 Poster: A snowHead
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Seeking the wisdom of the collective please...! Trying to work out a decent sized Austrian destination that's (ideally) within 2hrs of Munich airport for a long weekend (Feb 2019).
Places we've done:
- Mayrhofen (worked really well, good transfer time)
- Saalbach (great place but transfer too long)
- Gerlos (worked well)
- Kitzbuhel (excellent as snow was good - but actually longer transfer than Mayrhofen)
Ideally we'd like somewhere new - mix of skiers / boarders and all decent intermidiots. Was looking at Kaltenbach but worried the town's too small and not enough apres (group of 8 who do like a tipple or 3). Places like Solden are too far.
Soll's been mentioned but discounted as one of us has been there before and was underwhelmed.
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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@schnitzel_skier, you are kind of restricting yourself if the Sölden transfer is too long. Also, I'm surprised to hear that Kitz took longer than Mayrhofen. They should be about the same.
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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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Schladming or Flachau both great skiing and just over 2 hours from Munich.
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@schnitzel_skier, don't discount the SkiWelt just because one person didn't like Soll. The ski area is actually really good and has a lot of variety. As for Soll itself, it has a lot of fans due to the excellent apres options, even though the lift is a way out of town and needs a bus to get there in the morning. If the issue was more the town than the slopes, how about Scheffau or Ellmau instead?
Or for a long weekend, why fly into Munich and drive for 2-4 hours each way with regular traffic issues when you could fly to Salzburg or Innsbruck instead and be in Flachau or Mayrhofen within 45 minutes?
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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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Thanks for the responses - Solden looked to be over 3hrs from memory...
Salzburg / Innsbruck not an option - excellent flight times from Manchester to Munich allow 4 days on the snow for only using 2 days of holiday.
I was surprised Kitzbuhel took 2hrs - Mayrhofen was a little over 1.5hrs - maybe it's motorway for a longer proportion of the journey?
Schladming has been mentioned before but not Flachau - so will take a look at those.
Cheers
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Kaltenbach did feel a little small. The bar at the bottom of the Hochzillertal gondolas seem to kick off about 3.30pm with rather "pumping" music and jolly Austrians. There is also a little bar humming away at the end of the day, that can only be accessed by taking the Stenfan Eberharter (Piste 1 black/red) piste down or getting off at the gondola mid station and hiking up a bit, that looked intriguing.
Didnt see much more thereabouts but wasnt seeking it out either nor did we try either. But lots of hotels around that would have bars.
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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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@northantsred, agree about lermoos. Not sure it's going to come up to expectations wrt apres though.
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Looks like Fugen might be the place to try in 2020 when it's linked by lift to the Hochzillertal / Kaltenbach area!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@schnitzel_skier, Zell am See perhaps?
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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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@schnitzel_skier, does it have to be munich why not salzburg or innsbruck ?
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| schnitzel_skier wrote: |
| Looks like Fugen might be the place to try in 2020 when it's linked by lift to the Hochzillertal / Kaltenbach area! |
At 1,000m above the valley floor, dont look down.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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@ski for fun, It does really due to flight options out of Manchester (leave Friday evening / return late on Tuesday). Plus Lufthansa allow boarders in the group to take their equipment without being charged for it. Might also see if Zurich or Geneva could work...
@altis, That's useful - will take a look, thanks!
@red 27, Not considered that - will check transfer time.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@HoneyBunny, he'd have to walk up. No lifts in Winter. Other than that, yep, good choice.
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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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@HoneyBunny, Ive always been amused by the fact there's a lift called the Wankbahn....!
More seriously, is Garmisch any good or too "inconvenient" for accessing the slopes?
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@schnitzel_skier, Garmisch? Some love it, some hate it. I belong to the first category. But it's not a ski village, it's a town with 26K inhabitants.
Good for a few days especially if you combine with Ehrwald & Lermoos on the other side of the Zugspitze.
What do you mean by 'inconvenient'? No ski in ski out, but there are buses...
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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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@Steilhang, Thanks - I mean is it a lot of hassle making your way to the lifts? Do people take the train (or bus...) in ski boots or is it a case of leaving stuff at the base?
On the mountain, is it T-bars and slow chairs or is it more modern? Can you do Ehrwald / Lermoos in a day from Garmisch?
Cheers
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@schnitzel_skier, I'm assuming you will have a car, in which case Lermoos / Ehrwald is 20 minutes drive. In Garmisch itself you see plenty of people in ski gear waiting for the bus. Not sure about ski depots, I'm always there in my car cos it's just down the road from me.
I think Ehrwald & Lermoos can be done by train from Garmisch but I have no experience.
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Hmm, Ischgl from Munich in 2 hours 40 seems a little optimistic. Took us nearer five this year, but then heavy snow was an issue.
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@Ghost Dog, MUC to Ischgl should be about 3h30.
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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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@schnitzel_skier, there are ski depots at the base stations in Garmisch, Ehrwald and Lermoos, and on the Zugspitze.
Most of the lifts are modern fast chairs.
There are still some T-bars, but last time I was there I managed to ski all the mountain without taking one.
The train goes from Garmisch to Ehrwald. A bus takes about 10 minutes to get to Ehrwalder Alm from the station, and about 15 minutes to get to Lermoos.
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I was half way into typing Soll until I read that one of your party was underwhelmed.
I have been twice and loved it. In my opinion it sounds perfect for what you have requested. You can get a near direct train from Munich and a £15 taxi to Soll town.
The Apre ski is brilliant and the SkiWelt is ideal for almost any level of Skiier and Boarder.
+1 For Soll and ignore your friend 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We went to Flachau this year from Munich. It took longer (almost 3 hrs) than when we went to Saalbach (2.25 hrs) the previous year. But well worth it. Very good Apres and planty of decent skiing for a few days. We also loved Saalbach. I would have thought Kitzbuhel would be the shortest transfer.
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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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| Jhead91 wrote: |
I was half way into typing Soll until I read that one of your party was underwhelmed.
I have been twice and loved it. In my opinion it sounds perfect for what you have requested. You can get a near direct train from Munich and a £15 taxi to Soll town.
The Apre ski is brilliant and the SkiWelt is ideal for almost any level of Skiier and Boarder.
+1 For Soll and ignore your friend |
Whereas I was also pretty underwhelmed by Soll and the Skiwelt. I've been twice, first time was fine as I was new-ish to skiing we stayed in Ellmau. The second time I just didn't enjoy the pistes anywhere near as much as when I've visited Saalbach, Ski Amade, Kitzbuhel and many places not in Austria.
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| hammerite wrote: |
Whereas I was also pretty underwhelmed by Soll and the Skiwelt. I've been twice, first time was fine as I was new-ish to skiing we stayed in Ellmau. The second time I just didn't enjoy the pistes anywhere near as much as when I've visited Saalbach, Ski Amade, Kitzbuhel and many places not in Austria. |
That's the beauty of this forum I suppose! Everyone has had different experiences and likes/ dislikes different aspects of any resort or holiday! Soll was the first place I ever went to Ski so i suppose its a little bias as I have fond memories of me repeatedly falling on my face and somehow enjoying it!
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks for this - all useful.
Based on current group debate, we might be going back to Mayrhofen...
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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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Based on 15 years or so day and weekend trips from Munich a few thoughts.
You must have been very lucky to do MUC to Mayrhofen in 1.5 hours, it takes around 30 mins from the Autobahn junction to Mayrhofen and assuming driving legally (unless you have a UK licence very bad idea to break the 100km speed limit in Tirol) around 1.5 hours from there to MUC. Kitzbuhel is normally about 1.5 - 2 hours.
Saalbach is a long way but you could stay in Fieberbrunn much near to Munich, linked into the Saalbach skiing with a recent lift, not so much apres ski partying though.
Sport Amade is good, lots of variety usually good snow but I would say 2 to 2.5 hours drive, pretty much all Autobahn, though watch for queues at Austrian / German border on way back.
I like Skiwelt but normally only go there January or if good conditions in December, snow not so good later in the season. Not hugely challenging but good for short trips. You could try Brixen, not so far as Kitzbuhel but you can ski the Kitzbuhel area via Ki West. There are buses or even the trains along the valley to avoid stress of making the last lifts back. The run parallel to the Skiwelt bahn is a really nice long red with a black bit in the middle, the run down on the other (south facing) side is always rubbish, no matter what the snow conditions, best avoided by anyone not a confident skier.
I used to do day trips to both Ischgl & St Anton but not keen on so much driving in a day anymore. Given quiet roads you can do the trip in 2.5 hours via Garmisch but 3 hours or so is more realistic. Why not fly to Zurich and then St Anton (or a number of other Vorarlberg resorts) can be reached in 2 hours.
There are lots of smaller resorts, all much the same eg St Johann in Tirol, Waidring, Alpbach, Bayerisch Zell, the ones near Innsbruck etc nothing out of the ordinary, you would be better off at Kitzbuhel.
I am not so keen on Garmish, the skiing is very fragmented.
I have not skied in Mayrhofen itself but have been to Gerlos / Zillertal arena. It was fine but no better than other resorts nearer to Munich.
Personally, especially after the end of February, I would accept the extra bit of driving and head for either Ischgl or St Anton.
Note, driving times assume a car with minimal or no stops, coaches will take longer, Saturday morning heading south and Sunday heading back to Munich add around an hour to journey times.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@munich_irish, It might have been 1h45 (fair bit below 2hrs but didn't feel much more than 1.5 (although we'd had beers on the plane)). It was a Tirol Taxi / 4 Seasons minibus so guess they know the best routes.
We'll be heading to resort on a Friday night, leaving Munich airport around 9pm. Journey back will be a Tuesday - needing to be at the airport around 8pm. It will be second weekend of February - so hopefully the lower resorts are still a reasonably safe gamble.
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