 Poster: A snowHead
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Super quick report of my experience shadowing my son’s ski trip 25/03 - 01/04
He (and 30 of his grotty little schoolmates) took ta bus from the UK. I elected to fly to Innsbruck.
Ignoring the fact that my BA flight was delayed for 2 hours, and had managed to leave all the regular checked luggage (crucially not my oversized ski bag) in London, the transfer to Kaltenbach was ridiculously straightforward:
A quick bus (€3 15mins) to Innsbruck main station, then a train to Jenbach (€9 20mins) then the Zillertalbahn (€7 20mins) which shuttles you down the valley - stopping at Fügen and Kaltenbach-Stumm (my stop) on its way to Mayrhofen.
Allowing for changes, the whole thing took about 90 minutes.
Once there, I joined up with two pals who had already checked in to Apartment Dengg, which cost us £950 for the whole week.
The valley floor by this time in the season is disconcertingly green, and the snowline looked upsettingly high from our point of view.
Location of the apartment was superb - all of 5 minutes flat walk to the Hochzillertal gondola. Facilities (including heated ski garage) just what was needed. The only gripe was that the apartment was on the top (2nd) floor, and headroom into the eaves (where the kitchen was) was slightly cosy for three 6’+ guys.
We had the full range of weather - dry and icy, then hugely cloudy, then a massive snow dump followed by a blissful powder day, fierce winds and then blistering sunshine and slush.
The Hochzillertal is 2,300m and from what I saw (I wasn’t on holiday from work, so got very little time on the slopes) skiing was generally good, with a good number of broad reds and enough of a handful of short blacks. The area is easy to learn, with blues running through almost everything to easily get you back to the top of the gondola (last one at 4pm).
Seagrave Jnr has a terrific time, despite his helicopterring father. I would be very tempted to return for a family trip.
I did a full morning of skiing on Friday, but there was a real sense that this was the last day of the season (31st March), and the meltwater trickling from the branches and the frolicking birds did nothing to persuaded me better snow days were to come, so we reluctantly packed it in after lunch (Schi-Alm - delicious canteen food - really good gulaschsuppe).
The slopes are served by a seemingly disproportionately high number of eateries. No shortage of hot chocolate stops, I hear!
Kaltenbach itself does not have a “resort” feel - it’s like a Welsh village - damp and cheerful, and with few apres choices. A great place for families.
The Zillertal beers are fabulous - a great range of styles and strengths. We were just too late to make the last brewery tour (5pm) on a visit to Zell am Ziller but had good food at Gasthof Zellerstuben. We missed the last train back up the valley, but a cab wasn’t too expensive (€30 between three, and we would have spent €5 each on the train).
On two evenings we had the most wonderful food and drink at Restaurant Tiatta in Stumm (a 15-minute stroll from Kaltenbach). I cannot recommend it highly enough. Everything we ate was just perfect - a blushing pork chop, pumpkin soup, beef in cream, schnitzel, even the side portion of vegetables was cooked completely perfectly. There was a choice of two vintages of zweigelt red wine by the glass, which was a really civilised thing to drink. Go there.
Saturday (1st April) was T-shirt weather in the valley - deeply warm and verdant. That same meltwater I saw dripping on the mountainside was now surging into the river, and so I mooched casually back to Innsbruck for a very decent lunch (Stiftskeller) and a late flight home.
All in all - heartily recommend for an Easter holiday gamble.
LS
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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like a Welsh village ... = ???
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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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| turms2 wrote: |
| like a Welsh village ... = ??? |
well quite a few Austrian towns have male voice choirs.... 
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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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@lord_seagrave, a tip for next time – buy your transport tickets all the way through from the airport to your accommodation. In your case, the saving is not huge, but enough for a couple of beers.
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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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@lord_seagrave,
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blushing pork chop
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Had to Google this and learned that, contrary to what we used to be told, it's safe to eat pork pink. Thank you - I might now rethink my reluctance to eat (and cook) pork, particularly chops.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Hurtle wrote: |
@lord_seagrave,
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blushing pork chop
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Had to Google this and learned that, contrary to what we used to be told, it's safe to eat pork pink. Thank you - I might now rethink my reluctance to eat (and cook) pork, particularly chops. |
Honestly, it was the most delicious thing.
LS
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| turms2 wrote: |
| like a Welsh village ... = ??? |
Wet and cheerful.
LS
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| I wasn’t on holiday from work, so got very little time on the slopes) |
What did the shadowing entail, if not much skiing? And how were you there if you weren't on holiday from work?
Confused.com
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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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| mountainaddict wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I wasn’t on holiday from work, so got very little time on the slopes) |
What did the shadowing entail, if not much skiing? And how were you there if you weren't on holiday from work?
Confused.com |
Just lurking in the area, managed to ski a bit, met up with him off the slopes every day, and occasionally bumped into his group up there too.
I work from home, so I took the “office” with me. Mostly OK WiFi in the apartment, but patchy data in the mountains 
LS
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