 Poster: A snowHead
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The municipality of Sölden in Ötztal is getting serious from December 1st: the local council recently decided to introduce an alcohol-free zone along the village street between the Giggijoch and Gaislachkogel lifts and the adjacent area with the residential and nursing home and the after-school care center. https://www.krone.at/3956241
The area mentioned is apparently currently the location of noisy partying by apres-skiers, which according to Deputy Mayor Maximilian Riml is causing problems for local residents. "Unreasonable noise nuisance for local residents, broken beer glasses on the sidewalks and other messes were the result," says Riml. He remembers, for example, when drunks tried to play "soccer" on the sidewalk with beer glasses. Many residents had had enough.
Soft measures without success
Even before the last winter season, attempts were made to get the situation under control with increased control of the existing noise regulations - without any significant success. This is why the alcohol ban was introduced. "We got the landlords on board and incorporated their advice into the regulation," explains Riml.
The threat of hefty fines
The alcohol ban will be fully monitored by security forces. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 2,000 euros.
Whilst I sympathise with the residents of Sölden and fully understand the reasons for the introduction of the alcohol ban in public places I imagine one or two partygoers such as savaloy joy will be a bit disappointed..... 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That means no alcohol out in the street I suppose?
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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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| Origen wrote: |
| That means no alcohol out in the street I suppose? |
Correct. Seems reasonable to me, people can confine their drinking and partying to the indoor venues.
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A certain amount of irony here. The locals have become rich selling cheap beer for inflated prices & smut to visitors and are now complaining about the consequences.
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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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That's true, but the interests of pubs don't always align with those of the neighbours. "The locals" probably include a number of factions - maybe including those who have bars in more salubrious parts of town?
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I'm not familiar with the place but is the suggestion that outside areas/patios outside bars will be closed. I rather got the impression they were fairly essential to accomodate volume of customers in Austria. If it's jus prevention of carrying drinks along the street that is somewhat different.
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We had the misfortune to accidentally stop off in Solden en route to Obergurgl, where we were starting a hut to hut ski tour, this must have been around 20 years ago!
And it must have been that "strip" as it resembled Hamburg* more than an Austrian ski resort, with all the various "adult" bars. It was quite an eye opener and I've been around the block!
The bar(s), think we went into two, were full of drunk overweight bald Germans, totally raucous.
I remember commenting back then that they'd probably been going on lads ski holidays since way-back-when, when they were young & good looking, but now they were predominantly way past their sell by date.
*Lap dancing bars etc
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I'm fine with bald men, past their prime, enjoying themselves. "The strip" sounds revolting - but it would be no less revolting if the punters were 34 year old young Gods or 64 year old Gods who reckoned they'd been "looking after themselves".
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I would guess that the residents of the old folks home include previous owners of the various establishments now being blamed for causing a nuisance. This is a more general issue around the Tirol, many locals have become extremely rich (think Ischgl) by selling their villages as perfect party spots, those who have not become quite so rich are now complaining about how this is disturbing the peace, damaging the environment etc.
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Is this not an instance of a much wider problem, increasingly publicised, about places where some people feel that "souls have been sold" for tourist dosh?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Origen, maybe a better description I should have used to describe them, "seedy" !
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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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Yes, the whole thing sounds horribly seedy. And so very different from what we would probably like to think of as the spirit of a ski holiday in the mountains!
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| munich_irish wrote: |
| I would guess that the residents of the old folks home include previous owners of the various establishments now being blamed for causing a nuisance. This is a more general issue around the Tirol, many locals have become extremely rich (think Ischgl) by selling their villages as perfect party spots, those who have not become quite so rich are now complaining about how this is disturbing the peace, damaging the environment etc. |
Thing is that out of ski season these places can be quite delightful. Ischgl or Saalbach etc in summer is lovely with none of the lads lads lads lairiness, despite a lot of mountain bikes etc. So I can see the Faustian bargain - we sell out for 3.5 months so we can have peace and quiet in comfort the rest of the year. I do think the strippers/dancers thing is very germanically influenced though.
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You know it makes sense.
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Scruffy concrete jungle strung out along a fairly busy through road, the polar opposite of endearing Alpine resorts. Glad to pass through when en route to the Gurgl’s.
[I’m not averse to apres ski, fantastic times had in Kitzbühel, Ischgl, Val D’Isere, St Anton and others]?
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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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We’re booked for Easter. The only bits I’ve found on here for Solden don’t make for good reading. This and the linked post from Savaloy Joy 
Is it really that bad?
Me, the Mrs and 3 kids (16,9 and 6) going. Got a chalet slightly out from the centre. 15 min walk or so to Gigijochbahn
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Banjo90 wrote: |
We’re booked for Easter. The only bits I’ve found on here for Solden don’t make for good reading. This and the linked post from Savaloy Joy
Is it really that bad?
Me, the Mrs and 3 kids (16,9 and 6) going. Got a chalet slightly out from the centre. 15 min walk or so to Gigijochbahn |
We had looked to go this winter but the accommodation we wanted was booked up.
The skiing is very decent and like Ischgl there are plenty quiet places for a drink of food if that's what you are after.
Like Ischgl it has a modern lift system.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Banjo90, always check the date on the post (SJ, 23/01/10)
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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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| Banjo90 wrote: |
| Is it really that bad? |
No. It's internet nonsense. It happens.
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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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| Banjo90 wrote: |
We’re booked for Easter. The only bits I’ve found on here for Solden don’t make for good reading. This and the linked post from Savaloy Joy
Is it really that bad?
Me, the Mrs and 3 kids (16,9 and 6) going. Got a chalet slightly out from the centre. 15 min walk or so to Gigijochbahn |
No not at all, I was in Solden last Easter and after reading some of the garbage spouted on here about the place I was very surprised. I really enjoyed it and found the village to be quite endearing, yes it's not going to win any awards for prettiest alpine village but it's on a par with the majority of other Austrian / Italian ski towns/villages I've been to and a million times more attractive than most of the French purpose built resorts. I found the place to have a nice mountain community feel to it, friendly people, plenty of places to eat, good amenities and a range of bars from the more lively to quiet local haunts.
Oddly, and I'm not sure if it's just because it was late in the season but I also found the apres to be quite downbeat, nowhere near on the level of St Anton or Ischgl for instance. Solden often get's slated on here because there's a lapdancing bar (2 I think) but they are tucked out of the way and less in your face than they are in Ischgl (which most on here seem to love). Maybe we were lucky with when we went or maybe it's improved in recent years but our overall experience was positive and would happily go back.
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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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Some serious amount of snobbiness in the replies....including folk who've never been!!.
I've been there loads of times, yes some places get rowdy (like most big resorts) but there's plenty of choice....the outside ban won't curtail much as pretty much all the apres is indoors, with the exception of the front of Marcos and Kuck Kuck.
@GottaCatchEmAll, Seconded everything you've said.
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I suspect the Gemeinde in Sölden got fed up with their reputation as the "Reeperbahn" of the alps and have moved to shut down most of the seedy bars (or moved them to industrial estates hidden from casual tourists!), probably not good for business generally either. Not much they can do about the main road running through the centre of the village though. As mentioned there is a move throughout the Tirol to row back on rowdy apres which has been causing a fair amount of upset with many residents, restrictions on drinking and wearing ski boots in the evenings are now commonplace. I suspect we have moved past "peak apres".
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It’s always the same as @munich_irish already mentioned.
I sometimes wonder what certain places in Austria would look like today without skiing and the “mass of tourists.”
Places like Ischgl, Sölden, or Zauchensee…
I understand that for some residents it can be annoying, but the majority there are wealthy because of those tourists.
At the end of October in Sölden, I heard a bus driver complaining about German drivers parking wherever they wanted, not listening to the parking staff, and about too many tourists in general. While I don’t disagree (some drivers really make me angry), this particular driver was working on the Tiefenbach–Rettenbach bus line.
And the only reason he even has that job is the tourists. I do not think that without tourists is there any reason for this bus line.
The same was in Summer in the Dolomite Area, in Greece, the same i heard in Tirol with the Discounts Card for residents (which is from EU illegal) etc etc. Always the bloody tourists, but in Covid time they were trying to do everything to have tourists again. I know that overtourism is not the best but its so...
Mentioned Greece, we used to say "You can’t carry two watermelons under one arm."
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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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Tourism is what keeps towns alive around us.
The places that are not attractive to tourists are dead.
Yes they can drive me mad when out and about but they are what keep bars restaurants etc going.
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Stupid question but I just saw a post showing from the 21st piste 30 is open but the lifts called Stabele and Langegg are closed.... How do you get back up the mountain/back into town at the end of piste 30 without these? It looks a brutal walk in ski boots from the map
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I don't know, here's their status map: https://www.soelden.com/en/live-information/status
Those lifts are normally not open right at the end of the season, when I'm usually there. There is a bus which runs up and down the road through the same valley as piste 30. I'm not sure if it'll pick you up in the middle. Their status page shows piste 30 as closed; lack of a way back might be one reason why 
The standard way up to the glaciers at seasons end is either up the road (bus/drive), or if the snow's good then the Giggijock lift then Rotkogljoch stuff and hack across. If you look at the map today, you can see that route appears to be open, as you'd expect early season perhaps. The glaciers there are particularly good, with some variety.
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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: |
Tourism is what keeps towns alive around us.
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Sure, but there are a whole lot of nice places which have not sold out to lap-dancing or expect people to blind eye to anti-social behaviour which should not be tolerated anywhere.
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| Origen wrote: |
| Quote: |
Tourism is what keeps towns alive around us.
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Sure, but there are a whole lot of nice places which have not sold out to lap-dancing or expect people to blind eye to anti-social behaviour which should not be tolerated anywhere. |
Unfortunately perhaps for those of us that enjoyed travelling before peak Instagram, there is an increase in visitation in many places it seems based in social media exposure. With the corresponding response in many areas of increased costs or access restrictions. In ski resorts it seems to be largely conversion of hospitality to more 4/5* together with parking charges. I know St Anton isn't as fun with the Underground and the Funky Chicken etc and no amount of furry rugs on couches in chic bars & hygge* will replace that though it obviously doesn't impact on the quality of the skiing. Nevertheless people will still get wankered at the KK and Mooser.
* I expect at some point "dive bar" chic will come into fashion but it will remain premium priced and hipster ironic.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
there is an increase in visitation in many places it seems based in social media exposure
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I'm told this is the case with a number of spots on the "North Coast 500" in Scotland. Where the "hidden gems" and lonely outposts are sometimes inundated with tourists (many of them Chinese) who just tick the box, take the Insta photo and roar off into the beautiful sunset.
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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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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| ... In ski resorts it seems to be largely conversion of hospitality to more 4/5* together with parking charges. ... |
The change in the OP seems to be pretty much describing that.
In the couple of decades I've been going to Sölden, it's been heading up-market not down.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@phil_w, i have noticed that also...
Generally speakig the prices in Austria heading up especially after Covid.
But comparing Sölden now vs 2010 or earlier i noticed also a big diferrence.
Even if its a little bit more little Ischgl (althoug Ischgl ist also not the cheapest place)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Anyone out in solden/obergurgl to comment on conditions? Is there not really a seasonairres vibe there?
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