 Poster: A snowHead
|
Is there any reason for this? In my very limited experience we found very easy slopes in France (Greens) but few if any easy slopes in Austria/Swizterland, some of the Blues in the Montafon area in particular were very very tricky for the kids.
Where if at all in Austria/Swizterland do you find easy beginners slopes?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
lisach,
There certainly are easy slopes in Austria and Switzerland that would be graded green in France, why they don't have a seperate grading I am not sure. There was a long and at times heated discussion about this earlier in the year. I cannot remember the name of the thread title though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
lisach, standard notation in Italy, Switzerland and Austria is to call the easy slopes blue. The additional designation of green slopes exists only in France.
It doesn't mean that all these blues are necessarily steeper gradient than greens in france, but you won't know which is which unless you get advice from the resort.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
thanks T Bar, and Ray Zorro, I just get the impression that Austria and Swiss slopes are typically steeper, it may be a real misconception but in France I feel that there is more space and a more gradual rise. The reason for asking is that planning a trip to France is easier because I know I can be sure that almost all Greens will suit the beginners in my party. Whereas elsewhere I can't be sure of that! I hope that makes some sense. If anyone can recall the previous thread I would be interested in viewing it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
We took our kids on their first ski trip to Kaprun a few years ago. Good easy runs both in resort and on Kitzsteinhorn glacier. Also excellent tuition, especially for kids with the local ski school (Gernot Schermer?). A bit lacking in convenience as Kitzsteinhorn is a ski bus ride away but I would still recommend it. They also had an excellent floodlit snowboard taster lesson at nearby Zell am See.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ray Zorro,
That was the one some interesting points but a little confrontational at times. 
lisach, I dont think that is the case that Aus/Swiss slopes are steeper. Though I think there are more resorts in these countries with the resorts in the valley as opposed to perched up in the alpine pastureland so the runs back down to the resort may be a little steeper as the flatter bits of the moutainside are often up in the pastures above the treeline.
PS In answer to where do you find them.
In Austria try Soll, Galtur or Lech though not the run back to the bottom straight away.
In Swiss try Wengen, Grindelwald, Flims or Davos though again the runs back to the bottom are not always the easiest though these can be bypassed by lifts.
I am sure there are lots of others.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In Pyrenees we also have green runs....
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
I rather think Swiss and Austrian do not regard skiing as a big deal. All their citizens want to ski would have done so in the early age. They are not out there hungry to market their resorts as an industry to cater to the abslute beginners like the French or Italian would do.
By the same token they do not have mega difficult black slopes to attract the visitors looking for the extreme challenge. Skiing in these country is a way of life and most of them stick with blue and red pistes. They don't have many adult beginners and so not much point to create a class of green slopes just for a few visitors.
May be it is just me I do find in these countries they expect you know hoe to ski or at the very least know how to look after yourself on a slope.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sorry I cant agree with saikee, I think its down to choosing the right resort for what you are after.
Lots of info on individual resorts from snowheads on other pages if you need it
Ive seen plenty of adult beginners classes in most places I have been in Austria
Ive been in resorts in Austria and Italy that have runs that would be green in France Niederau and a few of the villages on the Sella Ronda come to mind
If you have found a resort in France that meets your needs just go for it
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| saikee wrote: |
By the same token they do not have mega difficult black slopes to attract the visitors looking for the extreme challenge. Skiing in these country is a way of life and most of them stick with blue and red pistes. They don't have many adult beginners and so not much point to create a class of green slopes just for a few visitors.
. |
I'm not sure the ski bum population of Verbier, St Anton, Engelberg etc etc would agree that Switzerland & Austria do not have challenging slopes
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| lisach wrote: |
| Is there any reason for this? |
Austria/Switzerland generally have three classifications of slope: Blue, Red, Black. All this means is that WITHIN THAT RESORT the blue slopes are easier that the reds, which are easier than the blacks.
The USA/Canada generally has three (or four) classificiation: Green, Blue & Black, and (sometimes) Double Black. All this means is that WITHING THAT RESORT, the green slopes are easier than the blue, which are easier than the black, which are easier than the double blacks.
France has four classificiations: Green, Blue, Red, Black. All this means is that WITHIN THAT RESORT, the green slopes are easier than the blue, which are easier than the red, which are easier than the black.
So whilst there are no 'green' runs in Austria/Switzerland, that is because they don't have such a classification. There is nothing to say that the easiest runs (graded blue) in Austria/Switzerland would be any easier (or harder!) than the easiest runs (graded green) in France.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
| Quote: |
because I know I can be sure that almost all Greens will suit the beginners in my party
|
hmm well if planning a trip to Val d'Moron you are, the nice icy mogulled green run to La Daille do you must 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
I am sure many Swiss and Austrian resorts are suitable for teaching adult begineers. However in choosing a resort between Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany and France in the Alps the majority UK beginners will possibly favour France. When there are green slopes there are probably nursery slopes too and instruction classes catering for the first timers in groups.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
saikee, the majority of UK skiers seem to favour France over Austria/Switzerland. I'm not sure why - to my mind Austria is cheaper, prettier and just as snow-sure.
I learned to ski in Austria and we had group instruction for beginners. I have been to other Austrian resorts and beginners in our group learn to ski in groups.
I have also noticed many Dutch adult beginners in Austrian resorts - more so than in French ones.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I wouldn't recommend Lech for easy runs - there are a few at Oberlech, but they soon get cut up and busy. If you mean easy greens like the Bellecote or Pralong runs in Courchevel, I've never found any like that in Lech!
You might try Saas Fee. On the top of the mountain there are some lovely long easy blues. Obergurgl has some too - and a lot in Hochgurgl. The trouble with Austrian resorts (that I've been to) is that the home runs can be quite tricky. The blue under the lift in Lech is quite a tough blue.
I think the reds in 3V and Portes du Soleil are far easier than the reds in Lech.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| Yoda wrote: |
| Quote: |
because I know I can be sure that almost all Greens will suit the beginners in my party
|
hmm well if planning a trip to Val d'Moron you are, the nice icy mogulled green run to La Daille do you must |
The most treacherous green I have seen. I don't recall moguls much -but certainly have been on it many times with boiler-plate ice, and just the odd little cluster of snow-dust to turn on. On a bad day, it can challenge quite a reasonable intermediate skier, let alone the near-petrified beginners you see with rigid snowploughs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
| achilles wrote: |
| Yoda wrote: |
| Quote: |
because I know I can be sure that almost all Greens will suit the beginners in my party
|
hmm well if planning a trip to Val d'Moron you are, the nice icy mogulled green run to La Daille do you must |
The most treacherous green I have seen. I don't recall moguls much -but certainly have been on it many times with boiler-plate ice, and just the odd little cluster of snow-dust to turn on. On a bad day, it can challenge quite a reasonable intermediate skier, let alone the near-petrified beginners you see with rigid snowploughs. |
I've seen it with small moguls, as well as boiler-plate ice and frozen beginners.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
rob@rar.org.uk, I'm sure you are right. Not a run I choose to do often - and it's been quite a while since I went to Val D. The main thing is the grading brings home the point that not every run graded green should be treated as a doddle. The other one I can think of avoiding, for choice, is Les Demoiselles at LDA. Narrow, and at going home time crowded, and so dangerous from impatient reckless skiers trying to weave through beginners.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
lisach, if you're looking for an Austrian resort with plenty of beginner runs, Westendorf (or somewhere else in Ski Welt) might do the trick. Real beginners would have to take the bubble down at the end of the day in Westendorf for a couple of days, but it's very quiet and pretty and has lots of very easy skiing. For the more advanced skiers in your party there's the rest of Ski Welt, and Kitzbuhel is linked (not brilliantly) and available on 1 lift pass with Ski Welt.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
richmond, I second that about the Ski Welt. There are some blacks around but you'll be hard pushed to find a mogul field. As with all the threads so far with village resorts the ride back to the village can be challenging for a beginner. Some of the best ski-ing I have experienced for beginner can be found in Courchevel 1850 or in Belle Plagne.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| DAVID SNELL wrote: |
| Some of the best ski-ing I have experienced for beginner can be found in Courchevel 1850 ... |
I'd agree with that. Lots of easy terrain, opportunities for 'tours' to other villages by the end of week 1, plus some great British ski schools. Difficult to beat, except perhaps on price.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
DAVID SNELL, agree about the Skiwelt, plenty to do for beginners but the runs home are sometimes best avoided. Our mob learnt to ski there and went back 3 years running, says a lot about the place when they want to do that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FenlandSkier,
| Quote: |
agree about the Skiwelt, plenty to do for beginners but the runs home are sometimes best avoided
|
After St Anton this year, it's possible this could be an Austrian thing
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
I have very little experience of skiing in Austria but the places we visited - St Oswald (a satellite of Bad Kleinkirchheim) and Alpbach both had easy slopes (that's why we chose them). Plus at St Oswald, where four of us had excellent beginner lessons in four different groups, we had a spacious and well equipped self catering apartment with a free indoor/outdoor hot-spring swimming pool in the grounds, not just a poxy little hot tub. That holiday was with Inghams, but I don't think they go there any more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
pam w, in St Anton I wouldn't say the runs back to the village were particularly difficult, but as anyone that has been there will know, coming down Happy Valley (the main link back) after 2pm is like a mogul field all the way down! The other run down to the Nasserein end is a black, and then like a mogul field where a few blues come across the valley.
What is more difficult is coming down from the Mooserwirt after you're kicked out at 7:30pm, with the other 1000's that have been in there
lisach If you were to consider France, I would suggest La Plagne. I learned to ski in La Plagne, and there is some nice, easy blues around the Plagne Centre-Belle Plagne-Plagne Bellecote bowl area. I would thoroughly recommend here, staying either in Plagne Centre or Belle Plagne
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As a ski instructor in the Ski-Welt I find the limitations of blue runs to take beginners around on frustrating, especially the home runs. Teachers in the area almost never (or at least shouldn't) take beginner groups down the home runs or to other villages. It is a very real problem that I teach the group on the blue runs on the main area, then the students think (often against my advice) that they can therefore they can do any blue run with their buddies. Sometimes they make it, sometimes they come unstuck. A bit of advice - If you are skiing with friends/family who are beginners, don't over estimate their abilities and egg the on to do more challenging runs, always ere on the side of caution. I wish Austria also used green classification to stop beginners thinking all blue runs are the same. The Scheffau home blue is just simply red in places, no question, but they have to show a blue run home on the map or beginners might avoid it. In Whistler, with their computer created runs, a blue is always blue, a red is always red, wide, smooth, and for me personally, a bit less challenging/fun, but a double black diamond is Heavenly  .
www.skiday.co.uk
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
The moral of the story is if you can start on a French or Italian green slope it is safer and easier than starting on a a Swiss or Austrian blue slope. Having said that it should make no difference if you have a good instructor, ideally on a one-to-one basis instead of being part of a large group.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| RobW wrote: |
| The USA/Canada generally has three (or four) classificiation: Green, Blue & Black, and (sometimes) Double Black. |
Rob, I'd just like to correct you there. US/Canadian resorts tend to have at least 5, somtimes more.
Green
Blue
Double blue (or blue/black)
Black
Double black
(some even have Triple Black)
I think I remember seeing a "Double green" once, but can't be certain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| saikee wrote: |
| The moral of the story is if you can start on a French or Italian green slope it is safer and easier than starting on a a Swiss or Austrian blue slope. |
Is it? I think it depends on which green or blue slope you start on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Also, many of the green slopes when i was in France as a beginner seemed to be roads in the summer and this made them very narrow and windy - although they were shallow they were way harder than the majority of the blues for me, as atleast i had plenty of room to do my nice snowplough turns on them 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| Quote: |
I think I remember seeing a "Double green" once, but can't be certain.
|
I've seen double green and green/blue a few times. I think attempts to convey more information about the relative difficulty of slopes is a good thing. If a skier want's to progress from beginner trails to easy intermediate trails a more refined trail grading at least lets the skier know what the easier intermediate slopes are located. Same with the transtion from intermediate to advanced terrain. Lots of folks are ready for a bit more challenge but don't want to get in over their head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
