 Poster: A snowHead
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Gf & I booked a ski trip for the 28th of Feb and realised we can’t wait that long and that there’s no weekends we can ski after next weekend until late season.
Is there any options to ski this next weekend?
We are both London based and working Friday so will have to get a late flight to Geneva or Munich or any other option with late flights.
Likely have to stay the night near the airport and get an early car rental, train or bus to the resort.
Then back to the airport Sunday evening and flight that evening or early morning
Options are limited but currently looking at Glacier 3000, or Hintertaux
Any recommendations highly appreciated
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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There is a post on the Magic Pass thread showing more open at Saas Fee.
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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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Post some pictures, if you go!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Samgriffiths20,
Great idea! 
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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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@Samgriffiths20, I regularly have a ski trip to Hintertux at the end of November, I'm going again at the end of this month.I've usually flown into Munich airport and then got a shared transfer with Four Seasons Travel/Tirol taxi: https://www.tirol-taxi.at/ , however I don't know if they operate at the start of November as it's earlier in the winter season. You can either rent a car from the airport as you say, you'll need to mention at the rental desk that you're taking the car into Austria, they usually add a fee of about €30 for taking it outside Germany (also don't forget to buy an Austrian vignette if you want to use the Austrian motorways) , or if you want to use public transport you can take the S8 line S-bahn from Munich airport to Munich Ostbahnhof where you get the train to Jenbach in Austria where you change platforms onto the Zillertalbahn narrow gauge railway that goes as far as Mayrhofen. From Mayrhofen station you then get the bus line no. 4101 to Hintertux.
I've usually stayed in the village of Lanersbach just a few km short of Hintertux, there are several hotels and restaurants there. Recently I've stayed at a good value B&B https://www.hermannsklause-tux.at/
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Samgriffiths20, I think pretty much every glacier is open in Austria currently.
So look at flights in to Munich, Innsbruck or Salzburg depending on what works best and then pick a glacier from there.
Realisitically:
Salzburg - Kitzsteinhorn (Kaprun)
Munich/Innsbruck - Hintertux or Stubai
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
@Samgriffiths20, I regularly have a ski trip to Hintertux at the end of November, I'm going again at the end of this month.I've usually flown into Munich airport and then got a shared transfer with Four Seasons Travel/Tirol taxi: https://www.tirol-taxi.at/ , however I don't know if they operate at the start of November as it's earlier in the winter season. You can either rent a car from the airport as you say, you'll need to mention at the rental desk that you're taking the car into Austria, they usually add a fee of about €30 for taking it outside Germany (also don't forget to buy an Austrian vignette if you want to use the Austrian motorways) , or if you want to use public transport you can take the S8 line S-bahn from Munich airport to Munich Ostbahnhof where you get the train to Jenbach in Austria where you change platforms onto the Zillertalbahn narrow gauge railway that goes as far as Mayrhofen. From Mayrhofen station you then get the bus line no. 4101 to Hintertux.
I've usually stayed in the village of Lanersbach just a few km short of Hintertux, there are several hotels and restaurants there. Recently I've stayed at a good value B&B https://www.hermannsklause-tux.at/ |
Thanks all for the helpful advice
We are considering Hintertux, brief itinerary, thoughts & costs below:
LHR to MUC
Land 2300
Hand luggage included
Depart MUC 2200
£147
Car hire, excess insurance, leave country fee, Austrian
10 day vignette
Pick up 2345
£85
2h15m drive ish, arrive 0230 agw
Lift pass Saturday & Sunday
£145
Ski hire
£36
Hotel incl. breakfast & spa
£333
Total costs
Flight £147
Car hire 50+17+7+11 = 85/2 = 42.5
Lift pass £140
Ski hire £36
Accommodation 333/2 = 166.5
Total per person
£ 531
Need to check
- hotel allows for early AM check-in, alternative is stay a night at Munich and then drive in AM
The lift pass seems expensive but I couldn’t see any cheaper or discounts so seems that’s the standard
Any thoughts on that itinerary?
Two people, Full 2 days skiing, no annual leave taken
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@Samgriffiths20, sounds doable, the only important thing as you've already mentioned is check that the hotel allows you to check in in the wee small hours of Saturday morning! Which hotel do you have in mind? I've stayed at the hotel Jäger in Lanersbach which has a pool and spa, good food too.
Good luck!
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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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@Samgriffiths20, I'd be more inclined to sleep in Munich and set off in the morning, but either way you're not getting a great night's sleep on Friday night.
The drive to Hintertux is really easy, especially at that time when there'll be no traffic.
As everyone else said, being able to check in at 0230 or not will be what determines driving Friday night or Saturday morning.
I doubt the traffic will be too bad on Saturday morning, but the Brettfall tunnel is currently closed until 16th Nov, so it's a slightly slower detour to enter the valley via Strass. Again, no issue on Friday night, Saturday morning could cause some traffic but it's hardly peak season!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I love this! I was trying to work out if I could do something similar with a friend in January as we can't take any annual leave (we work at the same school).
Our school gives us half a day paid to take whenever as a Christmas present, so we could utilise that and finish at 12 on the Friday.
Following with interest.
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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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| Quote: |
| I was trying to work out if I could do something similar with a friend in January as we can't take any annual leave (we work at the same school). |
Definitely do-able @Owlette. My sister in law used to be a teacher and we (Mrs MA, my brother and my sister in law) did loads of weekend dashes to the Alps for 1.5 days' skiing
Outbound early Saturday; back late Sunday; work on Monday morning. We even used to drive to Stansted (450 mile round trip) if it meant a weekend on the piste!
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Sounds like an awesome adventure, go for it!!
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You know it makes sense.
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Consider Engelberg, there's usually plenty of skiing open at that time, should be at least down as far as Stand, but usually all the way to Truebsee. Easy rail transfer from Zurich direct to the centre of the village.
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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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It’s been booked! Can’t wait
@mountainaddict,
A shame about the price of lift passes but guess it’s the standard now!
Thanks for the advice we will check out the apres bar
Hotel confirmed it’s fine turning up at th at time
@swskier,
I’d rather just get the journey done with, I quite like a drive and know it’ll be quiet then
@Owlette,
Definitely doable! I’ll keep you posted on how this goes. Should be great snow then too and good value
@Chaletbeauroc, I’ll consider that for the next one!
@Alastair Pink,
Hotel Eden! It looks very good for the price
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Poster: A snowHead
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Great stuff @Samgriffiths20 - it'll be brilliant!
I'm beating you to it! Off to Saas Fee tomorrow night for 3 days' skiing. First turns of winter 2025/26.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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the best option these days, are the glaciers in Austria
I was there from 24 till 28 Okt. (Sölden) and its generally ok.
You have to accept that you do not have many slopes available and probably they will be a litte crowded.
I will avoid Pitztal because of the tunnel train which cause really big waiting time, and probably Stubai because its always over crowded.
If you have a car, either Hintertux, or Sölden, or Kitzsteinhorn.
But if you book flights to MUC then def. Hitnertux.
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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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@mountainaddict,
Very jealous, it looks great there
Let us know how it is
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@mountainaddict, @Samgriffiths20, you'll both ski before I do this season, and I live out here! 
The damn EU banning locals prices meaning my season starts later now!
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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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Annoyingly, it appears that British Airways have canned their later afternoon flight from london city airport to geneva - I was about to recommend this for anyone working in london as it allowed you to work most of the day and then check in around 5pm and get to your resort for last orders... But I just checked and it no longer shows on the BA schedule of flights... 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
| The damn EU banning locals prices meaning my season starts later now! |
Never mind @swskier, at least we've er, taken back control and the NHS is £350m a week better off
Looking good at Hintertux @Samgriffiths20 - fresh tracks above Tuxerfernerhaus (2660m)
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@mountainaddict, 20cm reported this morning at the Tuxerhernerhaus restaurant.
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@mountainaddict,
How is Saas Fee today?
Hintertux is looking good but hoping the warm weather doesn't melt too much
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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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Know someone who was at Saas on Saturday, snow on the glacier is great, mostly T-bars at this time of year and you *could* ski down to the bottom of the resort, but the snow gets worse and worse on the way down. That was Saturday, today is a new day.
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| Quote: |
| How is Saas Fee today? |
We've had a great afternoon, after arriving in the village just after noon To avoid duplication, I'll post a report in my 'Magic Pass 2025/26' thread in a while. It can be found under Resort Reviews too!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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How was it @Samgriffiths20?
Where are you?! Let's be 'aving you!
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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'd be interested to know how it went. Often daydreamed about doing something like this and not really familiar with Austria. Good info in this thread. When I've looked at Geneva, the price has put me off, especially as I'd likely be travelling solo (and for what amounts to a few hours on snow). This year something like this may be my only option if I'm to get my fix.
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I’m going tignes in 2 weekends for opening, very excited. Then going Val D’Isere 3 weeks later.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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@mountainaddict, @silentice, @swskier,
Sorry for the delay! It was absolutely brilliant, catching up on sleep still!
I’ll go into quite a bit of detail just in case anyone wants to copy the itinerary
Had very tight timings as I couldn’t leave work early, but worked out thankfully.
Here’s how it went:
Finished work 1800
Northern Line to Tottenham Court Road
Elizabeth Line straight to Heathrow T2
Arrived around 1915
Lufthansa flight 2015 to Munich
Flight delayed so landed 2351 rather than 2305
Therefore got stung by out of hours fee by Sixt of 50/60 euro!
But on the bright side because we were late, one of the garages had been locked and got upgraded from a Citroen C3 to an Audi A3 Sportback! Brilliant car, especially fun on the autobahn
Left the airport about 0030, sixt were very quick but it took a little while going through passport control as only 1 person doing the non-EU passports…
Easy drive from Munich to Hotel Eden, arrived at 0315
0815 wake up, have breakfast
Bit of a slow morning as we were tired
0945 at the ski hire shop Sport Nenner next to the bottom gondola. This took ages, the system wasn’t very efficient. Lesson for next time, you can hire from the shops halfway up the mountain and they had no queues when we went past.
1115 at the top gondola and started skiing - later than we had hoped but given the flight delay and the time it took to get the hire equipment, not too shabby
1300 - 1345 had lunch
1600 finished skiing
Back to hotel and spent a few hours in the spa area. Highly recommend hotel Eden for their hospitality and value for money - they also let you use the spa area on departure and leave bags with reception whilst you go out and ski
Then did the same again on Sunday with times shifted a bit earlier
Stayed in the spa till around 1800, drove back to Munich, got to the airport at 2040, flight at 2155
Somehow the petrol to hintertux, driving around there, and back (half the way back in sport mode) only cost €45!
Landed 15 min early at Heathrow and got an uber back home, in bed about 0030 and up for work 0730.
Brilliant skiing, surprisingly good snow, we both loved it and are trying to figure out if there’s any way we can do another weekend trip.
It was our first time in Austria and absolutely loved it, & we would both love to see how Hintertux is in the main season
Definitely better value than France, we found the food not as good taste wise but far better in value
Recommendations:
- Munich airport was great, very efficient and modern
- Hotel Eden - very hospitable, brilliant location
- Swings Restaurant - great food
- Hintertux - nice resort, far better skiing than I had imagined for this time of year
Only complaints:
- out of hours car hire fee
- travel via tube to Heathrow is expensive! We actually got an uber on the way back because it was around the same price as 2x cost for the Elizabeth line
- a bit busy at times and short runs so lots of stop starting, but given the time of year can’t really complain
- how weak the British passport now is
All in all, highly recommend it for a pre-season skiing fix. Gf & I have decided we will have to do a November trip to an Austrian glacier every year going forward
Just threw together my thoughts there in case it helps anyone! Let me know if any q’s
Also - am I able to upload photos without being a paid member?
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Samgriffiths20, glad to hear it worked out for you.  I'll be at Hintertux at the end of this month, looking forward to my first ski trip of the new season.
In terms of uploading photos a lot of people used to use imgur to host their photos and upload here, but that's no longer an option as they have recently prevented UK users from viewing such links in response to the new UK age verification protocols that they can't be arsed to comply with. Instead you can try using other hosting platforms such as https://imgbb.com/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Samgriffiths20, the Elizabeth line isnt the tube and out to Heathrow it charges a “special fare” which is about three times the price of the Piccadilly Line (but its cheaper than the Heathrow Express).
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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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@ster, yeah, it’s very expensive but it’s expected for the convenience
@Alastair Pink, brilliant, you’ll have a great time. Let us know how you find it, I suspect there will be more open in the coming weeks as they had lots of snow making going on
A few pictures from our trip:
[img]https://ibb.co/Xxs8KY63[/img]
[img]https://ibb.co/gbvT4cqM[/img]
[img]https://ibb.co/nsxHK6w1[/img]
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Sounds brilliant @Samgriffiths20 - so glad you had a great time and loved Hintertux and Austria The weather looks fantastic on your photos and it looks like you made it to Hohenhaus Tenne too!
We always think that two-day ski trips feel so much longer and have really enjoyed them when that's the only duration we have been able to do. When arriving back home, it feels like we've been away a week and feels such an adventure - tiring but definitely well worth it.
It's worth keeping an eye on glacier webcams and conditions from October onwards. We went to Hintertux with two days' notice (via cheap easyjet Munich flights) for a couple of days on the slopes after early October snowfall two or three years ago and had a brilliant time.
Stubai Glacier, about the same distance from Munich as Hintertux, is extensive and well worth a visit; Sölden is decent too (two glaciers, connected by a road tunnel), but access (up a windy mountain toll toad) always feels a bit of a pain; Kaunertal is small and has an even more tortuous drive; and Pitztal is medium-sized with some nice runs and easy funicular access after a long, valley-drive approach.
One final thing: Now you've discovered the delights of out of season glacier skiing, you'll have to give it a go between May and July! May/June are best for snow conditions, but diehards like me and Mrs MA love July skiing too - with a 7am start, soft snow by 9.30am and slush skiing by 11am Just make sure to pack your factor 50!
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 11-11-25 23:18; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Samgriffiths20, You'll need to copy/paste the Linked Thumbnail text from the BBcode section on each of those images, e.g.
| Code: |
| [url=https://ibb.co/Xxs8KY63][img]https://i.ibb.co/Xxs8KY63/IMG-5533.png[/img][/url] |
Will give this:
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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, haha you just want the slopes to yourself!
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@Samgriffiths20, preferably 
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FAQ
