Where to go in november?

A snowHead

So, me and my gf has got one week off in november (8-15, and want to head to the alps. Since ive only been to the alps in high season (and late march) and only have been to the french alps im wondering: where to go for a week in early november?

We've been thinking about hintertux, but maybe there wont be enough skiing for an entire week? Is there any place which is likely to have snow and still large enough area not to get bored? Tignes?

A snowHead

So (<<<in keeping with the new fad of sentence starting... wink

)...Tignes is glacier-only until the end of November - although it MAY be possible to ski all the way down to Val Claret (approx 1200m vertical) if there is enough snow by then. Otherwise, a small-ish glacier.

Best bet would be Austria - hire a car and do a glaciers tour. The following glaciers are all worth a visit and are near enough to combine on a road trip:
- Soelden
- Pitztal
- Kaunertal
- Stubai
- And Hintertux could be added too.

OR, depending where you fly into: Hintertux is easily combinable with Kitzsteinhorn Glacier. Both are ok for a few days.

November is very low season. So you can take your pick of digs - & all at decent prices.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

That's a great trip 👍

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I'd say Tignes or Hintertux. No there won't be loads of skiing but there will be skiing!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I've skied in Tignes in October and November several times - well worth it if you are doing lessons, but otherwise, I think the road trip suggested by @mountainaddict sounds a much better way to spend a week. Don't book anything - just follow the weather (high winds often close lifts in Tignes and the same probably applies in Austria).

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+1 @mountainaddict. Fly into IBK or MUC, drive to Sölden (Obergurgl just up the road in Ötztal opens mid-Nov so you might get lucky there too), then head east to Stubai for a few days, then further east to Hintertux for a few days.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Skiing in November, or earlier, is great, but it's not like skiing in the main season. You will always have limited terrain, you have a much higher chance of having to battle the weather, and lots of the uplift on the glaciers is surface lifts (t-bars or button lifts). I think it's a great opportunity to work on your technique and get your winter off to an early start, but it's not the same as a holiday you'd take in mid-season.

After all it is free

The Grand Motte is kind of big but it's basically one run; I'd hate to be stuck on it for a week.

You'll need to check your target resort(s) are actually operating. Then you may find much of the tourist stuff isn't open. Some accommodation and restaurants will be closed ... but there will be no tourists there so it's not an issue.

It depends what you want. Me, I'd avoid the big circuses as they have no flexibility if their conditions are poor and they're unlikely to be fully open/ usable. So instead of getting a huge ski "domain" you're getting one glacier which isn't particularly easily accessible.

I'll likely do as suggested above - fly into MUC or Innsbruck (if they're running there by then), pick up a cheapo hire car and drive south to where the best conditions are. I would not book more than a day in advance and I'd want to be able to switch locations if I got bored or if the conditions were better elsewhere.

The Sölden glaciers for example have more variety than you'll find in Tignes, you can drive up to them, and they have multiple aspects so you're unlikely to find all the lifts closed by wind. And you can see the Pitztal runs across the valley and drive over there if you get bored.

Thanks for the replies!

I gather most of you recommend booking a plane ticket to München/Innsbruck and nothing more? But will there be acommodation or isnt there a risk that some areas will be fully booked? Ive never did something like that, feels a bit risky no?

If hintertux has snow down to 1500m, would it be sufficient for one week, ore are there larger places with snowpotential?

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@staffsan, Places will not be fully booked.
It may be that the resort is a bit of a ghost town and many establishments not open. Your choices of places to hire kit, where to eat/drink and where to stay may be limited, but you will be absolutely fine and will find places.
As has already been said, you can afford to leave it to the weekend that you travel and see where looks best before you make your final choice of where to head.

@staffsan, although there is snowfall forecast for below 1500m later this week it is still unlikely (though not impossible) that this will mean runs are open to 1500m in early November, partly due to the weather, partly due to it not being economic to open up large amounts of infrastructure when there will not be large amounts of paying guests.

@mountainaddict, suggestion is a good one for that time of year if you want to spend a week skiing.

You know it makes sense.

I don't know if they still do it, and don't know if you could stretch the weekends either end of your trip, but Austria used to do a 10 day glacier pass that covered the 5 glacier areas (Hintertux/Stubai/Pitztal/Solden & Kaunertal) that was fairly good value..

I used mine to go to the World Cup opener in Solden too and didn't cost anything extra. Each area is quite different depending what you're after too.. Stubai doesn't really have anything that challenging, but offers a little bit of fun off the sides and is quite large. Hintertux offers some steeper stuff and again is quite large, the Pitztal is quite good fun, but does have a slightly rickety funicular train thing to get you up there, Kaunertal is a bit tucked away and involves a fairly epic drive to get to, some fairly fun runs there, but limited.. Solden is a good all rounder though offering two glaciers that are very different linked by a tunnel which provides a bit of novelty value. The town is a bit more lively too and around that time, you might be able to catch the opening up at Obergurgl/Hochgurgl (but that isn't covered by the 5 glacier pass)

None of the areas are that far apart either, although the drive from Pitztal to Kaunertal takes quite a while considering how close they appear on Google maps.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@staffsan,

There is no chance whatsoever that you would fail to find reasonably priced accommodation in Austria at that time of year, particularly as you will have a car.

We travelled to Austrian glaciers about 10 years in a row for October half term (including in pre-Internet days) and rarely booked accommodation in advance, We simply turned up and knocked on doors (or went to the local tourist office). Now that we have Internet access, once we arrive in Austria we log onto booking.com or hotels.com on the day we require accommodation and book it on the internet when we decide where we'd like to spend the night.

Mountainaddict's suggestions reflect exactly what we've done over the years - a road trip including 2 or 3 glaciers. And, contrary to robarar's advice, while the glaciers do have surface lifts, there are generally enough gondolas and chairlifts on the glaciers to give your legs a rest.

Go for it! Austria is a Fantastic contrast to France and you will be staggered by the affordability of the country. For example, you can expect to pay €8 or €9 for spaghetti bolognese, or some other decent lunch on the mountain, versus double that in France. And not to mention the half price Bier! Very Happy

A snowHead

A November day at Hintertux a few years ago, I have never seen it so busy, at any time of the year.

A snowHead

JimboSYes, glaciers can be busy in November (we've found especially so at Hintertux and Stubai after first-big-snowfall-of-the-winter syndrome)...

Having said that, in my experience, the sense of dread after queuing traffic up the road to the glacier and parking in very busy car parks (sometimes with a shuttle bus from an overspill car park) is never realised once you get up to the skiing. The glaciers in decent snow definitely seem to spread the crowds out - albeit with some crowded runs in one or two spots.

However, the OP's question was in relation to fully booked resorts and a potential lack of accommodation in November. As others have said, irrespective of snow conditions, ski resorts, towns and villages will be more like ghost towns at that time of year.

One more thing: the possibility of skiing down to 1500m at Hintertux in November is virtually zero. It would need a hell of a lot of snow to do so. It will be more realistic to ski down to approx 2400m (Tuxer Fernerhaus) or just below that if you are really lucky. Still a great glacier ski area though.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I would say Hemmel or Milton Keynes nowadays but when I used to go to the gletchers on the bank holidays.

Hintertux was my favourite, its more resort sized than the others.
Stubai was no2, but if you get bored with skiing you can always go to Italy and take your girl friend to Cortina. (she'll like that)

The glacier at Kaprun, It always seems so miserably cold to me up there (I suppose they can all be like that though)
I've skied on the Oetz above Solden, but it could have been anywhere, thick fog.

You maybe unlucky and have absolutely crap weather, so keep your options open, perhaps visit Venice.

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for what its worth i'd also consider Zermatt. Extremely expensive and not that convenient to get to but the journey can be part of the fun if you make it. Accommodation will be half price or less compared to main season in some of the nicest hotels. As Zermatt ski area is so high (~3900m top lift) the area generally opens up before most other european areas; certainly relative to france.

I think not committing to anything is the key point. Delaying a few weeks to December would however dramatically change your options.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'll second Kj82 with Zermatt as an idea. Its a bit of a mission to get to but well worth the journey upon arrival. Good skiing up on the Glacier and if you are lucky and the weather goods have been kind you might have a fairly large area to explore.

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I'd endorse trying to book as late as possible after checking the conditions. And that Zermatt is going to be one of the few snow-sure locations.

Zermatt is car-free so you might as well get the train all the way from the airport. Might be worth checking Powdair and Swiss airlines into Sion, as Sion is just a few stops from Brig, where you'd get the train up to Zermatt. I'm pretty sure you can get direct trains to Brig from most of the main airports such as Geneva. See https://www.sbb.ch/en for timetables.

[/img]

Above is the upper slopes of the 4 Valleys Savoleyres/La Tzoumaz sector in first week of December 2016. About 1900m. And yes, it was that empty. Snow down to about 1600m Trouble was it was grass the final 100m to the télécabine so the lower slopes were shut even 'though there was snow 90% of the way to the bottom. This is the problem with a lot of resorts pre-Christmas.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

Apologies, I always get Brig and Visp confused. ....

I've done kitzteinhorn/Karin in early November. There's usually a music festival on about then called wow glacier love.
http://www.kitzsteinhorn.at/mobile/en

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All right!

Booked a flight to Munich now! Are you all sure the best option is to wait and book accomodation just before we go? (i will do night shifts at the ER the days just before i go and might not be cognitively capable enough to manage that during my free hours NehNeh

) Is there any chances at all of for example Obergurgl or Ischgl being open at 8-14 nov? How about Mayrhofen, as our main plan right now is Hintertux?

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@staffsan,

1. Yep you can absolutely find last minute accommodation then.
2. Unfortunately not: Ischgl opens 23 Nov and Obergurgl announced last week that they'll open 16th Nov. Sorry!

Someone else will know more about Mayrhofen.

@staffsan, Mayrhofen will be opening on the 2nd December.
We went to Hintertux last Sunday. It snowed all day and visibility was terrible, however, the snow was in great condition for the 1st October. It was possible to ski to the Tuxer Fernerhaus and there were no patches of glacier ice - usually at this time of year there are bare patches.
I would expect by the middle of November there would be snow and skiing to the level of Sommerberg.

You know it makes sense.

All right, its just three weeks left now.

Do you think i should still wait to book accommodation and see if there is any other places getting snow before 8-14 nov, or should i book some nice place arount tux now as it has the best chances of good snow at that time?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

If you have a car... I usually ski between Obertauern and Schladming (possibly Zauchensee too) in late Nov. Awesome pistes with hardly a soul on them.

A snowHead

I'd also consider Cervinia, will definitely be good value in November and more likely to have snow lower down than Zermat and, wind permitting, you can also ski Zermatt side cheaper way cheaper than staying in Zermatt.

Lots of cheap flights to Milan and some to Turin. I did late November last year and got lucky with skiing right back down to the resort. I wish I had enough holiday to go back again!

A snowHead

Allright. We have a flight booked to Munich, but nothing else booked. Considering recent forecasts, do you Think we should head for the glaciers (hintertux etc) or is possibly there anything larger and/or better open? Remember, havent been to the austrian alpes before! =)

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@staffsan, we have a fair amount of snow atm (and looks like more early next week) but it's very unlikely anywhere will open earlier than scheduled: there just aren't enough tourists to make it economical, even if there were 2m at the base.

On the plus side, unless something very dramatic and unforcasted occurs, the glaciers should be in great shape.

Just incase you get a down day due to weather, here are some options to stay entertained:

- https://www.aqua-dome.at/en (heaven on earth)
- http://air-parc.com (lots of fun - freestyle/trampoline/parcour training area)

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Hintertux is your best option, looks busy up there today despite the weather.

But can look like this in November when the sun comes out.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Hintertux it is then!

Where should one stay? I guess there wont be much apres ski, even if that's nice, but we want to stay somewhere where you can go out and have some nice eats and large jugs of beer. And of course not too far from hintertux.

Is Tux or Juns good or should we stay in Mayrhofen?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I always stay in Mayrhofen unless I'm there just for a day.

After all it is free

Plenty of apres ski at the Hohenhaustenne at the bottom of the lift.

http://www.tenne.com

I’d stay somewhere between Hintertux and Tux otherwise it’s a bit of a schlep. Nearer to Hintertux the better.

It’s always busy this weekend because 28 October (Austrian national day) is a bank holiday and so is 01 November (All Saints). Lots of people take Fenster tags and make it into a week long holiday.

Nice! Arriving on the evening 8/11. Guess i should book something now then? Between hintertux and tux sounds like Juns, no? Are there any restaurants around Juns?

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I did t mean you had to pick somewhere on between. I just meant somewhere not to far from Hintertux which is where most of the restaurants and bars that are open will be (without going to far down The Valley).

Help!!

Where to go in november?

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