 Poster: A snowHead
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Trip report
Ski Resort: Ski Welt / Kitzbuehel / St Johann
Country: Austria
trip Town: Hotel Kirchberg in Tirol & Airbnb in St Johan
Ski style: Intermediate leisurely cruising. On piste. Blues/Reds/Blacks
Dates: 12 Dec to 19 Dec
Synopsis: First post COVID ski trip. Last minute pivot from Zell am See to Tirol resorts due to local lockdown restrictions. Holiday is with my wife, so on skis cruising enjoying a more relaxed and a more "sophisticated" side to skiing.
I am not going to detail our holiday and how bloody wonderful it is to be in the mountains, rather focus on items I think will help the next punter/planner.
Ski pass: Salzburger Super Ski Pass (season tickets, but you can get shorter tickets – we are planning quite a few weeks this year) allows us to go on ski safaris based on some really good www.booking.com and Airbnb deals and whether we like a resort or not. E.g. Hotel Kroneck 4**** with spa and half-board at ~EUR480 .
Resort 1: SkiWelt
Resort impression: Family resort, very mellow skiing
Snow: Freeze Thaw conditions. Spring like. Snow coverage is very good and should last through the Christmas period.
North facing slopes are icy and grim. (See blue highlight) Some of the more popular slopes that were chopped up in Monday’s heat are now littered with crud boulders. Avoid. Sadly, impacts some of the long runs with vertical down to the villages (e.g. Itter, and village run from Chorpale (11)).
South facing is lovely if you can time it right. (see yellow highlight)
Tip: Head over to the Westerndorf side in the afternoon for some epic, and I truly mean epic, south sun-soaked cruisers offering barely touched spring corn without anyone else (piste 111 – area highlighted in attached piste map).
Town: Kirchberg, quaint little village. Lovely place to wonder and shop (when shops are open). Has all the amenities you need. Very atmospheric and good location for both Kitz & SkiWelt areas.
Covid 19:
Costly but totally workable. Resort is empty but starting to fill up. Our hotel is opening in “waves” and expecting to be at full capacity by the end of the week. Mask wearing is mostly respected, more so than London. FFP2 masks.
UK return, 2 tests – 1 in Kitz and 1 back home extra costs ~£100 per head.
Apres: Non-existent although probably too soon. (we were the second foreigners to rent from our ski rental shop in 2 years!)
P.S. I am sure locals will correct me, so please take above with a pinch of salt and bear in mind snow conditions constantly change - use your own initiative.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great area and gret place to locate yourself. Shhh, dont tell too many people about it
I did a pre xmas, late book, good snow, trip a few years ago there and it was amazing - fresh tracks as needed, pistes to yourself and plenty of eating options in Kirchberg in the evening. Not really a heavy apres person anyway.
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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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Conditions sound to be the opposite way around to "normal" though given the variable weather it is not really a surprise. The run down from Choralpe is usually just about the best run in SkiWelt. I guess the base is pretty thin so any sort of freeze / thaw cycle is going give less than ideal conditions. However having so much snow at this time of year is a bonus. On the odd occasion I have been there in December (green hill sides being more "normal") it has been good skiing on empty pistes.
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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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Thanks for the post, great to read. Travel faff allowing, I'm taking the family to Ski Welt on 27 Dec, staying in Scheffua, so nice to see a post and recent pics, and the map highlighting is useful too. I was looking for a thread on Ski Welt in the Snow Reports section but couldn't find one.
Keeping everything crossed we make it out there in 11 days. The kids are desperate to get on snow again (and I'm with the kids  )
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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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Not SkiWelt but just down the road this morning there was none of the icy conditions that were prevalent earlier in the week. Even took my 'proper' skis out but wasn't necessary.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Chris_n, where are you? We are in kitz today. Snow is better albeit still v hard in places. Just doing some of the village runs now as it's softened up and clouds aren't as high as this morning. Shame so little is open here.
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@LittleBullet, see my signature  , I was at Auffach this morning. Not a great deal open here either but more opening tomorrow which could include the link to Alpbach but I don't know if that is waiting until Sunday. It's still early season and particularly after the costs that were incurred last season resorts are opening the minimum with the minimum of staff. You have to remember that most of the people skiing atm are locals who aren't looking for a different view with every run they make, they are content just to be able to get the skis on for some excercise. (Very often at warp 10).
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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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In response to Chris_n.. I live near the large ski resort of Montafon in Vorarlberg, which was open at weekends until last week & is now open every day. Comparatively few runs have been open but as you say that is because most of us who ski locally treat it as first & foremost as exercise rather than an opportunity to explore something new (ie we look at skiing as an alternative to cycling or walking for fitness). So that mindset doing laps of the same runs is not the problem it is for most one or two week a year skiers …that said, (largely German) tourists have begun to arrive & the open areas are now expanding rapidly..
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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..indeed I did ten laps of the main open runs yesterday in Hoch Joch above Schruns and thoroughly enjoyed myself…when I used to a visit as tourist, however, I have no doubt I would have been very frustrated..
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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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I started in Brixen-im-thale and headed over to Scheffau then Ellmau this morning. The piste down to Scheffau is as nicely groomed as I’ve ever seen it. Not many people on it, low temperatures and no big heaps. Most pistes are in decent condition if on occasion a little frozen.
Suns out tomorrow and I’m going to Westendorf.
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FAQ
subject to covid 
