 Poster: A snowHead
|
So here's my report from the Amade staying at Flachau. We arrived on Saturday 26th Jan in snowy conditions, adding to already amazing snow which gave us an afternoon of powder. Apres in the Herzerl Alm 50m on right (facing downhill)above Acherjet bubble, good fun. Sunday was quite busy, but no lift queues, locals taking advantage of the fresh snow. First full day; Flachau to Alpendorf and back. Day 2 up to Flachauwinkl and Zauchensee lovely lunch in Winklalm top of first bubble on Flachauwinkl side. Day 3 Flachau again. 4 Radstadt, Altenmarkt, lunch in Bifies Hutte (thanks Frosty!)and drove up to Zauchensee after lunch. 5 Schladming and 6 Flachau to Alpendorf return. Dry rest of week with sun appearing most days, very lucky.
Amade area is well served by mostly modern lifts with pistes to suit all abilities, arguably not real beginners. Off piste can be sought out and we particularly enjoyed Topliner lift in Flachau and over Tauernkar 1890 Zauchensee although, and maybe why it was quiet , served only by a T bar lift.
Our first time skiing in Austria we found ski passes, maps and hire all easy, with everybody cheerful and accommodating. On the piste conditions were excellent, signage adequate, very few queues, other skiers courteous, cafes and restaurants all of a good quality. Holidayloverxx was very helpful with tips via pm...thanks!
Observations: We had a car which helped getting to different ski areas which was convenient, preferred but not essential as buses seemed frequent. All areas had plenty of parking. Recommend two days in Schladming area parking at Pichl for Reiteralm and Hochwurzen one day and for the second day Haus Ennstal for Planai and Hauser Kaibling. Plenty to ski each day and avoiding tedious linking on lower lifts. Same could be said for separate days for Flachau and Alpendorf avoiding the Glink, which is ok but I've spent a better twenty minutes of my life. Others can advise on many of the other areas in the Amade and we only skied a proportion of what is a very large ski area.
Apres was great! Early beers at the bottom of mountain a truly Austrian experience.....mental music!!......Nikki Lauda boom boom etc as above! Now I understand!! Then back for showering.
We ate out alternate nights, booking restaurants advisable. We ended up in Musistadl the first Saturday night as we had nothing booked it wasn't somewhere we would have chosen but after a few beers it was such a laugh!!
Boys (20's) enjoyed later apres...."what goes on tour......"
One downside is the smoking, many establishments have a no smoking policy, but if this offends, beware, not all do.
Most establishments serve to table and can seem to take offence if you try to order at bar, service is not included in bill, although it can be misleading as there are two tax rates at the end of a bill which could be confused for tip: One for (vat)service tax at 10% the other at 20% for alcohol tax. So tip on total before those taxes imo.
We would highly recommend Ski Amade for those not seeking a little bit of the UK in the Alps, <5% British. We will return after having explored other Austrian resorts.
|
|
|
|
FAQ