 Poster: A snowHead
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Have been out here for a fortnight with the Mrs and 9,10 year old daughters and really impressed,; much better than similar active summer holidays in Cortina and Chamonix. Affordable food,drinks,apartment (happy midweek = cheap flights ), easily accessible rock climbing and via Ferrata,friendly locals who seem keen for you to be here. Well organised and as a family the best bit is the local oztal card for the valley. For £200, 10 day for 4 gives all the lifts and buses, daily indoor/outdoor pools anywhere, days at thermal spa and area 47 water park, lots of local fun parks, Ozti museum, birds of prey centre visit, day of mountain bike hire, etc etc. Cham and cortina seemed to be gouging money out of us in comparison. Great place, coming back!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Though I have only been to the Inn valley once during the summer (which I thought was OK; I was suprised to find myself on the top of the Zugspitz once) and I have done Chamonix as well (which was actually a bit scary; 4000 metre mountains are a bit serious). Every year I do a week or two in the Vanoise, which I quite like; mixing VF, sport climbing, rafting, VTT, and some proper mountains to climb. But for we want to do then the Dolomites are really outstanding: up to 400m rock climbs, a massive range of via ferrata and staggering scenery. On those fronts it cannot be beaten.
I suppose if I was into spas, water parks and swimming I would have a different view. Overall IMHO you cannot do better than a summer holiday in the Alps
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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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@johnE, agreed if I was by myself and have been to Chamonix a few times rock climbing and high mountaineering. And the Dolomites are uniquely spectacular. But still reckon Solden beats them for walks off lifts, family rock climbs and valley VFs, plus general family stuff and total affordability. Either way anywhere in the mountains knocks the spots off a beach. 
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Yup, I agree about summers in the mountains. I've been around the Salzburg / Dachstein region this summer, rock climbing, via ferrata, fly fishing and lots of mountain biking were filling my time
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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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@johnE, plenty of gnarly climbs in Ötztal too for the record (not that that's my thing tbh). No 4000ers, but the Wildspitze is 37-something. Best rafting in Europe too.
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@clarky999, The climbs in the Dolomites are not necessarily "gnarly". We met a Japanese couple on the first Sella Tower a couple of years ago - they were well into their 70s and perhaps 80s and doing a grade IV route with a guide. The grade IV- route up the Grosse Zinne has 650m of climbing and finishes at roughly 3000m. In the UK system of grading this is about "hard difficult" or bottom end of VD, the sort of grade you would take an absolute beginner on, and even then a lot of the route is about as hard as the north ridge of Tryfan. But the shear scale of it and the views are another world. I rate climbing it as one of the most enjoyable days I have ever had.
As an aside I have done many of the via ferrata in France and the Dolomites and even though they have the same name and bits of iron cemented into the rock they are as diffeerent as chalk and cheese. The French ones offer spentacular routes up a single crag, often searching for the best positions with a lot of air between your legs. The Dolomite ones are footpaths that navigate you through the mountains. But the routes are longer, higher, more isolated and if the weather changes you could end up in big dodos. I suppose it is a bit like comparing sport and trad climbing. Or skiing on and off piste. I love them both, but they are different.
Anyway I am off to the dollies next month and really looking forward to it. I study the guidebooks every night. I have 5 rockclimbing guides to the area, two VF guide books and a fair collections of maps so spend a lot of time cross referencing and building up a picture of the individual routes. Planning and anticipating is a big part of any holiday.
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@johnE, Sounds great! I haven't spent as much time as I'd like in the Dollies, but they're certainly some of the most aesthetic mountains on the planet!
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@clarky999, They are not very good for rafting or canoeing
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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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@johnE, no, but you only have to drive about an hour to find some pretty good stuff! Rheinbach Waterfalls have been on my list for a while.
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@clarky999, Where are the Rheinbach waterfalls?
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