 Poster: A snowHead
|
My wife (sans children) is taking me to Zell Am See on December 15-18 to celebrate my 39th (+1) birthday. We are staying at the hotel Mavida which is a rather swanky spa boutique hotel. Zell was chosen due to its proximity to the glacier skiing at nearby Kaprun and given we are not neccessarily planning on skiing from dawn to dusk. In short, we want to stay in a nice hotel, in a nice town, with nice restaurants and bars ....and do some skiing as well.
Now. As stated above, the plan is more " a weekend break with some skiing" than a skiiing weekend....at this stage. I know what I want to do and when we get there it'll be all go go go ski ski ski. My wife is less enthusiastic but caught the bug last year in Obergurgl where things clicked and we skied without instructors all over the mountain. However when she enjoyed herself most and it clicked for her was when she knew where we were going and how difficult it would/could be. To give an extreme interpretation, call any slope "blue" and she will happily go down it over and over. Call another greenish/blue slope "red" and she will be spooked before we get there and then splutter the whole way down. She just freaks at the thought of something being "red".
In view of the above, the best way for both of us to enjoy and make the most of the skiing in Zell and Kaprun is to know where we are going. The ideal would be some sort of route we could take which is blue upon blue upon easy red upon blue without too many surprises.
It has been long noted that there are a few fans of Zell Am See amongst us (those that even rate it above La Rosiere :-D ) and there's that particularly compelling thread about it.
Can some of you fans who are particularly well versed with either/both resorts suggest a route or (even better) routes we could take that fit the criteria mentioned above so we will want nothing more than to ski all day rather than using valuable time getting my back waxed and getting facials.
Cheers
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
BernardC, thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
....Anyone? Anyone?.....
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Peter Leuzzi, try to catch charletenfc he's a fan of the place.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
The mountain in Zell has lots of easy blues to cruise and if you look at the piste map you can quite happily go over a lot of the mountain just on the easy blues. The hotel you are staying at is at the bottom of quite a long, difficult red run - if it's open to the bottom at the time you're going, your wife might be happier to ski to the top station of the Areit 1 lift and then get the cable car down. From the very top of the mountain it's an easy ski on all blue runs to this point. In my experience, the final section of this run to your hotel can be difficult, especially at the end of the day.
If she gets a bit more confident and conditions are good, spend some time on the Sonnenalm. It's mostly red runs but nice and wide and good for building confidence on trickier runs.
Unless you have perfect weather I would avoid the glacier unless conditions force you to ski here. It can be bitterly cold at this time of year, and you'd enjoy skiing in Zell more. But perhaps try the Maiskogel in Kaprun village, it has some lovely easy cruising runs and is opening a new lift and piste for this winter. Easy to jump on the ski bus from your hotel, then get off at Schaufelberg in the centre of Kaprun.
I'll be out there around the same time, so fingers crossed for some good snow!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nick_C, ??? I ain't been there before! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charlatanefc, my mistake, I heard they ran out of Jägermeister last year and I put two and two together 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Peter Leuzzi, Plenty of easy peasy, wide blues on the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aaah, that's better. Thanks to each of you.
nice, what number on the piste map shown is Arelt? i.e. where is our hotel? Is that at the bottom of 3?
IncogSkiSno, could you literally spend a day skiing the glacier on blues, without need to do anything else? It appears as though you can.
By the way, there is an obvious thought that might have crossed your mind - "why doesn't he just get hold of a piste map and work it out himself the lazy so and so?" Well, three things:
1. Don't be so uncooperative 
2. Adopted that approach elsewhere last year and got horribly, horribly caught out having to tackle real salopette soilers (for me anyway) to get me home
3. Nothing beats local knowledge. For example, nice, I presume you have skied Obergurgl. Without prior knowledge, who amongst nervous skiers could be prepared for that final slide to the bottom when it is marked as blue on the piste map? (It became known as Nemesis to us!)
Nick_C, and Charlatanefc, 
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
IncogSkiSno, ta.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Arietbahn is no 3, which will take you to Schuttdorf, the suburb of Zell whare your hotel is.
If snow is good, I wouldn't bother with the glacier. It requires a bus ride and then 2 long gondolas - if you are only there a few days, then Zell will keep you amused.
If you take the ArietBahn up to the 1st stage, and then get the 4 man chair, there is a nice blue run to get warmed up on. The run back down from the top of the ariet is blue, with a parallel red. This has one steep section, but is wide enough to cope with.
The red runs over at Sonnkogel, are reasonable, and again, when steep are wide enough to traverse across easily.
As nice says, I'd avoid the home run. It is low, therefore conditions aren't always great, and it can get mogulled up quickly. Enjoy the gondola ride down instead 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
Elizabeth B, excellent, thank you. In terms of the reds you refer to, can I hand on heart quote you and say they are virtually blue save for some slightly steeper bits that are wide and do-able?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Peter Leuzzi, pretty much yes.
If you do the blue from the top down to the Ariet, then you can see the red run from it. The blue bit is a track around and it joins up at the bottom of the steeper bit. She can then see for herself how it looks.
If you ski the blue run to the bottom of the sonnenalm cable car, it then takes you over to a new 6 man heated chair. You can see the whole of the run from that. if she really thinks she can't do it, then you can always hitch a lift back down on the chair.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Elizabeth B,
I'd agree about what you say about the run down to the bottom of the Areitbahn. It's seems longer than it looks and can get pretty clogged up late in the day plus the last bit is pretty steep if you're getting a bit tired. If your wife gets a burst of confidence then it would be worthwhile doing it earlier in the day when its less busy (in the mornings I did it it was always almost empty) and will provide a real sense of achievement. the other reds (from memory) weren't that challenging.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
I would like to be more specific, as I did ski most of area in March, but pistes & resorts just blurr into one for me.
