 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
Im looking get a week in Austria either the 25th Feb or 2nd April but not sure which would be best and cheapest.
Id consider myself a bit of an expert at getting cheap hols to France in Jan and know what kind of prices I should be getting but I just dont know enough about booking at other times of the year and to Austria.
I want to go to Austria as Im still trying to get the wife to fall in love with skiing and she prefers Austria for the villages and apres ski and the slopes are normally easier as shes still just learning. I wanted to go later in the year so it maybe a little warmer for her as she suffers badly from frozen fingers and she doesnt like the ice so wet and slushy would be better for her than cold and icy. Because of her work we are now limited to the 2 weeks mentioned above.
So what I really want to know is:
whats the snow normally like at the start of April in Austria, is there any left?
Will April be cheaper than the 25th Feb?
Are there any School holidays I should know about during those 2 dates?
You dont seem to get the catered chalet setup in Austria so would I be best going half board hotel instead?
Any resort recommendations that have a great beginner setup (and also have some awesome off piste  )
Anything else I should think of?
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you head to far west i.e. Arlberg or Galtur / Ischgl you're higher elevation there so should be better wrt risk of poor snow cover. April is risky imo, would be looking to high France/Switzerland at that time of year if it were me but you just dont know. Why not book late so u can wait and see?
April will be cheaper than Feb.
St Anton and nearby Lech/Zurs are widely regarded as pretty good for off piste, there are ample learning areas too.
I have used catered chalets twice in Austria so they are about - once in Zell am See, once in St Anton.
School holidays - most of the German spring school breaks seem to be 10-22nd April, that's where the crowds will come from I think as the Austrians can go anytime, weekends etc.
Anything else - Can you order a beer in German? Sunblock!
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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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@medlington, I'd avoid April if i were you, so assuming Feb i'd look at Alpbach or Seefeld. Seefeld doesn't have a massive area but it's great for beginners and is a lovely pretty village and only 20 mins transfer from innsbruck. Perfect if you're looking a getting Mrs Medlington into skiing
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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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We've been to Austria quite a few times in April when son was little. We always went high, Obergurgl and Obertauern. We have had conditions from white out days to sun and slush and 10C in the village. As SaraJ suggested, early start might be good idea to avoid the slush in the afternoon.
Both Obergurgl and Obertauern are pretty good for beginners progressing. I have always been a nervous skier. Get the wife some private lessons and some ski boots. That's what my hubby did to convince me to keep skiing 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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The 25th will be massively busy. It is a holiday week for a lot of countries and they are all heading down there 'ere parts!
There is no problem with 2nd April. The larger areas will be all go and the smaller areas will be very, very quiet.
Obviously it is the start of spring conditions, so corn snow, over night freeze and a bit of slush by late afternoon is the norm.
There has also always been a dump of snow in April for the last 10 seasons I've been out here... Sometimes as late as around the 20th!
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Thanks for the advice guys.
Its pretty much what I thought, Feb will be busy but obviously a much better chance of snow and April will be more in budget and less busy but with the gamble with the snow.
As theres only the 2 of us going it should be easy enough to find somewhere so Ill prob just leave it till the last minute but go for April and chance it. If theres no snow then could always go to France or somewhere higher. Im just trying to avoid France as she had a bad experience in La Plagne with it being too crowded and icy and the runs wernt consistent Blue runs but had hard bits in too. It also didnt help that she spent 3 days not skiing but trying to sort my medical insurance out and get me out of hospital but thats another story.
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I've been many times to Austrian in April including to some low lying resorts and have always found sufficient snow. Obviously the higher the better but height comes with a price.
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I think I've spent 5 of the last 6 years in Austria at the beginning of April. One of them staying with @flangesax. Clearly Feb would be the better time for actual snow conditions. But I've not found there is a lack of snow skiing in Austria in April.
It can get a bit heavy going at times when it gets a tad warm. Of course often this is offset by the lack of crowds, skiing in slush is fine, it only tends to get difficult when a place is busy as you can end up with huge mounds of slushy moguls everywhere.
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There is no 'gamble' with snow in the first week of April.
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