 Poster: A snowHead
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When I was in bad gastein last year for a few days I was really impressed with some of the off-piste terrain. I had great luck skiing off-piste at sportgastein. I do not think I can say it much better than can be found at this site (http://kai.thesubmachine.com/blog/?p=18 ). I will add though that I also had great skiing on ski route 1 and ski route 2 on the south side of the mountain. Endless powder. Also, on one cloudy day I was able to find some very thin trees to ski between and meadows to ski over at Groukogel near the top between the lift and B3 and B6 trails. The trees had trapped the light powder so at times it was near waist deep. If I head back I want to check out what is above the lifts on this mountain. Has anyone hiked up a bit to check this out?
Questions:
Any further suggestions for skiing off-piste would be greatly appreciated.
Has anyone out there skied off-piste at Grossarl and Dorfgastein? It sounds good but I am wondering if it is challenging terrain.
Does anyone have any suggestions of guides to hire in the area?
thanks,
asland
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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asland,
Its so long ago that I went there I can't help with specific routes, I'm afraid, though I agree in good snow the place is very entertaining
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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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| Quote: |
I was able to find some very thin trees to ski between and meadows to ski over at Groukogel near the top between the lift and B3 and B6 trails. The trees had trapped the light powder so at times it was near waist deep.
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I had exactly the same experience on the Graukogel a few years back, the snow was superb, even down at resort level it was over the top of my boots. One of the runs on the Graukogel (B6) is called "Tiefschneeabfahrt" which means "deep snow run" so that should tell you something!
I am a bit lazy so no I didn't trek up above the top lift, but there seemed to be plenty of terrain up there to check out. Another great thing about the Graukogel is how empty it is, I don't remember ever seeing a queue at all in 2 days. We tried to find the itineraries marked on the Dorfgastein map but couldn't work them out - I suppose you need a guide. Sorry, I can't recommend one as we didn't hire one.
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[quote="the ice perv"]
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We tried to find the itineraries marked on the Dorfgastein map but couldn't work them out - I suppose you need a guide. Sorry, I can't recommend one as we didn't hire one. |
I have heard this from others. Anybody else habve luck finding the ski routes (itineries) over at dorfgastein? What were your visual cues?
thanks
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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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same as iceperve i'm afraid, both at graukogel and dorf.Great valley though , can,t wait to return
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off-piste good: hurray, hurray, hurrat. I'm there in about six weeks. Keep it coming, the more detail the better.
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| Kersh wrote: |
I agree with the off piste powder in the valley, it really is good. Since we bought the place out there, i've made a few friends. One Swedish guy who lives there has promised to take me down the 'locals' off piste in February and I can wait.
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kersh, please share. Get specific. Help your fellow gastein fans out. Where were you skiing off-piste? Any suggestions for us to try?
for my part of getting specific - This blogger, kai, has another good article on it- good to check out.
http://kai.thesubmachine.com/blog/?p=9
| Kersh wrote: |
| One Swedish guy who lives there has promised to take me down the 'locals' off piste in February and I can wait |
btw - I'll be there with my family february 18 - 25. My wife is laid up so she'll baby sit and I get to ski like crazy  I'm always looking for people to ski with. the steeper and deeper the better and I am well versed with all my avy gear.
thanks,
asland
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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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Ah asland, i'm leaving on the 17th and my girlfriend won't be skiing either. We have some friends visiting us but for the last few days, i'll be skiing by myself. We could have got together!!!  Hey ho.
When I was there last time, we did some off piste on the usual slopes on Sportgastein but not the routes Kai talks about that go back down to the Heilstollen. We had a look at it but didn't fancy it. It looked a bit rocky ... as do Kai's photos.
We also did some off piste on Graukogel. When you get to the middle station on Graukogel, you can ski straight back down with the lift on your left. Apart from that, there are various routes through the trees. We just followed other's tracks most of the time.
Another good place is from the middle station on the stubnerkogel back down to Bad Gastein but to be honest, we just skied down through the trees and got lost most of the time. Once we had to walk through the woods to find a skiable way back to the valley. I beats skiing down the home run with the masses.
We did look for some off piste on Schlossalm bit never found any. Any tips?
When I come back from Gastein in Feb, i'll post some more routes.
Cheers
Kersh
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| Kersh wrote: |
| Ah asland, i'm leaving on the 17th and my girlfriend won't be skiing either. We have some friends visiting us but for the last few days, i'll be skiing by myself. We could have got together!!! |
what a bumber. Have a great time though.
| Kersh wrote: |
We also did some off piste on Graukogel. When you get to the middle station on Graukogel, you can ski straight back down with the lift on your left. Apart from that, there are various routes through the trees. We just followed other's tracks most of the time. |
I tried this route last year and had some good success for two runs. On my third run the lift operator ran out and yelled forbodden. I was able to duck in a little further away from the lift. The trees were fairly thin in there with some awsome powder.
| Kersh wrote: |
When I come back from Gastein in Feb, i'll post some more routes. |
looking forward to hearing about it. I'll also be adding when I get back.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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My Bad Gastein Trip is fast approaching. Has anyone been skiing in bad gastein? What are the conditions like?
Anyone been off-piste there? Out of the 5 mountians in this area (currently) where are the best off-piste conditions?
thanks,
asland
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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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Hi Asland,
I spoke to the guy who looks after our apartment on Saturday and he said the conditions are improving by the day. I'm going there in the second week of Feb and he reckons I judged it just right!  No idea how I jugded that.
The best place for off piste is Sportgastein. There really is plenty to be going at there. That said, off the piste is a bit thin at the moment but it's due to improve. Plenty of snow is forecast!
Hope you have a great time!!!
Kersh
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| Kersh wrote: |
The best place for off piste is Sportgastein. There really is plenty to be going at there. That said, off the piste is a bit thin at the moment but it's due to improve. Plenty of snow is forecast!
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Kersh,
Great to hear about improving conditions. I'll be heading there on the 18th so I'll miss you but if you get a chance drop a note on here to let us know about conditions and where to find the best off-piste.
Have a great time.
Thanks,
asland
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You know it makes sense.
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No probs. I'll get there on the 8th Feb so will give you an update after a couple of days.
Cheers
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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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Great,
Glad to hear it.
asland
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Poster: A snowHead
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Arrived in Bad Gastein yesterday ..... and its not looking too good it has to be said. Apart from Sportgastein, there's no chance of any off piste.
I've not actually been out on the pistes yet, thats tomorrow. It's 9pm here now and it's 1 degree at a 1000m and it doesn't look like snowing either. Fingers crossed though, i'm here for 10 days.
More info soon
K
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Kersh - do you know when you feature in "place in the sun"? Be most interested, we're thinking of buying in schladming, seen a couple of apartments already , just waiting for the right one to turn up. Good luck with the snow this week, there's some snow forecast for most the week. Any more details on off piste in Gastein area or any where else in Ski Amade area greatly received. My biggest worry about buying in Schladming is lack of obvious off piste locally. I did do a day at Zauchansee a couple of weeks back and it has great terrain, mostly skiable trees and we were lucky to get some powder too. I know Maria Alm at the far end of Ski Amade has some decent off piste, I even picked up a leafet there for a local off piste guiding company.
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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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| waynos wrote: |
| Kersh - do you know when you feature in "place in the sun"? Be most interested, we're thinking of buying in schladming, seen a couple of apartments already , just waiting for the right one to turn up. |
Waynos, we'll be on in either March or April. It'll be the new series in on Channel 4 in the evening slot. I owe a few people an e-mail about the place in the sun story so i'll PM you too. I can give you a few tips about buying here if necessary.
Snow in the Gasteinertal - been out on the slopes today and it has to be said, it's not as bad as I expected. The piste prep is VERY good. There is 'some' off piste to be had on Stubnerkogel and Schlossalm up near the top of the slopes but the south facing slopes next to Angertal are looking a bit brown.
The home run to Bad Gastein from the Stubnerkogel middlestation is shut and everyone is downloading on the lift.
I'm off up to Sportgastein tomorrow. A couple of locals told me that the conditions up there are good. Fingers crossed .. for conditions and snow.
K
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The UK ski Club web site- weather section- has said they are expecting some snow this week. This should improve conditions a bit. From the live cams the valley looks like they could use some snow.
k- Can't wait to hear how sportgastein is skiing.
asland
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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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Any thoughts about whether I'm better at schladming or dorfgastein this weekend? not booked accomodation yet and can't decide as both look good on some webcams and absolutely awful on others!
aj xx
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I'm back. We lost the WiFi at the apartment hense the silence.
The conditions in the valley are split depending on the freezing level. Above the isotherme, there's loads ... loads of powder but the lower slopes are slussy and hard going. Dumped on the upper slopes on Monday - I was up on Schlossalm and we couldn't tell the difference between the on and off piste!!! Marvelous!!
Sport Gastein was great on Friday and that was before it belted it down!!!!
Asland, you'll have a great time if the conditions stay the same. Also watch out for some crazy skiing/boarding event going on on the 23rd and 24th. They've constructed a huge ramp down through the town and it looks awesome!!! It's being sorted by the Silver Bullet Bar and Red Bull so do a seach on the net.
Right, best get off this computer in the tourist info before I get in trouble.
Cheers
Kersh
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Bad Gastein was great again.
Good snow in the higher levels. Sunny and 50 - 55 degrees F everyday.
Pockets of good off-piste were to be found especially off the H1 and H2 of Schlossalm but there was a lot of very crusty and hard snow to be found where it would freeze and then on freeze. Basically, Sportgastein never unfroze enough to ski off-piste but the on-piste was very good.
Between the skiing, hot baths, great skiing events, and just good Austrian culture we had blast.
asland
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Hey Asland, good to hear you had a good time!!
Did you go to the Red Bull Play Streets event and the Jam Session next to the Stubnerkogelbahn over the weekend? I had a friend of mine staying in our apartment and he said it was great!! There's some pics of the event at these links:
http://www.gasteinertal.com/fotos/
http://www.redbull.at
Kersh
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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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Just spent the wknd in bg. Decent amount of snow fell last night and spent the morning checking things out on graukogel .. Black run open for first time I've seen it this winter - bit crusty - otherwise perfect and empty as usual. Was on my own so not keen to head through the trees as snow looked very deep. Afternoon headed up to schlossalm from angertal. Awesome conditions on the upper slopes... The freshsnow meant pretty much everything was in play. Bit tracked out in places but all good. Lower slopes a shocker. Plenty of grass skiing on the last bits down to angertal. Very slushy.
Temps are pretty high - 6dg - in the town I think so very spring like on the lower slopes.
Going back next weekend so would be interested to hear how things turn out during the week.
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Speedster, welcome to Snowheads!!
Good to you had a good time in Gastein and that Graukogel was open. I didn't venture up there when I was there a couple of weeks ago. The home run looked pretty sketchy! Was it open?
Kersh
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Speedster wrote: |
Decent amount of snow fell last night and spent the morning checking things out on graukogel ...
Going back next weekend so would be interested to hear how things turn out during the week. |
speedster,
Welcome to snowheads... you're killing me though. Even though the weather was sunny and beautiful we could have used some of the snow you're refering to.
| Kersh wrote: |
Did you go to the Red Bull Play Streets event and the Jam Session next to the Stubnerkogelbahn over the weekend? I had a friend of mine staying in our apartment and he said it was great!!
Kersh |
Kersh,
Our apartment. house loise, was just down the street from the red bull play streets set up. All week long, as we walked up to town to ski or swim we passed where they were setting up for this. They trucked in tons of snow, built ramps from snow and wood. We kept wondering what in the hell they were doing. On Saturday we found out what they were up to. It was aweome. To enter the course competitors dropped of a 15 foot wall and turned to hit a big kicker, they landed and went out onto this rickety wooden paltform where they did a few more drops, grinded on a roof top and landed near the finish line. Very cool. Thanks for the sites that show these great pics. Great time
asland
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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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| Kersh wrote: |
Speedster, welcome to Snowheads!!
Good to you had a good time in Gastein and that Graukogel was open. I didn't venture up there when I was there a couple of weeks ago. The home run looked pretty sketchy! Was it open?
Kersh |
Nope closed off although skiable down but prob not too much fun. Don't think the locals worry too much about the signs as there a few making their way down.
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About off-piste at Dorfgastein-Grossarl: I’ve skied the Bergland skiroute (no 12) at Dorfgastein-Grossarl and it’s a fairly nice route. For snowboarders you will need to do some deep-snow hiking as the first 500 meters of the route are pretty horizontal. Then there is some very nice skiing/boarding and the last km again is very horizontal (over a road). Although I would especially recommend it for skiing, it is definitely worthwhile as few people venture out on this route and the middle part is nice and really takes you away off the beaten track into a nice mountain forest.
About Sportgastein: I noticed that on old skimaps (for example: http://www.ski.ru/imgs/resorts/1_Bad-Gastein-karta_.jpeg) there is a ski-route marked on Sportgastein to the east of the pistes leading down to Heilstollen. Current maps do not show this route anymore but it looks very nice. Would anybody have some info on this?
About Bad Hofgastein-Schlossalm: The H1 route has some beautiful powder next to it and I’ve often seen many tracks going down north. The map seems to indicate that you can make it back to the “Mittelstation”, would anybody know about this?
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm not sure why they took it off the piste map.
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Becoz if it is "proper" off-piste, unmarked and unpatrolled, it shouldn't be on the map in the first place, it just encourages people who don't know what they're doing to try it without a guide or the proper equipment.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Kersh, thanks for assuring me the sportgastein ski-route is still used. Now let's hope the weather clears up as Sportgastein has been closed almost every day this week because of avalanche and/or wind. Thanks for the image url, I saw it on Kai's blog but wasn't sure it was the same route.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Actually, the time I went to the Gastein valley we had a look for a lot of the "routes" shown on the map, and couldn't find most of them, which was just as well, as it was years back and I had little off-piste experience. I will go back to Gastein one day and hire a guide to get the best out of it.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Fri 6-03-09 13:49; edited 1 time in total
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Have fun, when are you heading out?[/quote]
Thanks Kersh about the Stubnerkogel tip. I'm already out of Austria, and unfortunately the weather never cleared up and could not got to Sportgastein. We did check out the Graukogel though, and there is one supposed off-piste ski-route there (route 6) which was actually a normally prepared piste. There are limited but very worthwhile off-piste possibilities as it is very quiet at Graukogel and you have the snow to yourself. Can't wait though to check out Sportgastein next time.
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Hello everyone.
I'm heading to Bad G. in one week. I would be glad, if some of you could reply with some good off-piste routes.
We are staying at a hotel in Bad G., so it would be great if the off-piste routes where in Bad G. or Bad Hofgastein.
Thue.
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FAQ
