 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Snow heads,
Me and my wife are planning our first ski trip at the end of Jan and are after a bit of resort advice as seem to be going round in circles!. We liked the look of Niederau (i.e. great school, good value and a bit of nightlife but not too 18-30's )but the snow history seems to be a bit dodgy so was after somewhere similar but with a better guarantee of snow. Any suggestions??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cervina - guaranteed snow, good school, Italian food, lots of beginner\intermediate motorways to progress on all the way up the mountain.
This later point is crucial for me. You can learn anywhere, but I found long, wide, well-groomed slopes really helped me to progress in my first week. Nothing like a long continuous run to get you paralleling. cervinia has some of the longest runs in the Alps from 3800m down to 1500m.
Cosy little resort. Its not Club 18-30, but there are good restaurants and enough bars.
You lucky lucky people. Your first week skiing is a fanatastic experience that only happens once. Enjoy
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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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firsttimeski, Hi and welcome to  If there isn't snow at 'established' resorts at the end of January its going to be a bad year, but I don't know Niederau.
In France, Les Gets ( I learnt there), Serre Chevalier , would seem to hit the right note. Others will be along and post their recommendations as well.
Good Luck
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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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firsttimeski,
Welcome to 's
If you like the idea of Niederau but are worried about the snow why not wait untill mid Jan to book by hten you should be able to see what the snow is like and find somewhere else if Niederau isn't looking good and maybe get a discount on Niederau if it looks good.
If you want a snow sure spot in Austria Obertauern and Obergurgl both have a great reputation for reliable snow.
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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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Thanks for all your responses so far, i'll look into them! T Bar - are Obertauern and Obergurgl reasonably cheap and good for beginners?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Another vote for Les Gets.
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Re. Obergurgl and Obertauern:
1. Gurgl - I'd been skiing a few years and wanted to ensure that my girlfriend would enjoy her first ever ski week so took her to Obergurgl. Definitely fitted the bill and she was hooked. Perfect for your first trip - high resort (so great snow all but guaranteed), fantastic but small village, fantastic scenery and decent nursery slopes. Not ridiculously expensive but a bit pricier than your run of the mill Austrian resort. Definitely worth it. Very quiet on a night though.
2. Tauern - A much bigger town. Lively apres ski compared to Obergurgl. Very extensive slopes - again high and snowsure. Don't know about beginners areas as I wasn't really looking. Nice enough place overall.
On balance, I'd go for Obergurgl - for your first ever trip it would be an absolutely wonderful experience.
Interesting link here with top 10 beginners resorts - though interestingly none in Austria (in their opinion):
http://www.welove2ski.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=400
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firsttimeski, welcome to Snowheads. You've picked a really good time; end of January is ideal, and you'd be unlucky not to get good snow. But there are lots of other considerations. Yes, Les Gets would be fine - and there are some good ski school options there (you will find lots of different views about the ski schools in Les Gets on other threads). The quality of your tuition will make, or break, your first ski holiday. La Rosiere is a good place, too (there are old Snowhead "in jokes" jokes about La Rosiere, take no notice of them). I imagine that for your first holiday you'd rather get something booked in advance than wait till last minute, which can be a bit nerve wracking when you're new to it all - and if the snow is bad this coming January you can be sure that anywhere that DOES have good snow will have no last minute bargains available. What kind of accommodation are you after? The catered chalet option, which can be a convivial way to start, is found mostly in France - not so many in Austria. Night life is more bouncy in Austria, but there are plenty of civilised options in France, too, if you don't fancy dancing on the tables in your ski boots. La Clusaz, for example (there's a Snowhead with a chalet there) is a lovely little town, with good skiing. Megeve is also excellent, if more sophisticated. Lots of good skiing, a proper town, not a "ski station", lovely traffic free town centre, with horse drawn carriages. When you're new to it all, finding the ski school, and getting the passes organised, and hiring skis etc can be quite tiring and intimidating - some firms do "all in" holidays, including tuition, and can take a lot of that off your shoulders. For example I have heard good things about this firm in Megeve - http://www.simonbutlerskiing.co.uk
If you narrow it down to a holiday you fancy you could do worse than telephone the firm and ask them questions, explaining that you have not been skiing before. their response would probably tell you a good deal about their approach. A number of Snowheads have commented that, amongst the less expensive operators, they found Ski Olympic good. We had several excellent and good value holidays with them (in La Rosiere) but that was a few years ago.
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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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firsttimeski, another vote for Obergurgl. It is where I learnt to ski.
It's a lovely village. Very friendly.
You know how we often have a picture in our minds of what our destination might look like?
Well, Obergurgl turned out to be just what i had imagined a ski resort would look like.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Obergurgl. Perfect for beginners.
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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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firsttimeski, firstly, what a poor choice of username...  After you've been skiing and caught the bug (as you surely will), you'll have to change your tag!
Anyway, my experiences (of various, appropriate learning situations):
My first week of skiing was in Serre Chavalier (France), some nice terrain to learn on, but it probably wouldn't have been my first choice in hindsight. We very naughtily took our own instructor (it was a school trip) and spent the week disguising the fact from the French ski school (ESF)...
My second week was in Claviere (Italy). If I recall correctly there was some good learning terrain, although I was second week, but the new guys enjoyed it too. The ski school was very good. My instructor was excellent and the others got good reviews too. We were taken down a tricky red slope on the Tuesday and we all messed it (and ourselves) up, and most of us ended up sliding down it on our bums, but by the end of the week it felt like nothing.
My parents, sister and neighbours learnt in Borovets and Soldeu - the first getting a luke warm response, and the second a huge thumbs up. Native English speaking insructors and great learning terrain being pros for Soldeu. Soldeu also doesn't fall into the 18-30 category like its neighbour Pas de la Casa does (which I'd probably avoid given your first post).
I'd also say Morzine is a very nice place (a real town, not just a ski base), and my ESF instructor for my competition course was very good and enthusiastic. It's linked to Les Gets (amongst other places), and although I can't comment on Les Gets as a place, the skiing seemed a bit more beginner friendly on that side to Morzine.
I've never been there, but as you say, Niederau does get a lot of recommendations as a resort for first timers: quaint Austrian village, compact and beginner friendly ski area and a good ski school which will definitely have instructors who speak good English.
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You know it makes sense.
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Nobody on this forum talks much about Valmorel - supposed to be good for beginners?
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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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Cheers for all the suggestions guys! will take a look at them all and hopefully book something this weekend, so if anyone else has got a suggestion, get it in quick....
Agree that the name is most definitely a school boy error.. will have to change it to second time ski next year - (unless i fit in a second trip later this season  )
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