immaculate balancing act of making the pistes suitable for all levels of skier
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Cheers Sue, interesting info there!
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