Mayrhofen For Nervous Intermidiate?

A snowHead

Hi all. Apologies if this question has been answered in another thread somewhere but I couldn't find it.

Can anyone give any advice on how good Mayrhofen is for a less confident intermediate skier? Most resort reviews tend to define intermediate as red slopes but I'm talking here about someone who has been skiing many times but prefers sticking to easy blues where possible, maybe venturing onto the odd steep blue or red if necessary to get around but not really enjoying that kind of skiing.

To give it a little context we've been to the SkiWelt several times and enjoy most of the skiing there apart from the (sometimes) lack of snow, and also been to Solden and enjoyed most of the blue skiing there and Obergurgl but didn't venture on to any reds as they looked way too steep for her.

We really like the look of Mayrhofen as a resort but is the skiing for timid intermediates around there comparable to those mentioned above or would we be better sticking to what we know?

Thanks

A snowHead

I'm sure the Zillertal regulars will be along shortly, but IMHO if you get the valley pass then the best area for you would be the Hochzillertal / Hochfügen / Spieljoch area and that may shift your location up the valley a bit. It's easy to get to by train/bus from Mayrhofen, which is more of a challenge for less confident skiers. Alternatively, come to the Ski Amade and base yourselves in Flachau or Kleinarl.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Hi Tim, I haven't been to your other options for a comparative, but I'm a big fan of Mayrhofen as resort I'm not an expert skier at all. My piste preference is a red as long as it's got some width to throw an 'escape' turn in and Mayrhofen certainly has plenty of that type.

As far as blues there is half a day's worth on the Ahorn not a bad place to get your ski legs going on the first a day if you've had a late start sorting your kit out. Penken has a couple of blues into a bowl and once there you have some blues that are wide to get some confidence. There's also access to the 150Tux which takes you over (and back),to Rastkogel (my fave part of the resort), which has some great blues and reds usually in tip top condition.

A lot depends on how long and how many km's per day you're looking at. I've never made it (will try harder this NY), but you can bus it to the glacier which has some blues that others may comment on and your ticket if you are on the Zillertal Superski Pass and don't mind a bit of travel (train and bus) along the valley, then I'm sure you'll find an area to bring you back.

Regards,

Uncle Rico

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When I was a "nervous intermediate" I found that the (my) problem with Mayrhofen wasn't the pistes themselves but, to my mind, the overcrowding. This may not be so much an issue this coming year if the Russians have to stay at home.

I agree with Uncle Rico. A morning at Ahorn, maybe a bit around the Tappenalm lift at Horberg then head for the Tux crossing and ski on Rastkogl. Don't be tempted to ski back down Red16, the top section looks doable, but the rest can be awful - take the Tux back.

On Penken, I like Blue 20 (takes you to Horberg) and Blue 2 is ok but best done when the skischool snakes are having lunch.

We'll be including Mayrhofen on this years tour wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Tim M, the reds around the Penken bowel and down towards the boardpark are fairly steep at the top but are quite wide so can be navigated. There is a blue all the way down so if you find it too icy on the reds in the morning (north facing) take the blue.

The Horberg red/blue is long and enjoyable (red on one side / blue on the other) but not steep, you need to follow the signs carefully to ensure you don’t end up on a very long black!

The long blue from the top of the tux down to Eggalm is very good. It becomes red at the lower section (very wide and not steep) but can be avoided by taking the lift back up. Eggalm side has good choices for blue’s.

I would agree don’t take red 16 if nervous!

Mayrhofen reds are proper reds and not hard blues. Quite steep in places.

You could easily get around the Zillertal Arena too. Quick bus or taxi. Lots of piste choices for nervous intermediates.

Glacier on a sunny day is also fine for more nervous types. One or two steep pistes (especially the run below Tuxerfernerhaus).

You'll need to Register first of course.

The warning about crowded pistes is useful - that can really add to the anxiety factor. Need to find out which weeks are likely to be busiest, and avoid them.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Thoroughly check the piste map. Almost every lift has a blue piste at its end but this is not a mostly blue pistes resort. You might need to access some reds to get from place to place.
Generally speaking it was a fun place and to my party the reds didn't feel extreme or challenging, but it's really up to you of course.
Avoid the weeks of Christmas, New Year and Fasching, it gets very crowded (we went last Fasching and it was family packed as expected)
Others might specify relevant school vacations dates.

After all it is free

Maybe some of the contributors to this thread, who are competent skiers, don't fully understand the OP's problem. Being faced with an area of "steep reds" could be a real problem, even if they are wide. The point made by @drporat that this is not really a "blue pistes" resort does suggest that the answer to the OP's question is that no, Mayrhofen is not really suitable for somebody for whom even a "steep blue" is unwelcome and who found ALL the reds in Obergurgl too steep.

This is a severe limitation. The traditional Snowheads response is to recommend lessons! Les Saisies would answer the OP's needs but if he really wants to go to Austria that's not much help.

@pam w, like in all your other posts you are both correct and profound.
A few lessons might enable one to assimilate tools that will allow him to approach any given piste without worrying how steep or narrow it is, thus freeing him from all inner stress and letting him enjoy the sheer skiing by actually being able to cope with most of whatever the mountain throws at his feet.
But I never feel at ease telling others what I think they should do, except my family and close friends. Most people don't appreciate being taught/told what to change about their attitude and actions and are usually only interested in the shortcuts.
Thus came my honest answer to the OP.
And nothing more (for those who still remember Monty Python's Travelling Office)

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@Tim M, I've been thinking about your question... It's not so easy to answer because one person's easy blue can be another person's scary steep nightmare.
The Ahorn area is great for timid blue skiers (don't be tempted to ski the valley run!)
The pistes at the top of the Rastkogelbahn are also fairly mellow.
The blues on the Penken and in the valley above the Horbergbahn are a good angle (reasonable blue steepness) but both areas are often very busy because that's where all the ski schools go.

Thinking about the rest of the Zillertal, in each area it's a similar story... One or two pistes which would be great for you but for timid skiers not a huge amount of variety.
Königsleiten and Hochkrimml would be good, but it takes about an hour to drive to there from Mayrhofen.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I love Mayrhofen, spent my first ever week on snow there as a 12 yr old, with rest of family. We had lessons all on Ahorn and then went up Penkenbhan for our last day. My parents found it very challenging (me and my sister less so and having been directed down a slope spent a lot of time waiting for our parents to make it to the bottom just about in one piece).

I didn't go back until a few yeads ago and will be going again in April. However not convinced how great it will be for if you are nervous, a lot will be down to snow conditions, in April some of the runs suffer from being very hard (almost icy) for long steep sections due to freeze / thaw you get in April. In different snow conditions they would be fine, in those conditions they are challenging for nerves (and when went in April, 5 weeks post knee op! I had a bit of a freak out and promptly booked myself a private lesson the next day.)

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@Tim M, as @RedandWhiteFlachau said, the Kaltenbach/Hochfugen ski area in the Zillertal has lots of blues possibly more suited for you (at least for the first few days). The Zillertal Superskipass covers all the ski areas in the valley, and includes skibus and Zillertalbahn train journeys. If you're staying in Mayrhofen the train runs every half hour from the station down the valley, and when you get off at Kaltenbach it's only about 200 metres walk to the gondola base station.

I am not a person who normally "freaks out" or panics, but I have had two very instructive occasions when I have. One was on a snowboard, on a very shallow but fairly narrow blue piste which I knew very well (on skis). It had a "drop off" one side but nothing life-threatening. It required just very gentle turns, which even as a useless snowboarder I was fully capable of doing. But I freaked. I just couldn't turn onto my heel edge and towards that scary drop. It was not a disaster - I was thankful to be on my own, took my board off and walked down to a place where it all became easy again. But I'd had an instructive insight into what it feels like to freak.

I have occasionally suffered from vertigo - have the Buccastem tablets in case it happens again. The world swims, things go round, it's very physical set of symptoms. My snowboard freaking wasn't vertigo, it was an entirely emotional response to what I could see and imagine. Emotional and irrational, but very real all the same.

Had the same thing once on a cliff top path in Cornwall. I'd walked lots of them, and was always wary of the very real and scary "drop offs" with the surf pounding on the rocks below. I felt safer with walking poles to help my dodgy balance. But one time I freaked. Just couldn't go on. I had to sit firmly on the bank as far as possible (probably a couple of metres but it felt like inches) from the drop. I was with my OH who was mystified by my uncharacteristic panic but kind and patient and eventually I was able to go on, but with the residue of that awful feeling taking time to wear off.

Skiing has a lot in common with sailing. I know LOTS of people who have started sailing because their partners really wanted them to. Some get properly engaged. Take lessons, read books, become competent and interested. Others are disengaged, appear to learn remarkably little in several decades of participating (just like skiing) but they quite enjoy it when the weather is nice, opt out of challenging trips and keep going to support their partner (or to give them no excuse for enrolling new, younger and more attractive crew). But some are genuinely freaked when the boat "tips", do a lot of white knuckle clutching, and are eaten up with anxiety even when things are easy, in case there's a nasty gust of wind round the next headland. The emotional cost to them is high, but can be difficult for others to understand.

Long-winded post. Just making the point that lessons are not always the answer and that unless you have experienced that kind of emotional freak-out it's very difficult to understand.

You know it makes sense.

Much as I love the Hoff as a competent intermediate, there are runs that can be off putting, especially early in the morning. If the OP wants a Germanic resort maybe Corvara is the answer? Tons of easy cruising at Alta Badia and the Sella Ronda clockwise is pretty tame. Anti clockwise involves the red off the back of Ciampinoi which I have struggled with if mogully/busy/no visibility (often all three).

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Tim M, Kaltenbach or Hochfugen would be fine, Mayrhofen pistes can be busy and some of the blues are shallow gradient tracks but quite narrow so not fun for less confident skiers. If Mayrhofen town appeals then it’s worth looking at Saalbach too. Equally enjoyable town but easier to link up lots of fun blues.

A snowHead

@Tim M, I would honestly say that Mayrhofen may not be for you. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the place. But it’s a very red-heavy resort. Yes, they are often very wide and usually groomed very well and hold up well to traffic during the day. But they are still red runs. If, like you say, you’re much happier on blues and don’t enjoy reds at all, I think you’ll find yourself compromising most of the best runs on the mountain. I’m not going to go down the route of ‘they’re not that steep’, you obviously know what you’re comfortable with and what you’re not, so I think it’s maybe best to give it a miss.

For me, the beauty of Mayrhofen is the sweeping reds through the trees and there’s simply not anywhere near the same level of quality of blues in resort. The Ahorn is great for a first morning to get back into it, but it’s small and pretty monotonous beyond that.

As said, perhaps have a look at Saalbach or Hinterglemm, lots more blues to get stuck into there.

A snowHead

for a confident intermediate one of the very best but i agree with some of the other comments for a nervous intermediate, there are much quieter areas on the liftpass but if you dont want to bus/train it somewhere each day then it might not be the spot for you (also that might not work if your taking lessons)
taking lessons and letting the ski school know your needs will help them to take you to the right areas but as for freeskiing its probably not the best for you.
Neiderau, may be a shout.......

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Mayrhofen For Nervous Intermidiate?

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