Trip Report - Mayrhofen 5th - 12th March

A snowHead

Hi everyone,

Cannot begin to describe how much we are looking forward to getting away. It's been a quite a journey to get here!
Our previous trips have been L2A, Montgenevre, La Plagne, La Tania, Saalbach, Canazei and Les Crosets. We got back from the PdS about 2 days before the "virus of unknown origin" put a halt on the World for a couple of years. If only we'd known then what was to come! Anyway....

So the OH and I are still fairly newish to skiing, only starting in 2016 but we have been trying to make up for lost time. We'd consider ourselves fairly competent and confident intermediates and will tackle pretty much anything pisted on a mountain.

We had originally booked Les Menuires for January and Soldeu for this week in March, but we had to cancel both trips at late notice due to various reasons. BUT finally.....we have managed to get some clear air and we are now heading to Mayrhofen.

I was planning on leaving it last minute to book something, and probably go TO for this trip but as the date got closer I was getting less and less impressed with the quality and quantity of any decent offers from TOs. Having done DIY trips in the past, I went looking for some independent accommodation. Found a couple of decent apartments in both ADH and Ischgl but we pulled the trigger on a lovely apartment at Haus Sonnenschein, just outside of Mayrhofen itself. The place has really good reviews and was a very good price. I booked it via the resort website which was easy enough.
The next step was flights and transfers. One of the reasons why I was looking at TO was the cost of flights and car hire being much more than previous years. However I managed to find a decently priced flight with Lufthansa with good times from Heathrow to Munich. The other options I looked at were Stansted to Memmingen and Gatwick to Friedrichshafen. Both were cheaper but the travel the other side longer and/or the flight times not as good. Obviously did look at Innsbruck and Salzburg but prices were silly money.

I know that getting to (and around Mayrhofen/Zillertal valley) on public transport is cheap, relatively easy and efficient but being self catered we wanted the chance to do a shop on route. And also having a car does give you that extra freedom/flexibility if required. Fortunately, I get a discount with Enterprise via my Blue Light Card so was able to pick up a weeks rental at a not so horrendous amount of pennies as other airports. I think Salzburg was looking at £400+ for the week for a tiny little wheely bin thing.

The OH and I aren't too fussy about where we go. We like a drink in a bar but not into clubbing. We like a relaxed, laid back feel and ultimately just want a good time on the mountain. We are also trying to visit as many resorts as possible before we go back to one. That being said, I love the ski areas in France. I love height and the vertical drops many of the resorts offer. However, we both loved the atmosphere in Austria when we went to Saalbach so that kinda swayed us to get back to Austria for this trip and Mayrhofen has been up on my list for a while.

So....anyway onto the trip!

This week has been spent getting all the required together, checking and double checking that there will no hiccups on departure day! We are both fully jabbed (2 shots and a booster). So all we need is the proof of vaccination for entry into Germany and Austria. I've downloaded our travel passes from the NHS app onto our phones, as well getting the GrunerPass and Covid-Warn apps and uploading onto there. I've got a fresh supply of FFP2 masks.
Lufthansa offer a travel document checking service prior to check-in. So I uploaded our NHS travel passes on there and within minutes had the confirmation back that there were accepted. I will check-in online in the morning hopefully meaning that when we get to Heathrow at 4am on Saturday, all we will have is a bag drop and onto security. We are allowing 3 hours at Heathrow just in case (after hearing some of the horror stories of late from various airports). If we breeze through, then I'm happy sitting with a coffee and a cooked breakfast!

Lift passes are bought and ready to be collected. I've rented our skis from Rent4Fun. It was between them and the Green Room but Rent4Fun have lockers at a cheaper price than at the Penken and it's literally across the street. We have gone for storage at the bottom of the hill rather than up top so that we can easily grab our gear to go off for a day at Hintertux and Zell. May do Kaltenbach as well.

The weather outlook has changed several times throughout the week from a light dusting, to 10cm back to a light dusting and snow showing settled with blue skies. TBH, I'll just be happy to get back on the planks.

I think that covers everything for now!

Will try to update every day but depends on the schnapps.

Any tips or recomenations (in general as well as places to eat/must dos) welcome!

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Completed report!
Hi all

Firstly can I say, thanks for all the tips, comments and recommendations! Hopefully, this thread has/will also help others planning similar trips!

Straight back to work yesterday so only just getting around to putting together my final thoughts on things!

Airports + flights
Flew from Heathrow T2. Maybe it was the time of morning (about 4am) but we breezed through check-in, bag drop and security in about 30 mins. Weirdly, the self-service terminals were off so even though we had checked in online and had our boarding passes already, we still had to queue for a manned desk. Lufthansa (at Heathrow anyway) were very efficient. Flight left bang on time, with a free bottle of water and chocolate bar for us peasants in economy.
First time at Munich airport. Was lovely. Clean, efficient even though it was busy. Was about 20 mins to get through passport control and our bags were waiting for us on the reclaim.
Flying back was much the same apart from Lufthansa physically checking all travel documents, regardless of if you had checked in online and uploaded required certs etc. This did cause a delay of about 30 mins.

Car Hire + transfer
Booked direct with Enterprise as I get a discount using my blue light card. Have used them many times before and find them always to be very good (along with Europcar). Not pushy to take any extra cover (I always get an independent one anyway prior to travel). Was a bit odd when they asked me if I wanted snow chains, when I had already paid for them (not that they were needed, but better safe than sorry). Got a lovely, almost brand new Hyundai Kona with many bells and whistles on it. The drive to Mayrhofen took about 3 hours in the end. There was a lot of traffic on the A8. Picked up a Vignette just before the border. Really easy drive in all honesty.
Return was even easier. Left at 6am. No traffic at all. Found a petrol station about 2 miles from the airport. All good and deposit returning the same day.

Accommodation
Found the Apartments Sonnenschein straight from the Mayrhofen resort website. Glad I did because they were lovely. Immpecably clean and Annemarie was a lovely host. The room was warm, spacious and a king size, very comfy bed. The kitchenette had everything needed to self cater and the bathroom was modern. The shower was powerful with plenty of hot water. There was a sauna and steam which I didn't use but did have a look round. I would have been impressed if I found such good facilities at an actual spa, so for a guesthouse....was blown away.
Free parking on site with spacious boot and ski storage. Location wise (for those that know Mayrhofen) it was by the helipad. This was about a 10 minute walk into town everyday. For us, this was no problem but just something for others to consider. The only very minor slight gripe was that if you had the windows open, you could hear the busy main road through the valley. But with the windows shut...not a peep.

Ski hire
I'd read a few interesting comments about Ian at Rent For Fun. He certainly is very knowledgeable, with very competitive prices for gear. I don't think customer interaction is he strong point. Maybe a little harsh but it was all good. And location wise, its hard to beat. Just opposite the Penkenbahn.

The town
Obviously, the town has a bit of a "party" reputation. However, even at the busy times by the ice bar etc it wasn't unpleasant. And the week we were there was the first week after restrictions were lifted so they were going for it hard! Could only imagine the carnage in the UK in a similar situation.
Once you got a little bit away from Penkenbahn, it quietened down and we found ourselves sitting outside under heaters most evenings enjoy a relaxed drink before heading back to the digs. Personally, I wouldn't say it's the most "picturesque" mountain village I've ever seen but it wasn't unpleasant and certainly much nicer than the purpose built resorts of France. It's surroundings were stunning though with snow capped peaks at all angles. That does mean though that you lose the sun quite early, so those temperatures do drop in the shade!

The skiing
Finally, the most important bit. We knew that they had a good base of snow throughout the Zillertal valley on the pistes. Considering the lack of fresh stuff, the pistes were in brilliant shape especially early on. Some of the lower runs (specifically over at Eggalm and the runs home at Zell/Kaltenbach) were suffering though with shades of brown starting to show through. I'd be surprised if they remain open much longer if the temperatures remain warm and with no new snow. Talking of the weather...wow. I've never had 6 consecutive days skiing with wall to wall blue skies. Seriously, not a cloud in the sky all week. It started cold but by Friday it was very spring like. As you can imagine, the terraces were packed and I'm not gonna lie...after the winter we've had it was some much needed tonic.

I really enjoyed the skiing around Mayrhofen. The runs were lovely. My only gripe....often they were too short lived. I think the lack of big vertical drop does mean that just as you really start to get into a run....it's time for another lift. There are of course exceptions. Like from the top of Rastkogel down the 75 or from the top of Eggalm down the 77(b). I definitely felt that I had skied everything after 2 days.
However the beauty of the Zillertal is that you have several class resorts on your doorstep.

I loved Zell. Out of all the days, I enjoyed it there the most. You get a real sense of travel and some of the slopes.....specifically the reds on Karspitz and königsleiten were amazing. Kaltenbach was enjoyable and some of the runs directly above the town were wide, reasonably empty and perfect to practice some carving technique on.
Hintertux was a great experience. For a glacier, there is a vast amount of skiing and a variety of runs there. And with the altitude, the pistes were and stay in much better condition. I'm glad we made the effort to get there early because for the first few hours. We had the place almost to ourselves. By late morning, those travelling by buses had arrived it was busier (but nothing horrendously so).

My favourite run of the week was the 5 from down the Ahorn. We did it early morning on the first day (we went up the Ahorn to get our ski legs back!). It was a glorious run from top to bottom.

We love the feeling in Austria. It's hard to describe but I think someone on here wrote that in France....skiing is a sport. In Austria...it's a pastime. Everything just feels a lot more....laid back. That's not knocking France...I'm a bit of a Francophile (the old man lives there). The French resorts I think offer the type of skiing I personally prefer (bigger vertical/larger linked areas) but I just love skiing in Austria! Ultimately, any time spend on the hill with planks on is good time.

We had a great week in the Zillertal. A modern, efficient lift system. Great piste management. A great first trip there and it won't be the last.

A snowHead

We are returning home tomorrow. Lovely place, extremely well connected. The pistes signs are good and send you to the right direction and cable cars.
In front of the Penken base station you have an uber tasty Metzgerai. Bratwurst, roastbeef, goulash etc. Fresh, warm, tasty and cheap.
Harakiri on the main street was the only bar we saw (and heard) with loud music (first floor) and happy atmosphere.
We didn't manage to do the long toboggan run at Gerlos. Next time.

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

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Perfect, both in Mayrhofen and Zillertal Arena. Icier in the morning and softer with small moguls at lunchtime due to the general warmth and direct sun, but still a treat.
From all the many places I've been to in Austria and France, this was the easiest to find your way and had the best directional signs. Even better than the Arlberg, in that aspect

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Fridge03, we have rented from rent4fun over the years, they turn over their kit every year so is always in good condition, it's run by a Brit ex pat, Ian Kilgour. Just happens to be our neighbors nephew.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Mo’s Cafe (restaurant/bar) https://www.mos-cafe.com/

Good atmosphere, friendly, decent food, not too pricey and often live music.

As for schnapps…Zirben. Toofy Grin

Cures everything, apparently…even before anything goes wrong Laughing

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

We fly out 6th - 10th ,
Hopefully the Apres ski will be a bit more relaxed by then ??

Re: restaurants -- Do you have to book a table due to Covid / busy or can you just walk in

After all it is free

@wasley, Austria are dropping nearly all COVID restrictions from the 5th March. Masks still required in essential shops (chemists, supermarkets etc), hospitals/medical facilities and public transport.

Stand-up Apres again allowed. No restrictions for entry to accommodations and restaurants. Curfews lifted.

For busy/popular restaurants, booking always a good idea but, generally, no reservations required.

Have a great time. snowHead

Online check-in complete. Boarding passes downloaded onto the app. CV19 passes saved onto wallet on phones.

Now just to pack!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Will be in Mayerhofen tomorrow staying at the Strolz. Anyone stayed there? Also what is Bar Rique like, as we are quite fond of wine bars! Far too old for table dancing.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

Thanks for the tips so far everyone.

Sat in departures now.

Got to Terminal 2 three hours before flight time. Immediately filled with dread when I saw a couple of long snaking queues, even at 4am…one of them being for security.

However, the Lufthansa bag drops were reasonably empty and we were done there in about 15 minutes.

And the queue for security had gone. I think they were holding everyone for a few minutes for some reason because the whole queue disappeared through en-mass.
We actually had a new lane opened as we went though, so that took a grand total of 5 minutes. Lovely.

Departure lounges empty.

Just sitting now with a coffee and sandwich. Contemplating treating myself to something from duty free.

Can anyone confirm that all I need to do is stop at a services in Germany to get a vignette for the Austrian motorway? Is it fairly self-explanatory?

@Fridge03, yes find a service station near the border. There is an OMV near Kiefersfelden I think. Just ask for the Austrian vignette.

You know it makes sense.

@Fridge03, yes. Several services along the way. Holzkirchen, Irschenberg or Kiefersfelden

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

Just for future reference for Anyone , you can order a Vignette sticker on-line and have it delivered for 2 Euros extra .
Ive used them a few times now without a issue , it saves having to pull over at a service station on-route

https://www.tolltickets.com/en

A snowHead

There's also the digital form, but it costs twice as much Shocked

https://checkout.mautpilot.de/product/10-Tages-Vignette

Have not tried it yet (for obvious reasons)

A snowHead

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

Thanks for the help all.

Today went reasonably smoothly!

Flight was bang on time and landed just ahead of schedule. Like Munich. Nice airport.

FFP2 masked enforced on flight and in airport. But not once asked for CV19 travel pass.
Queue to get through passport control was about 20 mins. EU lanes were empty. Love those Brexit dividends!

Car hire with enterprise was quick and simple. Out of the airport and on the road in about an hour and 15. That was with a brief coffee stop.

Traffic around Munich was awful. Total drive time was over 3 hours. But we were in no rush. Stopped at a Aldi/Hofer to load up on supplies before heading to the apartment. And its really lovely. Not massive but has everything we need for a week.
It’s on the outskirts of town, so a short 10 min stroll to get to the Penkenbahn. We collected our gear from Ian at Rent For Fun, sorted a locker, got our passes and enjoyed a cheeky beer or two as the sun went down.

Looking forward to getting out on the piste for the first time in 2 years tomorrow!

Going to book a couple of restaurants in town for evenings meals this week. Any recommendations. We aren’t after gourmet, but just decent honest food and a pleasant atmosphere.

Snow….we’ve been told it’s amazing on gone hill. Not much around the valley floor. But it is cold. I can cope with sunshine and cold.

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2 more weeks for me and my early 20's girls, getting the train from innsbruck this time so will have to use penken lift rather than driving to finkenberg. Hoping Scotland Yard pub is still the same and always used to enjoy a few jars in the Strass bar where a guitarist called Brian Cristopher always seems to be playing and was always a good night. Interested to know what new places are fun now as its been 15 years since I last went.....and 32 since first!!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Restaurants for evening meals:
Waldcafe
Landenhof
Perauer
Neue Post

For coffee and cake highly recommend the cafe kostner, it's also a bakery.

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@ollski2.0, Brian Christopher was/is outstanding. A great story as to why he ended up playing there, for many years. He’s still touring and playing, along with his daughter. Just not in Mayrhofen any more, sadly.

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

Edelweiss Lounge for evening meal.

After all it is free

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Great day had.

Lovely blue skies. Feels good to be in the sun (after seemingly weeks of grey, miserable weather in the uk). It was cold though, slight cold breeze up the hill but you could only notice it when you were still/sat down.

Having not been on planks for 2 years due to the virus of unmentionable origins, we thought we’d take it easy to begin with and get the ski legs back.
So we headed to the Ahornbahn and with maybe a 2 thirds full car, heading up the hill. Interestingly, despite the rules changing I’d say about 70% of people are still wearing masks on gondolas and cars at the moment.

The snow/pistes were….blooming excellent. We did a few laps up there as it was so nice…and quiet. We finished the morning by doing the black (5) back to resort. We were a little hesitant as we’ve heard mixed things about it…but today it was excellent. Really enjoyed it and always nice to ski down to resort, especially in Austria where so often it’s a download.

We then headed across town to the Penkenbahn. Had a bubble to ourselves so no masks worn.
As you’d expect, it was noticeably busier up this side but nothing horrendous. We cruised around a bit, including giving the Harakiri a go. We both successfully made it down….however only the OH on both skis Very Happy

I caught at edge about half way down the real steep section and that was me. Even trying to self arrest I was still sliding. Fortunately I was fine and two other skiers decided to fall over down the same bit in sympathy with me. A kind gentleman grabbed my skis which had incredibly hardly slid down the hill at all and brought them down to me. All in all, it was quite a good laugh.

We then headed down to Almstuberl for a beer and a bowl of chips in the sun. It was glorious.
We then cruised around a bit more till we decided to call it a day about 330 as we were both pretty tired by that point. I think a mixture of travelling and not skiing for a while caught up to us. We had one last beer on the hill at one of the bars by the Penkenbahn before downloading. Was quite a squeeze on the way down!

I think tomorrows plan is to head straight up the Penkenbahn and head over to Rastkogel and try out those pistes over there.

We are planning on taking some trips for a day to Hintertux, Zell and Kaltenbach.
As we have the car we will drive. I know the bus/train is on the pass but its just more flexible with your own wheels.
What is parking like in those places? Is the parking at the main lifts and if so, do they fill up quickly during the week and do they break the bank?

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Sounds like a great first day, if you get up the 150 man to Rastkogel good and early I suggest heading down to the Vogelnest for lunch, if the sun's out it will be hot on the terrace there. If not, it's cosy inside. Then you can explore Eggalm in the afternoon before heading back up the Rastkogel ban and then back over to the Penken.

snow reports

@Fridge03, you'll have no problem parking at any of the lifts in the Zillertal, as all of them have dedicated car parks and plans for overflow space which you'll not need at this time of year, especially on a weekday

@Fridge03 , glad you had a great first day . Your braver than me trying the Harakiri on your first day

We arrived yesterday , 9 hrs from Portsmouth to Piste . Can’t believe how smoothly everything went

We went on the Ahornbahn Yesterday , around 1.30pm , it was 3/4 full and I would say only a handful were wearing masks . The whole place looks back to normal bars , restaurants , apres etc , only the supermarket ( Spar ) I saw mask wearing.

You know it makes sense.

@ousekjarr, yes the Übergangsjoch is really quite different. (I didn't know which run you were referring to by the name, but looked it up as it sounded like the one I remembered from the description). Loooong chairlift ride back - can't remember if it's bubbled or not. A real sense of travel in Zell am Ziller - it's quite a long way to (lovely, quiet, easy runs on) the Plattenkogel

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

Probably asked one billion times, so sorry. The 12 a to 18 single vaxed, do they still require a PCR etc under the new rules for Kaprun?

A snowHead

@ClanChief, yes, the 3G rule is in force for entry, so they need 2 doses of a vaccine, or a recovery certificate, or a negative PCR test - see https://www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/coronavirus-information/entry-regulations

A snowHead

A lovely day in the sunshine today. Was warm in the sun, cold in the shade. Sun terraces were packed all day.
Pistes are still really lovely to ski. A few of the steeper pitches are getting scrapped away during the day revealing the hard pack underneath but nothing to overly worry about.

Headed straight up the Penkenbahn this morning and to the 150er. Up and over towards Rastkogel. The runs over this side we really lovely.
We then headed down the red 75 and had a hot chocolate at about 1130 at the Vogelnest. Then up to Eggalm and a ski up and down a few times.
Then headed back over and had a late lunch at Almstuberl. A goulash and a couple of beers whilst soaking in the rays. It was glorious. We then headed back to the Penkenbahn and downloaded about 430.

Looks like it’s warming up over the next few days but clear, clam weather will remain.

Plan is for the next days:
Tomorrow - Zell am Ziller
Wednesday - Kaltenbach
Thursday - Hintertux

Any on mountain restaurant recommendations for Zell and Kaltenbach? Ideally a nice relaxed atmosphere, decent food and a sunny terrace!

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

When you go to Zell, don't necessarily think you need to make the mad dash over to Gerlos, its often a temptation but can be a bit of a slog, especially when look looking down at the great sloes that you are missing out on down below the lifts your heading up on.

When we go to Zell we normally head to the Kreuzwiesenalm for lunch, near the bottom of red17, if you eat out on the terrace the try to spot the top of the 150man and the Scneekarhut in the distance.

If you do head overt to Gerlos we like to go to Seppis as there often a DJ playing cool chilled tunes on the terrace.

As for Katenbach, we don't really have a favourite as we have not spent so much time exploring there.

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The Kristallhütte is a nice place in Kaltenbach.
Especially if it's sunny.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Fridge03
Do you remember passing/ paying for any tolls from Munich to Mayrhofen

It just come to me , I dldnt see any
I’m sure a couple of years ago Munich to Kitzbuhel more or less the same route we had a toll to pay ??

You'll need to Register first of course.

There are no tolls but you need to pay for a "vignette", to use the Austrian motorway, I normally stop at the first service station after the border and buy one, and a coffee.

Occasionally, I have seen police checking for them at the exit of the motorway for the Ziller valley.

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

After all it is free

Well….currently sitting on the terrace at the Kreuzjochalm getting probably a bit sunburnt. It’s warm. Very warm. But the serotonin is much needed.

So we drove over the Zell am Ziller to start the day without much of a plan. Ended up at Plattenkogel before heading back. I have to say….I much prefer Zell over Mayrhofen. I like the sense of travelling and you really get that here. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mayrhofen as well, but the runs here today were just perfect. From mid afternoon, they’ve started to cut up a bit as they’ve warmed up but it’s still all good.

And it’s busy, but not busy. There are people about but no queues, pistes aren’t over crowded. Obviously there are more people about on the main thoroughfares but it was much busier on our trip to Sella Ronda before the virus of unmentionable origin happened.

All in all. A great day. Gonna have to slap on the after sun when we get in.

Plan on hitting Kaltenbach tomorrow. It’s looking to get warmer on Thursday and Friday so will go to Hintertux on Thursday to get up high.

What a great thread this is given I'm heading to Mayrhofen on April 1st. So Rent4Fun for gear it seems.

What about ski school? I want to stick my 6 year old in for a spell, any recommendations on what's best? And also for us adults for a PL?

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It's impossible not to like Zillertal Arena. So many reds, so well connected... plus some good long blacks.
Less crowded than Mayrhofen indeed, and so easy to get there by bus or train.
Also important: I wasn't stressed to return to the starting point around 16 and could repeatedly play on any piste I enjoyed. The bus to Mayrhofen was waiting at Talstation Gerlosspass and there's also the 17:00 train from Konigsleiten.

Help!!

Trip Report - Mayrhofen 5th - 12th March

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