 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi guys. We are 4 intermediate level snowboarders looking for a 7 day trip 1st week of march. my wife mentioned an interest in Kaprun, and I would like to know mainly if we were to go should we be looking to stay in Kaprun or Zel? Ive read the reports for both areas, I know they arent linked but i assume you can get from one to the other by bus or something? and can you ride both on the one ticket? We are pretty lazy (at least i am) so we wont be going hard all day, and wont be up for 1st lifts. mainly freeride/cruising not park/pipe. might be interested in some off-piste if we can get a good guide. not big party animals so apres is not so important but nice to have a few places to go. Is Kaprun/Zel a good choice? is the combined area big enough for us for 6 days? and how is it from a snowboarding point of view in terms of flat spots, traversing, surface drag lifts etc (i think a couple of our party might have some trouble with tbars/pommas). distance to lifts from accom is also a factor - it would be nice not to have to be reliant on ski busses.
any comments welcome
thanks
bb
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bipolar Bear, you can ski both Zell and Kaprun on the same lift pass. Kaprun is a small ski area, but a bit further up the road is the Kitzsteinhorn glacier (which is often referred to as Kaprun). I learned to board on the glacier. There are drag lifts there, but there is also a couple of chairs and a cable car, so you can avoid drags if you really need to. The glacier is beautiful in good weather, but can be bleak if there is a storm there.
Over at Zell the slopes are intermediate. I can only think of one short drag lift, everything else is cable car, gondola or chair. It's not a massive area, but you could easily do 2 days on the glacier, 3 days at Zell, and then get the bus to Saalbach for a day. (I usually do 5 days at Zell and 1 at the glacier, but that's due to the group I'm with.
There is a regular ski bus between Zell, Kaprun and the glacier (free with your lift pass) but they can get quite full travelling from Zell. Not sure how busy they are in the other direction. If you want to avoid buses, then I'd suggest that Zell would be a better base than Kaprun.
Zell is also a nice town, so if you are wanting to take it easy, then you can have a wander along the lake shore or take a sleigh ride.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Kaprun has two skiing areas really, not linked The Kitzsteinhorn glacier and Maiskogel. The trip up to the glacier can be a bit busy but once up the area is large enough to get away
from the crowds. The views from the top are fantastic, the Alpincenter offers a great selection of food, etc, in a very clean and modern enivronment.
The Glacier has several chairlifts which should help the boarders, but there are several T-Bars which need to be used to experience all of the glacier.
The bus ride to Zell takes 30 minutes, E15 Bus runs every 15 minutes, but you can get off at Schuttdorf and take the Areitbahn I & II - III to the Schmittenhohe, but this only save around 8 minutes on the bus.
The access to skiing in Zell has improved since they opened the TrassXpress this year, a lovely heat seated 8 person gondola. The skiing in Zell is varied and very pleasant, some nice blacks 13,14,15 down Sonnenalm, also the black 11 down to the bottom of the CityXpress Gondola, The restuarants around the mountain are all very different the Panorama Pfiff which is far the biggest, to Schnapp Hans at the very summit (Apres Ski Bar), Sonnkogel Pfiff has very interesting toilet decor  (A bet you have to stroke it  )
End of the day skiing down the mountain is good fun, a blue takes you to the top of the city express where the beginners can get the gondola, then the more experienced can carry on and ski the black to the bottom of the city express.
Overall Zell has the edge on varied skiing, Kaprun has the wide open space and fabulous views. Your ski pass covers both 
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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.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Renry, beat you to it 
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thats a big thread! i'll have a read of it tonight when i'm not at work. thanks for your replies. sounds like zell might be a better place to base ourselves but the +1 has her eye on a particular chalet at Kaprun so i don't know.
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