 Poster: A snowHead
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All
I've been tasked with the unenviable job of organising a weeks skiing trip for a party of approximately 10 people (give or take a few not sures).
It's a totally mixed bag of people in every way:
Boarders and skiers
Beginners, intermediates and advanced
Night life lovers and chalet bums
We're after somewhere that caters a bit for everyone and would be looking to stay in a decent catered chalet.
With the help of the internet and a copy of "Where to ski and board 2007" I have decided to head to Austria (based on its decent night life, pretty villages and i've never skied there before!).
Does anyone have any recommendations for choice of resort? Reasonably priced?
Any help much appreciated as people are starting to hassle and we need to get it booked before the flight prices go through the roof!
Many Thanks!
Sarah
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi magic_hat,
I have been to both Soll and Zell am See, and have skied one day in Saalbach.
My favourite skiing of the lot would be Saalbach. There is a circuit, so you can ski all day and arrive back where you started. I understand the nightlife is very good too.
Soll has a massive area too, and we skied to a diffenent village every day for lunch.
Zell am See is very pretty, but the area would be smaller than the other two.
I think the nightlife/ apres in Austria in general is excellent
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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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magic_hat, I would not take absolute beginners to St Anton - but it is a great place.
Ischgl sounds good - but it is not cheap.
Saalbach/Hinterglemm is good. Badgastein/BadH is good and really good value for money - but not the liveliest nightlife.
Most importantly, you do not need to bother with chalets in Austria as the hotels are really good and reasonably priced. Kitzbuhel is great if the snow is good- lively, reasonably-priced, plenty of hotels.
If you fly to Innsbruck, lots of resorts are easy to get to by train if you do not want to hire cars. Bad G, Zell, Kitzbuhel amongst others are a piece of cake by train.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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magic_hat, Im in Austria, Schladming is the town next door to us. The Ski Amade region will make an excellent choice for your group - there is stuff here for everyone and its huge. Ski Amade is 45 mins down the motorway from the airport. Mail/message me and I can give you all the info you need. 
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Thu 18-09-08 21:11; 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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flangesax, Latchigo, , which is a large (100k piste minimum) resort but shortest transfer from Innsbruck?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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rayscoops, Kitz is over 100k, close to Innsbruck and linked by rail.
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magic_hat, Latchigo, is spot on. St Anton is one of those "Must do once" resorts, but with beginners, or even low intermediates, don't even think about it!
I would concur with johnboy, Saalbach or Zell would suit you down to a tea, although there probably isn't enough in Zell for more than a few days for the stronger skiers in your group. We did Saalbach for the 1st time last Jan, and are returning there this. The nightlife is excellent, skiing really good for pretty much all levels. Oh but Zell has the best "gentlemen's" bars 
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Latchigo, cheers, working out the best 'long weekend' resort, but went to St Anton last year and loved it, best resort I have been too, and that includes Whistler
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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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im taking 3 m8s down to austria somewhere and need anyones opinion whether to book now or last minute to a chalet? were drivin
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Welcome to snowHeads tomotheplumber, 
Which week are u planning to go? Makes quite a bit of difference.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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i went to soll last year and mayrhofen the season before that
the nightlife in mayerhofen is miles better than soll IMO and i preferred the skiing as well.
soll is ok but the beginners in our perty found it quite difficult - the piste map is an absolute disaster as well - if you are in soll itself its not that easy for a beginner to get over to the main 'bkue' area ahich is like a big bowl with blue runds all feeding into the basin.
mayerhofen is great although the better skiers will want to be on the penken which is the other side of the area from the best bit for beginners - the ahorn
depends on how mixed the group is but my choice would be mayerhofen every time
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Mayrhofen is a great resort for a mixed group of skiers and the hotels are good value for money (try the Neuhaus). It also has excellent nightlife. It has a large ski area but you will need to take trains and buses to some parts.
So has Ischgl, and that would be my choice, although it is a bit more expensive. Ischgl offers better skiing for all levels, the lift infrastructure is excellent and so is the apres. In fact the party atmosphere starts about lunchtime! It's higher than Mayrhofen and snowsure. Plus you can ski back to the resort, albeit on a tough red run. The skiing for all levels is brilliant, the best I've experienced in Austria.
Take a look at Saalbach too, which also ticks all the boxes, it's just a lower altitude wise but we never had a problem in late Feb/early March. I took some beginners to Mayrhofen, then the following year to Saalbach and they much preferred Saalbach, mainly because of the wide blues and reds and the access from the town via 3 main lifts. It's excellent for intermediates. We liked the Bauer Hotel but avoid the Berger Sport - it's outdated and some of the rooms were tiny.
I have never stayed in a chalet in Austria, it's mainly hotels, but they are usually well geared up for groups.
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You know it makes sense.
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I agree mayrhofen is a great place for a group and the bus and train connections to the other resorts which are close by are excellent and quick, this is a top place to be based.
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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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I've been to all four you mention and would say Ischgl is the best although it can be expensive .. if you're going for a week you should be able to get a reasonable priced 3* hotel though. You can fly to Innsbruck or Friedrichshafen or even Munich is only around 3 hours away. It's got good amount of varied skiing in a well linked area with great modern lifts and the apres is second to none (if you like it Austrian style).
St Anton is also excellent but not suited to beginners (or even intermediates really). Great skiing for the more experienced and excellent apres of both the Austrian and English/Scandinavian variety .. post dinner the nightlife is probably better than Ischgl but it doesn't quite match up straight off the slopes.
Mayrhofen has good varied skiing but you need to be prepared to get trains and buses to get the most of it ... there's only two lifts out of the town and can get big queues in the morning. It's a pretty lively apres place but more British style than Austrian and is generally cheaper for accomodation than the first two.
Only been to Schaldming once and wasn't too impressed ... was towards the end of the season (late March) but the apres seemed fairly limited and the skiing was all a bit samey and a bit spread out ... lots of fast reds and not much else.
As others have mentioned Saalbach is also v good ... excellent apres and good skiing although you need a good season cos it is a bit on the low side.
If you are going for a week and want to get on and book your flights before deciding where to go I'd suggest Innsbruck (BA or Easyjet) .. you can get to all of them easily enough from there ... unfortunately the flight timings to Innsbruck are no good for weekends.
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Poster: A snowHead
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All...
Thanks to everyone who responded. Apologies for the delay in replying/responding/thanking you for comments, but i screwed up my wireless network at home and have had no internet for a while. I've been restricted to 5 minute bursts from work.
Anyway, I'm back online now and have spent most of the weekend (and back end of last week) trying to get everything booked and sorted.
After reading all the comments on here and doing my own research, I decided on Ischgl.
Others sounded really tempting (in particular Saalbach, St Anton and Mayerhofen) but were ruled out by one thing or another - St Anton because of the beginners in our group and most other Austrian resorts because of a clash of dates which meant that we have to go on March 15th - meaning that some of the lower Austrian resorts (i.e. most of them!) would be suffering.
After deciding on ischgl i could find only one chalet there, in nearby Kappl, no problem. I email to enquire, they've got availability. I try and find flights.... Flights to Austria from Manchester are either hugely expensive or go on the wrong day (i.e. not changeover day) or involve 3-4 hour transfers.
Anyway, the bottom line is, due to various summer holiday commitments I didn't have time to sit for hours on the PC trying to work it all out and arrange a way of getting to the only chalet in Ischgl... so we've done a complete U-turn and are going to the Three Valleys instead. Easier to arrange and far more chalets to choose from. Done and dusted in an hour or so.
However, we plan on going to Austria earlier in the season the following year, by then no-one will be a beginner and the snow should be good all over, so that should bring all the good Austrian resorts into the equation. St Anton here we come.... (or Saalbach!)
Thanks to everyone for their help and comments.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just wanted to reassure all snowheads, Austria has plenty of snow during March and into April providing excellent skiing.
Transfers from Salzburg to Ski Amade are just 45mins and there are hundreds of places to stay that dont have to be Sat/Sat.
Ski Amade is the largest ski network in Austria providing 270 lifts and 860 km of pistes, so something for everyone. Take a look at www.skiamade.com for loads of information.
Happy skiing everyone 
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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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St Anton all the way ('cause I'll be there all season)
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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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flangesax, good to see the Amade flag flown. It's a great area and not all that well known by the English speaking world really. I think the word is beginning to get out now.
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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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Good thread - could anyone who knows the Amade region please tell me if they know anything about the off-piste opportunities?
I have actually been told that the actively discourage off-piste, but cannot believe that.
Where is the best resort for off-piste, and the more advanced skiing in the Ski Amade Region, and where is the best resort for this? 
Hope you can help
Many thanks.
Dave
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Kersh, hey - a local. Ski Amade may not have won the Olympic bid for 2014 - but its up there with the best of them. Its unfortunate that Austria often gets the thumbs down by the Brits coz its not that high - but we did have the best snow of a naf season last year - so height isnt everything. Plus we have got trees to ski through.
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Curryfrog, at the mo I am not a big off piste skiier but I might be able to help a bit...
I had a chat with my local ski school with a few instructors, they advise to organise off piste days with them so they can ask the landowners permission to come hurtling through their fields!
Tree skiing is abundant in every single area as there are so many of them....
I think it may be worth asking Kersh as I have heard that Gastin is a good off piste area.
There are often many un pisted marked runs available in most resorts....
Hope my limited knowledge helps!
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It does!
All information is helping build an idea about the area.
Gettng vry tempted. I'm also getting good feedback from ather GB skiclub members.
Anyone else? All welcome, and THANKS!
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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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Curryfrog, Having just got myself an apartment in schladming i'm on the lookout for any off piste info in and around schladming. I've only skied a few weekends in the area but from my limited knowledge there is some off piste to be had, though the tree cover is too thick on most of schladming's hills.
- top of haus
- down the road zauchansee is potentially excellent
- some serious routes (with guide) off the dachstein glacier.
- the resort furthest to the east Galsterberg, see this excellent little report http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/magazine.cfm?id=389912006. I've skied here but no pow the day I was there but could see the potential.
-further to the west is maria alm which i believe has a dedicated off piste guiding outfit
I'm planning a long trip out to schladming this coming season so should have more info end of next season.
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flangesax, ere ere .... I like trees too!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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After reading the thread and seeing you have decided on Ischgl. I thought I'd thrown in my comments.
Went to Ischgl for a long weekend and really enjoyed it. Found that it was quite expensive and as with St Anton is full of brits, ischgl is full of Germans.
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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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I'm seriously thinking of Ischgl myself for mid-jan - anyone any recommendations for a B&B or reasonably priced hotel for a single male skier ?
p.s Hi flangesax !
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Hotel Anthony is about the cheapest and easiest to get into I've found for weekends at peak times. It's not that cheap though cos nothing is in Ischgl (beer's ok). It's about a 10 minute walk from town and from the lifts though so it's worth leaving your skis (& boots) at one of the depots by the lifts overnight ... makes apres a lot easier as well.
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You know it makes sense.
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RichA, thanks for that, will check them out! looking at the t/office website I see what you mean about not cheap - still tempted though
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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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Can you fly to Inssbruk from Scotland does anyone know?
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FAQ
but only 45 mins from Salzburg. Sorry I cant help. 
