 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, after two long years we're heading back to the snow, arriving at Hopfgarten in two weeks time.
We're a group of young friends, and will get to town with a private transfer from the airport so won't have a car with us.
Our apartment is just before the train station, so a bit of walking to the gondola, but we plan on renting lockers at the valley station.
Any important tips for getting around town and the mountain? Good pistes to look for in case of bad weather or bad snow, recommended restaurants?
Cheers!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ski busses are free with your lift pass. When I go to Ellmau I usually have a car but never use it in winter. The Ellmau hotel guest card lets you travel on the normal busses including the post bus as well now I believe and I imagine Hopfgarten is no different. I think you can also use the guest card on local trains so you could probably have a night or two out in Kitz.
If the weather is bad try to get above it - you often can if it is foggy. Brixen can get very slushy in the afternoon. Avoid Soll early in the day/lunch time/home time.
WARNING: Kitz can be bad for you wallet.
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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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@chenav, are you staying in Hopfgarten itself?
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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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@sugarmoma666, yes we are, why?
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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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It's been some years since I was there but the Silver Bullet used to be the apres bar / disco / whatever.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I regularly go to soll. It's a fab ski area but for a march trip you are in the sunny side of the mountain. The hopgaften home run is notoruously slushy by now especially the lower half. You can get gondola down tho.
Pop over to westendorf it is often quieter over there and snow holds up well.
Check out Holzalm umbrella bar off zinsberg or filzboden lifts, in brixen, igloos are a good stop too.
If 1c run is open then be sure to do it in a morning. It's my fave run in whole area with fab hutte speckalm 2/3 of way down. But it's not always open.
I've never stayed over that side so can't comment on bars or restaurants etc.
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I've stayed there a couple of times. Hopfgarten is quite a quiet town that doesn't feel that much like a ski resort, but it has good access to the Skiwelt. Last time we went we rented ski lockers at the bottom lift station when we bought our lift for passes and they were lovely. You can also catch a direct train round to Kitzbuhel, but I personally don't like the place. If you want to ski Kitzbuhel you need to make sure you get the right pass. There's a nice pizzeria in the town that does takeaway.
Be very wary skiing the resort runs. In spite of spending 2 weeks there I've never skier the resort run down to Hopfgarten, and I'm unlikely to ever ski the run down to Brixen again. Overall, though, I love the Skiwelt.
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@sugarmoma666,
That run down into Brixen can get atrocious can't it, especially if it gets a bit warm.
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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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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| I'm unlikely to ever ski the run down to Brixen again. |
That run is always poor even with fresh snow in January. There is a long blue that goes to the edge of the village which is nice with an efficient shuttle bus back to the lift but it is not open that much (no snow canons). The black is again not open much, you end up ploughing through fields and hopping over ditches to get back to the lift, only really worth doing for the novelty factor. Many people would be better off getting the gondola down.
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| munich_irish wrote: |
| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| I'm unlikely to ever ski the run down to Brixen again. |
That run is always poor even with fresh snow in January. There is a long blue that goes to the edge of the village which is nice with an efficient shuttle bus back to the lift but it is not open that much (no snow canons). The black is again not open much, you end up ploughing through fields and hopping over ditches to get back to the lift, only really worth doing for the novelty factor. Many people would be better off getting the gondola down. |
That's run 1C from top of jochbahn, aualm.
Then you get bus to Brixen gondola. Nice hutte near bottom speckalm.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Gosh, I haven’t been to the skiwelt area since mid-1980’s - I did also stay in “downtown” Hopfgarten once and it was quite a walk with ski boots on and skis, first thing in the morning. The 2-seater chair from there into the system was ancient and chucked oil over my brand new pale pink ski trousers, every time we went over the pylon wheels. I bet a lot has changed since then!!! Including fake snow - there wasn’t any of the man-made stuff in those days, so that will help a lot in this rather low-lying ski area, but I remember I loved skiing down to Ellmau, Scheffau, Soll, etc. Hope you have a great time and let us know on here how you got on when you get back!
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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 like Soll in the summer, tend to give it a miss in winter.
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all the top of the mountain to the valley runs in the ski welt are really nice, none are difficult, and for an average intermediate like me an absolute dream, start above the tree line, then drop down through the trees and finish going through the farms at the bottom, if its late march you will be skiing next to a farmer ploughing his field, its great fun.
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks all for the good advice!
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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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| munich_irish wrote: |
| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| I'm unlikely to ever ski the run down to Brixen again. |
That run is always poor even with fresh snow in January. There is a long blue that goes to the edge of the village which is nice with an efficient shuttle bus back to the lift but it is not open that much (no snow canons). The black is again not open much, you end up ploughing through fields and hopping over ditches to get back to the lift, only really worth doing for the novelty factor. Many people would be better off getting the gondola down. |
Agreed. I've never any issue downloading if the snow is crap at the bottom. My post was more a warning that it may be best to avoid those runs. I'd be especially wary about the resort runs if using own rather than hire equipment.
On the occasion we did ski the Brixen run, there wasn't a route through on snow for one section, with mud and gravel across the "piste". It really should have been closed.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thinking about the SkiWelt for this time next year. Taxi took us along the northern valley yesterday. Ellmau looked the nicest of the villages, Soll/Itter had overflowing car parks. I did go to both Soll and Ellmau back in the 80s when the lift up the Hohe Salve was a one man chair.
Is Ellmau a good base? I'd like to get something close to the lifts; I know it's towards the end of the area, but easier access than in Soll (though there are hotels at HochSoll). OH is now a walker so is the area good for walking in the valley (seems very busy) and/or up the mountain.
or maybe the Sella Ronda, but they seem to be having awful snowfalls year after year
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@buchanan101, Ellmau is a good spot for walking in the summer, the routes up to the Wilder Kaiser are well known (eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellmauer_Tor) and often pretty spectacular. Winter is probably in the mountaineering rather than walking category and most of the huts would be closed.
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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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If you get the ?amade ski pass you can jump on the train to kitzbuhel or st johann in tyrol from hopfgarten. Kitzbuhel, the hahnemkamm stop is very close to the lift. St J the train station is prob 5 min walk from the lift. Both are great in different ways.
I would concur with view that you get the gondola down the last stage to hopfgarten as i have never known it non wet treacle.
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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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@munich_irish,
I think all bar one of the huts on the Wilderkaiser side are shut in winter. Mrs M would ba able to confirm that tomorrow..
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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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| Kimski44 wrote: |
| Hope you have a great time and let us know on here how you got on when you get back! |
Well we're back and had a great few days on the pistes at SkiWelt! I'll leave my impressions here in case it helps anyone in the future.
It was mid-March, and we had warm, sunny weather throughout our stay. So a recurring element was looking for north-facing runs later in the day, to avoid slush in the more sunny slopes. Luckily, we found the red pistes above Hochsoll (lifts 43 and 45), the pistes down north from Zinsberg (lift 71), and the valley run from Hartkaiser to Ellmau (lift 80) to remain in excellent condition even through 3-4pm. Interestingly, also lift 2 (from below Hohe Salve) and lift 66 (near Brandstadl) gave access to decent red pistes which were in relatively good shape even late in the day.
Pretty much anywhere else in the resort was pretty miserable in the afternoon - especially the interconnecting pistes between the different sections, which saw a lot of traffic throughout the day. And unfortunately, it is pretty impossible to traverse the resort without having to ski south-facing pistes at least some of the time, so there was really no way avoiding them late in the day when it was time to get home.
Speaking of getting home, the valley runs situation: the run into Ellmau was fabulous as I mentioned above at all times of day; the run into Soll was totally in the shade, so while the snow was relatively okay, visibility was challenging and made the overall experience not so fun; we did not even attempt the run into Brixen after seeing its upper section was a complete train wreck; and the valley run into Hopfgarten... well, we actually did ski it once at 4pm and it was not that bad, but you need to have the right mood. It was surprisingly enjoyable.
As a whole, the SkiWelt area is predominately red, and it's really impossible for beginners to travel the whole place without having to tackle quite a few reds in the process. One of our group members found it challenging; for the rest of us, it was actually a very enjoyable terrain. The ski lifts are mostly fast, and you can get almost anywhere without using drag lifts or old chairs. Queues were never a problem, even in the weekend, but again this was mid-March so not exactly high season. We did have to plan our lunch breaks carefully, as tables were in short supply from 12 to 2pm.
Hopfgarten itself is sadly a very, very, very quiet town. Bars and restaurants can be counted on one hand, and making reservations for dinner was not always easy at some places. We ended up eating at the apartment. It was located 10-15 minutes walk from the gondola, so we obviously used the two-person ski lockers at the valley station, which were perfect and even included in our apartment deal. Equipment was rented at the nearby Intersport - made reservations online, no payment required, but at the store itself we were charged the normal rate without the 10% discount shown on the website. The reservation email did not include any pricing information, so we had no way of confronting the staff... felt a bit cheated.
The pistes felt pretty safe in terms of other skiers and their control/ability. We saw no firsthand crashes in four days of skiing, which is pretty good in my book. Snowboarders were very hard to spot - the resort is very much dominated by skiers. Also not a lot of families with small children, but that's probably due to the time of year again. The children area in Hartkaiser, above Ellmau (Ellmi's Zauberwelt) seemed spectacular, by the way, and combined with the central location and quality pistes, I imagine Ellmau is one of the best places to stay to access the best of SkiWelt. Hopfgarten was nice, but a bit limiting unless the whole party is very comfortable on all pistes and can quickly cover lots of ground.
Cheers!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@chenav, thank you for that. I need a return visit to the SkiWelt now……
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Have been to Hopfgarten many times (probably 6 weeks) in the past 5 years. I really rate it as it's a large ski area so you don't get bored easily. The town is relatively quiet.
Some recommendations in no particular order:
- Dinner at Gasthof Oberbräu - the "pork knuckle" is their speciality and should be ordered 24 hours in advance. It's worth it.
- Hiring kit from Kurz gives you boot warmers/secure storage right at the gondola station
- The home run at Hopfgarten can get quite cut up/slushy later in the day so no harm in taking the gondola down. However you'll miss the apres at Sunnseit Hütte!
- The Scheffau home run is a favourite of mine
- Westendorf is well worth exploring for a day. Panoramarestaurant Choralpe has incredible views for a food stop
- Very possible to ski to Going and back in the same day from Hopfgarten however it's tight
- Worth doing night skiing or tobogganing in Soll
- Gasthaus Holzalm is a super place for food (especially kaiserschmarrn) on the mountain - a favourite stop of ours
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| Quote: |
Very possible to ski to Going and back in the same day from Hopfgarten however it's tight
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It's not that tight. I've done it in the other direction (but there isn't much of interest at Going).
+1 for the Holzalm.
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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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First post on here !
Stayed in St Johan in Tirol for a week, leaving today. Caught the train to Hopfgarten on 17th Mar for a day out. Skied the run back to the valley gondola first thing, was in very good condition considering all the warm weather, generally very quiet on the slopes.
Biggest observation was the difficulty in ready the piste map didn’t seem to be one of her easiest to follow in the busy areas. Could also do with a few more piste number signs particularly at intersections. Still had a good day but wouldn’t have like to have tried to navigate for first time if visibility was bad.
Skied done the valley run to Brixen to return. Wasn’t most pleasurable mainly due to the very soft lumped up snow at the lower end.
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@Richard Farndale,
I think the piste maps for the whole area aren't up to much, but then I am hopeless with directions.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Richard Farndale, that run down to Brixen is practically always in poor condition, less than confident skiers should use the gondola or (if it is open) the long blue to the edge of the village.
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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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| Richard Farndale wrote: |
| First post on here ! |
Welcome to Snowheads!
| Richard Farndale wrote: |
| Skied done the valley run to Brixen to return. Wasn’t most pleasurable mainly due to the very soft lumped up snow at the lower end. |
You had it lucky if there was soft lumped up snow. It looked like this the only time I made the mistake of skiing it (and I don't think you can see the worst but in that picture, where there was me and stones across the whole "piste"):
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@MarcFSki, hi planning on staying in Hopfgarten end of Jan, wife not a skier - can she catch a bus to Itter and take the 30 Salvistabahn gondola up to meet for lunch?
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You know it makes sense.
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@martindcrowe@hotmail.co.u,
You can definitely do it taking the normal bus to Worgl and then another back to the gondola at Itter. I'm not sure about a direct ski bus. Worgl would pass a bit of time for a non-skier.
Also, your accomodation may well provide you with free train travel which gets you quite a long way (Kitzbuhel, St, Johann, Worgl etc).
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FAQ
