 Poster: A snowHead
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Having managed to convince my wife to give skiing a try, I was stuck to taking her in mid-April (16th-23rd) due to leave restrictions. Having spent weeks perusing the snow depths and conditions in resorts that would be open that week, I plumped for Obertauern, mainly because I got a good deal with a hotel and the ski-school said they would definitely have group lessons.
Flew Ryanair to Salzburg and got a shuttle transfer to the hotel. Although a shared transfer, we were the only passengers, so got a door-to-door service for EUR54 each.
Stayed at the Hotel Kohlmayr - a truly wonderful experience. Terrific modern and well-appointed bedroom with a great view (got a free upgrade as the toilet in the room we had booked had a smell that wouldn't go), excellent 5 course dinners, generous breakfast buffet with choice of cooked options, hearty afternoon tea and unlimited free soft drinks at tea and dinner. The wellness area and swimming pool were lovely too. Staff could not have been friendlier or more accommodating - they arranged a bus to take us to any of the ski lifts and pick us up despite one of the slopes being across the road from the hotel.
Ski-school and ski rental was all in-house, which added to the convenience. Ski rental was included in the hotel rate and was of good quality, with the shop happy to spend time letting us try different boots and happy to exchange them during the week. Ski school was for group lessons for my wife. However, she was the only person in the group so got half day private lessons for the price of full day group ones (an excellent deal in my opinion). The teacher's English was limited, but she made up for it with boundless enthusiasm and encouragement, and my wife progressed admirably.
That's all the positives, unfortunately the skiing was a big let down. The day we arrived, the resort decided that from the Monday only 3/26 lifts would be open, despite excellent snow depth (120cm up high, 80cm at valley level). This was news even to the hotel and ski school. For a resort that promotes itself as snowsure and open for skiing from November to May I think this is unacceptable. Hence, I only got one morning to explore the whole resort. There were no lift queues at all and pistes were pretty empty, but the lifts were all of quite limited vertical and there are few long runs. For the rest of the week, I had to stick to the three open lifts. This was more of an issue for my wife, as she only got to ski on the nursery slope on the Sunday morning (they inexplicably had closed it when we went back in the afternoon). Nevertheless, she coped with the blues from mid-mountain. She even had to ski a closed piste (for some reason the resort closed off the only blue run from Zehnerkar halfway down, but lots of people were skiing it and it was even piste bashed in the evenings). During the week we got to ski all conditions - icey, hard-packed pistes, soft snow, slush and even some fresh powder. The resort is very exposed and we had a day of white out, where skiing above mid-mountain level was nigh-on impossible and the slopes and lifts were completely deserted.
Didn't really see much of the town as the hotel was so good and we were on 3/4 board. Walking around it, it seemed pretty dead even on the first weekend. People, though, were very polite and friendly.
Overall, not a resort I would recommend. The hotel was fantastic, ski school and rental very good. But the pistes are too limited even for a rubbish intermediate like me, the scenery is nothing special, the town lacking in atmosphere and the fact so much of the resort was closed when there was plenty of snow - and other resorts that I had considered (Ischgl, Obergurgl) had much more open despite lower snow depths - mean I would not return. Fortunately, the wife loved skiing and progressed really well, so we're already planning next year's trip.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The day we arrived, the resort decided that from the Monday only 3/26 lifts would be open
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That's really not acceptable, unless they had clearly advertised that most of the resort was closing at that time (probably not, if the ski school didn't know).
Glad your wife loved skiing though - I've found that especially for beginners the personal qualities of ski instructors are more important than the amount of English they speak. Probably good that she had half day privates instead of full day group lessons but again, unless you've been warned in advance, I think there should still be the choice to take the lessons you've booked for. For a beginner with nobody to give them a hand in the afternoons (especially if the nursery slope was closed  ) that could be a real issue. I declined to book a week with one British ski school in France precisely because they told me that the week's small group lessons could become 2 private lessons if not enough people had booked, when the time came (I was looking to book a couple of months in advance). In contrast two young teenage beginners who ended up the only people in group lessons with our local French ski school (one very scared woman having dropped out after an hour) got their full 5 mornings of lessons, as booked, with a top instructor. For 80 euros each.
Ski school really makes or breaks a first holiday for beginners - great that your wife had such an enthusiastic and encouraging instructor. One French instructor with whom I had a private off piste lesson, several years ago, spoke better English than I do but he was a pretty hopeless instructor! My favourite instructor speaks some English but always speaks French if he can get away with it - which, to look on the bright side, does mean I get a French lesson too, especially chatting on the lifts.
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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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About 16 years ago, I was in Austria on business and managed to get a long weekend in Obertauern. I stayed at the Marietta Hotel, which was lovely, overlooking the slopes and had a ski school office in the foyer. The only downside was the fact that little English was spoken outside of the front desk and the menus were in German.
As I was on my own, I decided to book all day lessons, just for the company. I took a Private lesson on the Sat as the Ski School didn't start until Sunday.....it was the first time I'd been on a carving ski, and the private lesson helped with the strange sensation of going from a 2m straight ski, to a 160 Carving one.
On the Sunday, we were bused to the meeting point and the instructor driving the bus said he was speaking to my instructor from Sat and I was too good for the top class....which I thought odd, as I was expecting Austrians to ski better than an Irishman.
Anyway, we had the usual trial and I was put into the top class, with an instructor who didn't speak a word of English....but it didn't matter, as the standard was "poor intermediate", with the emphasis on "down-up-down" long turns, with a solid pole plant.
The weather was mild and foggy and the snow was heavy and slushy....conditions where the class really struggled. I came quietly along at the back, gathering the fallers. After lunch, everyone was so knackered from the mornings exertions, that they dropped out, leaving me to have a private lesson in the afternoon. This involved skiing around after the instructor at high speed, but with little instruction (as he didn't speak English, nor I German). When looking for insight, all I got was "You ski very Gut".... Quite different from the long list of "suggestions" that i was given from my previous BASI instructor.
Like you, I had lovely accommodation, good quality ski hire, but poor skiing due to the slushy conditions, uninspiring ski school and general lack of English spoken. I would hope that things have improved a bit over the last 16 years.
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Thanks for that Pam. Despite the limited skiing on offer, I'm glad we went. Have to say, your enthusiasm for late season skiing on the thread when I asked whether it was worth going that late definitely contributed!
Agree with you, for a beginner, language probably doesn't matter. When more technical stuff is taught, though, I feel decent English makes a world of difference. I had some private lessons in Cervinia with an Italian instructor whose English was a bit limited and don't think I gained anything at all from them. More because he couldn't understand me and why I was struggling to follow his drills.
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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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@Old Fartbag, the resort probably has improved, it's just I can only appraise it on what was open, which was very, very little. It's a real shame, as it looks like a good option for beginners - there were lots of blues, and several from the top of the mountain. The reds and blacks that I did do were not difficult, and I'm sure a confident beginner could do a lot of the reds in good conditions by the end of the 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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@suggul, It is pretty normal practice for Obertauern to close down lifts due to lack of demand. Normally a couple of weeks after Easter.
It is a bit strange that the hotel and ski school were surprised by this... I think they may have been letting you on a bit!
The Gondola (Zehnkarbahn sp.) and the lift opposite this which crosses the road and the lifts near the Kringsalm tend to be the ones open until today.
Once Easter Monday has passed the 'party' sense and apres ski sensations have plummeted into obscurity due to lack of people.
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| suggul wrote: |
| @Old Fartbag, the resort probably has improved, it's just I can only appraise it on what was open, which was very, very little. It's a real shame, as it looks like a good option for beginners - there were lots of blues, and several from the top of the mountain. The reds and blacks that I did do were not difficult, and I'm sure a confident beginner could do a lot of the reds in good conditions by the end of the week. |
There is a good circuit that can be done in both directions: http://holidaystoaustria.com/ski-the-famous-tauern-circuit/
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| Quote: |
It is pretty normal practice for Obertauern to close down lifts due to lack of demand. Normally a couple of weeks after Easter.
It is a bit strange that the hotel and ski school were surprised by this... I think they may have been letting you on a bit!
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and if they were due to close most lifts then, maybe that's why you got such a good deal! I remember someone posting a thread a couple of years ago about an "early season" week in St Gervais. Very good price accommodation but not very good value as it was before any lifts were due to open in that area. Caveat emptor.
Most resorts have clear information on opening and closing on their websites. It's unusual for them to open before the advertised time (though some will be open some lifts at weekends before they open fully if there's good early snow) and even more unusual for them to close later than advertised, regardless of how much snow there is.
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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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maybe that's why you got such a good deal!
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probably!
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The website advertised very clearly that the resort was open until 1st May. I didn't see anything about most of the lifts closing 2 weeks before that. The hotel didn't know about it either. The package we booked with them included the lift pass. The resort decided to reduce the price of the lift pass when they closed most of the lifts, but that information was only circulated the day we arrived. Hence, the hotel gave us a refund on the difference.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@suggul, every year they reduce the operating lifts around this time in the season. It is also normal to reduce the pass prices (day prices are super cheap to encourage locals). The resort has never been fully open up until the last day (which is always around the 1st May) in the last 10 seasons I've been around.
They do normally put the dates up on the website around Easter time. But as all ski area wesbites... it's bloomin' hard to find!
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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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'skiing from the end of november to the beginning of may' or something like that the marketing goes. I think the op got bit (conned) by the advertising and it was harsh to base a report on it without realising those end of season limits. I think the limited verticals, lifts and runs, to be a bigger negative.
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