 Poster: A snowHead
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Innsbruck flights booked for end of January 
Having spent forever skiing in France, I’ve recently converted to Italy & now Austria! Don’t know what took me so long.
Went to St Anton & Ischgl last year, really enjoyed both, especially St Anton (hoping to go back later in the season) & looking for a new place to go this winter!
We are both old gits (almost 50 boohoo), competent upper intermediate/lower expert skiers. I ski mostly on piste, but like playing about in the areas near the pistes where I can still easily get myself out of trouble. Keen to improve my off piste though. Like having quite a big ski area too.
Not looking for raucous après ski, just a few good bars would do.
I thought Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis, Skiwelt, Zillertal. Any pros/cons of these choices or is there somewhere good I’ve not thought of? Which would you pick & why? Any advice gratefully received!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm sure the Innsbruck crew will be able to advise you. Presumably you are looking to go one place for a week rather than day trip it out of the city. I'd suggest Zillertal - it's a short transfer. I've always wanted to try Serfaus area but never yet got roundtuit.
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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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why not Kitzbuhel (Kirchberg which is cheaper). You can wonder around the town if there's a non ski day.
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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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@malarkey99, not sure you are in the old git category, you are a good bit younger than me! Nowhere else quite matches up to the Arlberg but some other places worth trying not far from Innsbruck.
Kitzbühel has a varied ski area with more challenging skiing than many similar areas nearby (easy stuff too). There are some nice long ski routes to various outlying spots. Given your comments about skiing ability I would say Skiwelt would not provide enough of a challenge but it is linked to Kitzbühel so easy enough to ski there too. As mentioned cheaper to stay in Kirchberg which also has slightly better access to the various areas.
Zillertal would provide a lot of variety with a good number of areas along the valley, Hoch Zillertal, Zillertal Arena, Mayrhofen and the glacier area at Hintertux being the main ones. It is very easy access from Innsbruck and there is a narrow gauge train line along the valley itself. Although most of the villages are situated in the valley most of the skiing is above the tree line so high by Austrian standards (though that is less helpful in poor weather).
Serfaus / Fiss is not well known in the UK but is one of the largest resorts in Austria. Plenty of variety in the ski area and largely car free villages. Not the liveliest spot for apres (they do try to promote being "family friendly") but there are bars and restaurants etc just dont expect St Anton or Ischgl style partying.
Another fair sized place is Sölden / Obergurgl, personally not a great fan. Obergurgl is high thus snow sure but small. Sölden is rather fragmented and the village is split by a busy road. It always feels like a long trip along the Ötztal.
Nearer Innsbruck is Kühtai, not been personally. It is high but fairly small.
Further east towards Salzburg are Saalbach Hinterglemm and Ski Amade, perfectly good areas but not sure any better than the areas mentioned above.
Further west (other side of the Arlberg pass) is the Montafon which are a collection of traditional villages, some nice skiing but again not sure anything any better than the places nearer Innsbruck.
Plenty of smaller areas such as Ski Jewel, Stubaital etc but suspect they are not really what you are looking for
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@PCcorner, yeah, you probably don’t want to be up there getting your head blown off for a full week though.
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| Scarlet wrote: |
| @PCcorner, yeah, you probably don’t want to be up there getting your head blown off for a full week though. |
Yeah can get a bit blowy at the top sometimes but if in doubt just come down the valley to here
https://www.stubai.at/en/skiing-resorts/schlick2000/
Choices Choices 
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Thanks for the advice folks! Was originally going to go to Saalbach but flights not working out, one for another time.
Kitzbuhel - was ruling it out as Hahnenkamm is on the weekend we arrive so was assuming a) accommodation would be at a premium & b) runs would be shut. Should I still include it as an option though do you think?
@munich_irish, thanks for the lowdown, will rule out Skiwelt if it’s not very challenging.
Yes, the “family” advertising of Serfaus was actually putting me off a bit. I equated it as maybe being a bit of a boring place, which I am sure is unfair. On the other hand, I don’t need a hangover like last year in St Anton which I tried to hide from my husband until fessing up mid afternoon. He couldn’t understand why I was unable to do more than about 4 turns without falling over 
Zillertal still sounds a good option although no idea where would be best to stay. Will do some more research!
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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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@malarkey99, I know the Zillertal very well, as munich_irish has said it's very easy to get to on public transport from Innsbruck airport - bus line F from outside the airport to Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof train station, train to Jenbach then change platforms onto the narrow gauge Zillertalbahn railway that goes all the way up the valley as far as Mayrhofen. Although Mayrhofen is the best known of the resorts in the Zillertal the other ski areas he mentioned are very good too (and your lift pass covers you for all of them and includes travel on the Zillertalbahn and ski buses). If you want to base yourself near to the Hochzillertal area accommodation wise I can recommend the hotel Alpina in the small village of Ried just outside Kaltenbach, the food is excellent and it has a pool and spa facilities. The frequent ski bus has a stop just outside the hotel that takes you to the bottom of the gondola station at Kaltenbach. As regards apres ski the PostAlm at the foot of the Stephan Eberharter Gold Piste run that takes you back to the gondola station has pretty lively apres ski, but there are other alternatives at the bottom too. The Zillertalbahn from Ried allows you to easily travel other days up the valley to Zell am Ziller (for Zillertal Arena ski area) or Mayrhofen.
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@malarkey99, I was in Kitz last year when the Hahnenkamm was on. I would highly recommend the experience of going to see a race, if you haven't before. And the after-party in the streets is great fun.
Or, if you're not bothered by the racing, it doesn't shut down very much of the resort so you can mostly ski as normal.
Accommodation may well be more expensive tho. We stayed in Kirchberg which was cheaper all round, and very well-served by buses.
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