 Poster: A snowHead
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Trying to work out if it’s still possible to book reasonable accommodation for 8 in a decent Austrian resort for half term week (15th Feb). Only been to St Anton so no idea about other options. Ideally good freeride terrain but also some piste skiing for some intermediate kids. St Anton, Lech, Ischgl, Obergurgl and Saalbach come up on the searches. Will they all be heaving? Is St Anton / Lech the best option or one of the others worth a go? Any accommodation ideas in a busy week?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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@swskier, thanks. Is there high altitude skiing or are you reliant on being lucky with temps?
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Apartments depends on where, St Anton probably more apartments than hotels these days as many of the old Pension Garni have been redeveloped as apartments (cheaper & less hassle to run) but as with all accommodation in St Anton now expensive. Ischgl is very hotel focused though maybe Kappl is worth a look. Saalbach might be worth thinking about ask on the Saalbach thread for some inside info (whilst mostly extensive though rather bland piste skiing they do hold a round of the Freeride World Tour so there is some suitable terrain). Kitzbühel might be another option plus, as already mentioned, the Zillertal. A good few SHs in the Flachau area so maybe ask on that thread too.
Usual places to look are the tourist office websites though AirBnB etc has become more prevalent.
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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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Hi! I'm going to tout myself.... we are doing bookings by the room at the moment (normally we just do whole house chalet style bookings over half term).
www.austrian-adventures.com
We are an hour from Salzburg and part of Ski Amadé. You can access loads of different places via the busses or by car.
My website is playing up a little with mobile data for EU phones - I don't know why!
If it is dead then the wayback machine has a decent snapshot ( https://web.archive.org/web/20240522215435/https://austrian-adventures.com/ )
I'm hoping it'll get back online properly soon!.... please let me know if it works wherever you are!
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The Saalbach Ski Circus would usually be a good option - but the weekend of 15th/16th Feb 2025 is the finale of the FIS World Championships in Saalbach, so accommodation is going to be either fully booked (including in the nearby towns like Saalfelden, Maishofen and Zell am See as well as the Ski Circus towns of Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Leogang and Fieberbrunn) or very expensive.
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Jut to add to @luigi's, post - Viehhofen has a direct lift into the Zell am See ski area, and the Saalbach Ski Circus is reached by free ski bus, which runs every 20 minutes and takes 10 minutes. If conditions allow, piste 168 leads from the top of the Saalbach area directly back into Viehhofen - many people rate this 7km run as one of the best runs anywhere, even though it's only a blue run (with an excellent restaurant half-way down). Both the Zell am See area and the Ski Circus are included on the same lift ticket.
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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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@luigi, Schröcken is rather semi detached from the Arlberg, you can ski there (though think it is a "ski route" rather than a piste) but no lift out of the village (hamlet!), various plans to build a lift have never been realised. You have to either take a bus or drive a fair way to the top of the pass on the way to Warth (which is a fair way away). Day trips to St Anton would need to be planned with military precision as no practical road link to Lech. Could be a nice place for a winter holiday though.
You have to be careful with location in Fieberbrunn. The lifts are a good way out of the village, there is some accommodation near the lifts but most in village centre a bus ride or drive away. Fieberbrunn does have a decent off piste area.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@luigi, Schröcken is rather semi detached from the Arlberg, you can ski there (though think it is a "ski route" rather than a piste) but no lift out of the village (hamlet!), various plans to build a lift have never been realised. You have to either take a bus or drive a fair way to the top of the pass on the way to Warth (which is a fair way away). Day trips to St Anton would need to be planned with military precision as no practical road link to Lech. Could be a nice place for a winter holiday though.
You have to be careful with location in Fieberbrunn. The lifts are a good way out of the village, there is some accommodation near the lifts but most in village centre a bus ride or drive away. Fieberbrunn does have a decent off piste area.
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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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Thanks all! Arlberg I know and we loved it so will check out Schrocken. We’ll be driving from Lausanne / Vienna (trying to find somewhere in the middle) so will have cars. I know Fieberbrunn is on the FWT circuit but it looks very low. Same with Saalbach and Ski Amade. Doesn’t that impact snow quality? Zillertal includes the Hintertuxtux glacier if I understand correctly? I know Austria is more snow sure than France / Switzerland but some of these are lower than PdS and I would be wary of booking a holiday there due to warm weather risk. Is that concern justified? And if so what about Silvretta / Montafon or Obergurgl. Any good?
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You know it makes sense.
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Thanks all! Arlberg I know and we loved it so will check out Schrocken. We’ll be driving from Lausanne / Vienna (trying to find somewhere in the middle) so will have cars. I know Fieberbrunn is on the FWT circuit but it looks very low. Same with Saalbach and Ski Amade. Doesn’t that impact snow quality? Zillertal includes the Hintertuxtux glacier if I understand correctly? I know Austria is more snow sure than France / Switzerland but some of these are lower than PdS and I would be wary of booking a holiday there due to warm weather risk. Is that concern justified? And if so what about Silvretta / Montafon or Obergurgl. Any good? |
The Eastern Alps sit further into the cold Continental airmass in winter, so will tend to preserve snow better at lower altitudes that those in the Western Alps. Some have given the figure of 300-500m difference, so comparing an Austrian village at 1000m to a village in the PDS at 1000m is like comparing apples and pears.
Also, in Austria, very often you will be skiing mid-mountain and above all day and only return to the resort in the valley bottom at the end of the day.
But obviously, going higher does usually mean better snow.
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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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@BobinCH, I get really annoyed with this obsession that altitude means better snow. In Jan/Feb it usually means you're getting blasted by the wind and in Mar/Apr you're skiing in slush from 10am due to the higher radiation levels. Aspect is just as important and much of Austria's Ski Amade area is North facing. Thus, mid-Feb, we'll have stacks of snow that stays in shadow for much of the day.
St Anton/Lech is a great place to ski, but ultimately we chose to put down roots here. The week you're looking at is going to be busy but if you base yourselves at Ben and Ange's place in Radstadt you can smash Schladming one day, cruise the Snowspace (Flachau) the day after and blast around the Hochkonig another. Zauchensee has some great Freeride options if you know where to go as does Bad Gastein but that's a bit further away from Radstadt.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@BobinCH, The Arlberg is a level above all of the other Austrian areas but that means crowds and expense, no way round that sadly. I came to the conclusion a while back that while the eastern Tirol & Salzburg areas can be great in a snowy January or early February after that snow quality declines very quickly. Yes you can get heavy snowfall but also lots of sunshine combined with relatively low altitude is not ideal. Not an issue if you are happy with afternoons spent drinking beer on a terrace. Montafon is adjacent to the Arlberg so should get similar levels of snow (a bit less). I would have thought Obergurgl would be a bit small and limited though apparently a certain amount of off piste.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks again. Seems BiL has had a couple of slushy Feb trips to Saalbach so don’t want anywhere without high altitude skiing options
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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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@quinton, wrote: “ Jut to add to @luigi's, post - Viehhofen has a direct lift into the Zell am See ski area, and the Saalbach Ski Circus is reached by free ski bus, which runs every 20 minutes and takes 10 minutes.”
Actually it’s every 10 minutes - at least it has been the last couple of seasons.
@BobinCH, wrote: “Seems BiL has had a couple of slushy Feb trips to Saalbach so don’t want anywhere without high altitude skiing options”
The possibility of unseasonably mild weather in February certainly can’t be excluded, but the odds are against it (hasn’t your BiL heard of “third time lucky”?)
Should you need to look for north-facing slopes, you have at least 100km of such at Leogang, Fieberbrunn and on various slopes in the main Glemm valley, particularly Schattberg and Zwölferkogel. Also at Zell am See.
And, if you have a need to go for high altitude, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier at 3,000m is only half an hour away and covered by the same lift pass as Saalbach.
But February is usually okay; in fact the middle of March has been good for the last few years, with late snow and cool temperatures.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@luigi, wrote: “ The Eastern Alps sit further into the cold Continental airmass in winter, so will tend to preserve snow better at lower altitudes that those in the Western Alps. Some have given the figure of 300-500m difference, so comparing an Austrian village at 1000m to a village in the PDS at 1000m is like comparing apples and pears.”
Glad you leapt in before I did! Also proximity to the maritime influence of south-westerly winds from the Atlantic results in a higher snowline in the western Alps. I suppose people can’t be blamed for thinking that the snowline is more or less the same right across the Alps; it’s not exactly counter-intuitive to think that way, as it would be if comparing Finland with say Slovenia.
But I do find it amusing, when British skiers look at the height of a successful and famous ski resort, such as Kitzbühel at 762m, and pronounce it too low simply because French resorts at that altitude would have no snow at all.
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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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@BobinCH, yes Zillertal includes Hintertux. Best high altitude Freeriding options in the valley. But it’s not close to the rest of the skiing in the Zillertal so you would need a car for the 30 mins from Mayrhofen or the bus (works well).
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| tatmanstours wrote: |
But I do find it amusing, when British skiers look at the height of a successful and famous ski resort, such as Kitzbühel at 762m, and pronounce it too low simply because French resorts at that altitude would have no snow at all. |
Applying the 300-500m difference mentioned above puts these lower resorts at a similar altitude to the Portes du Soleil. Fine if you’re happy with piste skiing and the security of artificial snow but very risky for a freeride destination. The snow transforms too quickly at lower altitudes. Aspect of course helps but you can’t get around the altitude issue and that is becoming more of a problem in recent years. It’s a bit later in early March but the poor state of the Wildseeloder at the Fieberbrunn FWT stop over the last couple of seasons illustrates the problem. And that’s North facing at 2100m. They were saved by a cold spell last season but it still wasn’t great. I’d love to ski there in good conditions but would prefer a less risky option this time.
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I saw a movie on Obergurgl once where a few lads were camped in a hut and toured for a week from there. So you might get a decent amount out of that? I think the FWT have had events there too? Not sure on the apartment situation though.
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| @swskier, thanks. Is there high altitude skiing or are you reliant on being lucky with temps? |
30 mins or so and you're at Hintertux for the Glacier
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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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| swskier wrote: |
| BobinCH wrote: |
| @swskier, thanks. Is there high altitude skiing or are you reliant on being lucky with temps? |
30 mins or so and you're at Hintertux for the Glacier |
Thanks. If I’m looking on airbnb / booking which would be the best locations to look for? We’ll have cars and do t mind driving to skiing but would prefer to avoid using them in the evenings
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@BobinCH, if you're going to Zillertal and want to stay towards the high end of the valley then Lanersbach might be worthwhile looking at. I've stayed there many times and as well as being close to the Hintertux glacier it has its own gondola the Eggalmbahn into the Mayrhofen ski area. Several good eating places in the evening in Lanersbach too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Thanks all! Arlberg I know and we loved it so will check out Schrocken. We’ll be driving from Lausanne / Vienna (trying to find somewhere in the middle) so will have cars. I know Fieberbrunn is on the FWT circuit but it looks very low. Same with Saalbach and Ski Amade. Doesn’t that impact snow quality? Zillertal includes the Hintertuxtux glacier if I understand correctly? I know Austria is more snow sure than France / Switzerland but some of these are lower than PdS and I would be wary of booking a holiday there due to warm weather risk. Is that concern justified? And if so what about Silvretta / Montafon or Obergurgl. Any good? |
Hey Bob,
Arlberg would be right up your street (as you know). Ischgl and Montafon would both work well too, and especially if you hike a little there’s great terrain with less competition than the Arlberg. For Montafin inspo check out Fabio Studer’s (and Max Hitzig’s) videos on IG, especially from the Novatal zone: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CLFF-vWAiWh/?igsh=OWhwZmcxaWNsdTcz
I would not recommend Obergurgl for you. There is cool hike-to freeride stuff but the piste skiing is limited.
Personally I love Saalbach for soft/slushy groomer surfing. Not sure that’s what you want though. The Fieberbrunn side is a snow-magnet and has good terrain, but tbh I think Arlberg/Ischgl/Montafon would suit you better.
I don’t know Zillertal but I think that would be a good option. Hochfügen is supposed to have some of the best lift-access terrain in Austria - check Roman Rohrmoser on Instagram to see it (most of his big lines on there are Hochfügen): https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1FZxkMrMxO/?igsh=OXlqMzN2Z3Q5eDA3
I’m told Kitzbühel has a lot more cool freeride terrain than people give it credit for, but you may need a guide to find it.
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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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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
| @BobinCH, if you're going to Zillertal and want to stay towards the high end of the valley then Lanersbach might be worthwhile looking at. I've stayed there many times and as well as being close to the Hintertux glacier it has its own gondola the Eggalmbahn into the Mayrhofen ski area. Several good eating places in the evening in Lanersbach too. |
Thanks. Couldn’t find any accommodation there. Nothing at all! Only up at Tux.
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@clarky999, we finally found a chalet in the Nasserein area of St Anton for a great deal so Arlberg gets the vote. Can drive the kids round to Lech / Zurs for piste skiing and if we get decent conditions, get out the fat skis and hike the Valluga again!
Hoping to do a day at Montafon on the way there / or back. Liked the look of Hochfugen but will leave the Zillertal for another time.
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You know it makes sense.
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Ischgl probably isn't your best option, though it does depend. Ischgl's very much an adult focused resort with, let's call it a lively apres scene. It does have a good amount of off piste, but it's proper off piste rather than easily accessible side piste.
If your families are late teen children and your idea of "freeride" involves strapping on a transever and paying a guide that might work. If they are younger/you're looking for more side piste and 'ungroomed pistes' it probably won't.
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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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@BobinCH, Put the kids on the bus they go every half an hour in the mornings from the train station. Easy enough to ski back with the Flexenbahn.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| munich_irish wrote: |
| @BobinCH, Put the kids on the bus they go every half an hour in the mornings from the train station. Easy enough to ski back with the Flexenbahn. |
Thanks! We have a non skier so hoping she can drive them over. I created a more specific thread for this and a couple of other questions
https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=171292&highlight=
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| Liked the look of Hochfugen but will leave the Zillertal for another time. |
Let me know if/when you make it, I owe you more than 1 beer!
FWIW, Mayrhofen is the best bet for no car needed in the evening, it has the most bars and restaurants, but what you wanted for skiing would mean driving to Zell am Ziller and/or Kaltenbach/Hochfügen, other villages have some bars/restaurants, but nowhere near the level of Mayrhofen.
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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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| swskier wrote: |
| BobinCH wrote: |
| Liked the look of Hochfugen but will leave the Zillertal for another time. |
Let me know if/when you make it, I owe you more than 1 beer!
FWIW, Mayrhofen is the best bet for no car needed in the evening, it has the most bars and restaurants, but what you wanted for skiing would mean driving to Zell am Ziller and/or Kaltenbach/Hochfügen, other villages have some bars/restaurants, but nowhere near the level of Mayrhofen. |
Thanks. If we come back would be without kids when conditions look good for pow so Hochfugen looks like the prime spot if I understand correctly?
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