 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello Snowheads,
Trying to book the perfect last minute trip! Wanting to leave 4th April and have settled on Austria. Have done 18 ski weeks as a family all in France! L3V, Tignes/L2A, Avoriaz, Megeve. Whilst most would advise to head to high resorts (like Tignes) late in the season we want to try Austria for a change. We are two adults and a 12 year old, very competent skier, able to ski well reds pistes in France in all conditions.
We would like a decent amount of pistes to explore.
I have seen a a very good HB deal in Ischgl . Lots of recommendations on this forum for the resort and it seems to tick all the boxes (90% of terrain over 2000m)
Snow heads can you advise if this is a solid choice? Or would you suggest Obergurgl and use the bus to Solden to add more piste mileage. Wanting to make the most out of our first trip to Austria and want to pick the right resort! Would love to try Lech/Zurs but little availability and pricing is considerably more.
TO recommending St Anton, but whilst we don’t need a total family resort, worried it will be too lively, especially any runs in the afternoon back to resort. Any advice appreciated, especially anyone who has skied the area recently.
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've skied Ischgl quite a bit though not so late in the season. I have to say the runs back to resort are also pretty hectic but its easy to download and often a sensible option for the last run.
That aside its a pretty good resort with great skiing though when we skied there en famille we always stayed down the valley for cost reasons.
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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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Austria has had one of the worst snow droughts in 60 years. Go there if you like white ribbons between brown pastores.
Aosta already was well served this season.
And has just received a massive dump last weekend: 150 cm in 24 hours, on valley level.
We went to Gressoney (Staffal). If I could, I would jump in my car and go back!
Photo below, a few weeks back.
In the meantime, snow height has increased another 1.5 meter.
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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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Plenty of snow in Ischgl. Go for it, pretty much one of the best resorts i have visited for an April trip.Although will be busy ish. Went to Obergurgl last April, much more chilled vibe than Ischgl. Both fantastic and a lot less Brits than France.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Ischgl if it was me. If you like plenty of varied easy accessible skiing then definitely Ischgl. If you like limited bland skiing then Solden/Obergurgl every day. Get a lift back down to Ischgl at the end of each day as it can get busy/slushy.
Ive skied Ischgl twice and would still find pistes I havent skied, Hochsolden/Solden twice and skied 95% + of it.
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I skied Ischgl that week a year ago and it was good as long as you didn’t ski the home runs.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Ischgl is an excellent choice for late season skiing, ignore the comments about lack of snow. Lots of high skiing, though the comments about the home runs are correct but no hardship to take one of the gondolas back down from the mid station you really dont miss much. Not a fan of Obergurgl / Sölden think the skiing is fairly limited but there is a fair amount of high skiing too. Not sure Ischgl is much less expensive than Lech. I pretty much only go to St Anton these days (have a season pass) but think Ischgl would maybe suit you better for that week, Ischgl probably shades it if you just want piste skiing. Ischgl does have a reputation for lively and somewhat tacky apres though apparently it has been toned down in recent times. St Anton really isnt party central it used to be 25 years ago, yes there are the well known apres spots just above the village but there are few late night drinking spots these days, many older (and thus richer) visitors. The home runs in both St Anton & Lech are south facing and not so good in the spring. I always felt that Ischgl has a certain "French" feel about it, I guess because there isnt the old village centre which most Austrian places have, practically all of the current village was built from the 1970s onwards.
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@rachaelgrace, welcome to Snowheads. I've skied in Ischgl several times in the last few years, and mostly in April. It probably gives the best range and variety of pistes in decent condition in April in Austria.
Main advantages are that most skiing is pretty high, and you've got all apsects of slope. If it's sunny, you'll find that piste conditions will change substantially during the day. The positive is that, with a range of aspects, you should be able to get good conditions all day if you pay attention. The negative is that you do need to think about the slope aspects and likely coditions to make the most of it. As a starter, I'd normally head across to Samnuan in the morning as more of the slopes there face towards the south, then head back into Austria for late morning onwards.
As others have posted, runs to resort at the end of the day aren't that great, but you can always get the lift down from mid-station. In Ischgl the main problem is that the snow will get very soft , but it's not as ridiculously busy as e.g. the Steissbachtal (run 55) in St Anton (which is a major bottleneck).
I can't help much re Ischgl accommodation as I've stayed either up (Galtur) or down (Kappl) valley, but if you've found a good deal in Ischgl, then I'd go for it. For variety, you could go to Galtur for a day (it's open till April 12th) - the busses work well
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hi all,
Thanks for taking the time to share your invaluable insights and tips on Ischgl. Really happy with the feedback, confident it’s a good choice of resort for that week/our requirements. We booked!
Normally never go through a TO and book independently but could not beat the prices coming up for last minute breaks.
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