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Zell Am See

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Having discovered a couple of weeks ago that the ankle ligament/tendon damage I did in early November was actually two breaks I'd pretty much given up on skiing in 2019.

However, having now had a CT scan, my consultant thinks that there's a fair chance I'll be fit to ski after all Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy - as long as I stay on easy blues (I'll have to go back in 2020 to do the reds).

Thankfully I hadn't cancelled so I'm after some hints/ tips/ advice for Zell Am See.

This will be our first time skiing in Austria having spent the last few years at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy

We're staying at the Gartenhotel Daxer (near to the Trassxpress & Schmittenhohebahn lifts). It looks like there are a good selection of blues up there & I should be able to get back to the hotel on skis using runs 1, 2, 5 & 5b - is there anything I need to worry about with this route? Any steep bits etc?

In fact, are there any blues which you would suggest I avoid?

In addition - are there any bars or restaurants anybody would recommend near the Daxer as it's a bit out of town? (Whilst we're half board, we like to eat out a few nights in the week.) We also like to find a local bar where we can sit and chat on the evenings (we're part of a group of 5 who ski together).

Any other tips, must do's, must not do's etc will be ratefully received.

Thanks in advance Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I don’t recall any of the blues being anything other than standard blues. Run 5 is like a lot of “home” runs, getting quite cut up by the afternoon, but 5a peels off to trassX before the worst of it. It’s a blue that criss crosses a black, so there are some steep bits. The very bottom of 5 near city express is aweful, steepish and covered in deep man made icing sugar, but that won’t concern you.

I used to go down black 13 and blue 7 to avoid all but the last little bit of it. You can always take the TrassX gondola down.

The blues over the back, 8 and 9, are generally less busy than 1,2, 3, but not as long runs.

No idea on food at that end of town, there is a bar near that gondola for apres.

You should definately visit the Pinzgauer Hutte for lunch off run 8.
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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?
We stayed at the Daxer about three years ago but I don't remember being able to actually ski right back to the hotel. It is not far from the hotel to the lifts, but if the road is icy (it goes slightly downhill before crossing the road where the buses pull in to the gondola station) it might be worth hiring lockers at the lift station so you can do the walk in ordinary footwear rather than in ski boots and carrying skis. Hospitality at the Daxer was excellent and so was the food. All the main shopping, bars, etc is down in the main part of Zell am See however and I think the bus driver used to demand payment unless we were actually carrying skis! It is worth taking the bus towards Kaprun but getting off at Maiskogel - a very small ski area but we loved it. There is a cafe up on the mountain which is like a small farmyard.
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I stayed at the Daxer last Jan, and will be returning in March this year. Good location, nice hotel. The food seemed mainly good. Plentiful, great puddings and reasonable choice, the only slight complaint being that many main courses felt slightly mass-produced in advance, rather than cooked to order, and often over seasoned. But hey, first world problems and all that, you won't go hungry, especially with the included spread that awaits as you get in straight off the slopes...
Skiing wise, the best blues are unquestionably the Breiteck, Areit and Hirschkogel areas. Proper straightforward blues, but they can get busy. I have to say, I skied piste 5b back to Schmitten once. Didn't like it. Lots of poling, walkers, etc. That said it was done after a heavy snow fall, and may be a smoother ski at other times, but I'm in no hurry to see it again. This does, I'm afraid, limit the returns to Schmitten as 13 and 14 are blacks, (though not that hard in good snow, and good runs), and 20 is a proper red, which you seem to be ruling out. The ski bus from Zell is pretty regular though.
Other skiing options are the glacier at Kaprun. A faff to get to, but a fun day out, and the main piste from the top is a straightforward blue. Also, though you say you want to stick to blues, I would say in good snow the reds in the Hochmais area are perfectly acceptable. The runs are wide, so you can normally snake your way around anything steep.
As for Apres ski, Schmitten is obviously a bit out of Zell, but the Daxer is busy enough, and big enough, to encourage people to remain in the hotel after a meal. When we were there the restaurant stayed like a lively, but not boisterous pub, and plenty of people were sticking around drinking, playing board games, etc. I enjoyed the atmosphere.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Hi all - thanks for the info.

Don't get me wrong - I'd love to do more than just the blues there this year but, if my wife discovered that I even considered more than the blues the consultant has told me to stick to, then the holiday would be cancelled and I would be in the dog house big time!

At the end of the day any skiing I get to do this year will be a bonus as I'd resigned myself to it not being an option.

Having said that - providing that my ankle is ok after the first couple of days, I'll be hoping that she takes an afternoon off of skiing later in the week and that our friends don't slip up when telling her of our exploits whilst she wasn't there. wink
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If you go into town Murrays Irish bar is best pub, for Apres Ski -Off Piste and Crazy Daisy have live bands but here is plenty of bars off the square. Restaurants Kupferkessel, Traube or Crazy Daisy. The sking is easy on Maiskogel at Kaprun if you fancy a change from Schmitten and Glocknerblick hut near the top is great. The snow is great on Kitz as well. We had 30cm snow so far today and forcast will snow till Monday so bring a spade!!!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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Having some experience of skiing with a broken ankle (undiagnosed at the time!) be very careful when taking off your boots. Even if the ankle has healed up it will likely have swollen up during the day.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@CiderBoy, Blue 5a and 5b are summer walking/vehicle access paths that are classed a blue cut-arounds to the main Nordabfahrt (Black 5) which has a couple of very steep schusses. If they weren't there then ZamS wouldn't have a blue 'village run' which probably doesn't sit well with the marketing folks so thus 5a & 5b, which have always been there and used by locals etc, suddenly appeared officially a few years ago on the maps.

IMHO not the best on a damaged ankle. They are narrow in places, one bit of 5b is literally single file only and usually very bumpy and features a 45 degree right turn for added excitement. Even the widest bits are only light vehicle wide and too steep and twisty to be able to straight line for very long so you will need to be comfortable to weave a lot which I wouldn't think would be best for a sore ankle?

This is based on my last, of many, visits in January 2017, was elsewhere last year but going back to Zell on 26th January.

My advice would be just to download on such as the Trass Express Gondola or the main Schmittenhöhebahn Cable car the top of which you can access from a circuit of Blues 1,2 or 3 then back up to 8 & 9a & 9b. The best part of the mountain is the Sonnkogel which is all red but none too steep, just don't tell the wife?

Zell am See town is where its all going on so not much doing of an evening up in the Schmittental but you can use a ski bus down to the town until just before 6pm and a taxi back up won't break the bank between 5 of you. I wouldn't walk, its a nice walk on a summers day but not in winter and definitely not in ski boots.

Apreś is also good at at Schnapps Hans at the top station of the cable car but the last run down is at 4.30pm

I would think that you could, somehow, ski back to the Daxer but wouldn't like to see the state of your bases after that. It's a pretty short walk from where you would sensibly take the skis off though?
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I went to Zell am See 3 years ago, as a near total beginner, and found the whole place really hard. Now, 10 ski holidays later but a slow learner, I could probably get down most of the blue runs but I would not spend money to go there as an alternative to Madonna which is the most wonderful (and safe!) place to ski for someone who enjoys wide smooth and hugely scenic blues.
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@ robboj Many thanks for your comments - particularly the suggested circuit which looks like it could be fun. The Sonnkogel may well be skiied towards the end of the week (as long as nobody mentions anything to my wife wink )

@peter_h We love Madonna and will go back there again but fancied a change after going there for the last 3 years Happy

@Everyone else - many thanks for your comments.

I don't think I've ever looked forward to a holiday as much as this one - even more so now as I won a Christmas competition the airport had and have got free Meet & Greet parking plus fast track security and top lounge access for four of us snowHead snowHead snowHead
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