 Poster: A snowHead
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some cheap deals to the ski welt at the moment. i am hoping to head there on 9th jan but a little concerned re lack of pistes being open at the moment. Particularly looking at the ellmau end. fairly new to this so would you suggest waiting to see what happens, or should the snow be pretty good by then ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ellmau is quite low (top point 1580m ish?), so it's not surprising there aren't many runs open yet (I'm surprised there are *any*). Unless it's a particularly bad year 9th Jan should be a different story, and most pistes should be fine.
So it's maybe an unhelpful answer (but that's not going to stop me giving it  ), but it depends on why you're waiting. If you want to be guaranteed excellent snow (or powder), then wait. If you're after a bargain and the deals you've seen (where, out of interest?) sound good, then go for it.
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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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elvis6093, there are several of us who actually live in this area, so you can rely on ACCURATE reports on the snow as well information about the general region.
It is still very early in the season - remember Christmas is still 2 weeks away. I left my house (at a mere 800m) on the 4th Dec with no snow and warmish temperatures. I returned this lunch time to temperatures below 0°C and a good 30cms of snow. I know this for a fact as I had to help my friend dig out her car, which she left outside my garage! A lot can happen in the mountains in a few hours, let alone a few days. I have just returned from 10 days skiing in Sölden (village height 1382m) where it has snowed non-stop for the last 3 days. A short way further west, St Anton is not yet able to open fully. Swings and roundabouts in the mountains!
The Wilder Kaiser/Ski Welt area is a good snow sure area and is going to open properly, as will most resorts in Austria, on 19th December. This coming week we are forecast temperatures as low as -24°C at night and the day time temperatures are also due to be correspondingly low. Any snow that falls will be falling on to a frozen base and mixed with blown snow (to call it artificial snow is an insult with the state of the technology these days). As most of the slopes are covered in grass this means you can safely open the pistes with a cover of as little as 5cm of packed base. The tourist trade is Austria's biggest single employer and income earner - they will do everything in each community to ensure that their guests have a fabulous time and go away after their holiday raring to return. The money each community earns stays in that community and is invested to ensure the experience is as good as it can be.
A great deal of tosh is talked about "height" and snow cover - yes there have been bad years; the most recent one for us in our SE corner of the Alps was 2006/2007. The year before that we had snow at my "paltry" 800m from the third week in November until the first week in May. An advantage for the Austrian, Südtyrol and Swiss resorts in general is that most of the pistes are used for summer grazing. This means that they hold the snow better (grass) and can open with less depth than is usually needed to open in the French areas for example. The snowline is generally higher in France, hence all the high level resorts, but they need more snow to open as they are often above the summer grazing areas. A visit to some of the PDS resorts in summer would show you this - Les Gets is classic Alpine farm land, Avoriaz is (despite lots of investment in landscaping), a waste land akin to the slate mines of North Wales!
http://www.wetter.com/wetter_aktuell/wettervorhersage/7_tagesvorhersage/?id=ATAT30120 this is a link to the weather page for Ellmau. You can tease yourself checking this every day for the time being!
Sue in the very snowy Borderland between Austria and Germany!
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Samerberg Sue, Thanks. I'm out next week. The -24 was even -29 on Snow Forecast but they seem to have knocked that back into the mid teens now and showing + temps at village height on around 20th.
It does continue to amaze me how the "low" myth keeps getting trolled out (I blame the media). Some people need to go back and do elemtary geography or maybe just look at a map.
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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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Bode Swiller, big party at Ellmau on Saturday afternoon (19th) - probably lots of other stuff going on too in Söll, Scheffau, Brixen, etc! They don't need much of an excuse for a party out here! All the resorts try hard to get something happening outside of the school holidays so that the adult punters (who spend more money) really do have a great time. Great skiing in Sölden this past 10 days with virtually no kids evident - that includes the "radical teens" - it's illegal to take kids out of school in Austria and Germany unless that child is sick or an immediate family member has died - can't even them get out for family weddings! Kids who were missing from my school in the week before a holiday had to produce an authentic doctor's note stating what was wrong and how long they were "signed off" for. Failure to compply could result in the parents being fined and possibly losing some of their "Kindergeld" (family allowence?).
Where are you going to be based? I'm hoping to be able to ski on Friday or maybe at the weekend.
Sue
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
It does continue to amaze me how the "low" myth keeps getting trolled out
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I'm not sure if that was a response to my comment or not. 
You have to admit, though, that Ellmau is relatively low even for an Austrian ski resort (1555m, vs. say Saalbach at 2000m+). Don't misunderstand me, I'm a very big fan of early season skiing in Austria (seemingly much more reliable than even the highest French resorts), and like I said, by the 9th Jan I'd have thought snow would be fine in all but the worst of seasons...
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| Quote: |
A great deal of tosh is talked about "height" and snow cover - yes there have been bad years; the most recent one for us in our SE corner of the Alps was 2006/2007. The year before that we had snow at my "paltry" 800m from the third week in November until the first week in May. An advantage for the Austrian, Südtyrol and Swiss resorts in general is that most of the pistes are used for summer grazing. This means that they hold the snow better (grass) and can open with less depth than is usually needed to open in the French areas for example. The snowline is generally higher in France, hence all the high level resorts, but they need more snow to open as they are often above the summer grazing areas. A visit to some of the PDS resorts in summer would show you this - Les Gets is classic Alpine farm land, Avoriaz is (despite lots of investment in landscaping), a waste land akin to the slate mines of North Wales!
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Very well said....except for the rather rude comment about North wales. The slate quarrying areas are one of the most interesting landscapes in the Britsih Isles IMHO 
The other point about Austria is that it is much further away from the Atlantic and consequently the freezing level is usually a lot lower. 1300 m in Austria is probably worth at least 1600m in France. The grassy slopes also mean very little snow is required and greatly helps piste management. This is Partly why the Sella Ronda is so good, dramatic scenery yet skiing mainly on grassy runs. Austria is also a good deal less windy than the western alps which means that the runs tend to get less scoured. Other than perhaps Val d'isere which has unusually smooth upper runs for the French Alps, early season skiing is much more reliable in Austria. The disadvantage of alpine pastures is that they can be more prone to avalanche and once the thaw comes they may not hold their snow as well as rocky slopes.
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Samerberg Sue, thanks for that...it has put my mind at rest some what. We are going to Soll on 27th Feb, having been to Obertauern for past 4 years, which has such reliable snow, we are a little nervous about Soll, but we love tree lined skiing and Soll suited our budget far more. So I guess you can't have everything. As long as there is enough to link the lifts and it stays on the tops, not being able to ski right down to the village won't be too bad!
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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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I wouldn't be concerned yet. I went through Soll and Scheffau on my transfer to Kitzbuhel last January, the temperature was between +1 - +5 at resort level and the snow seemed fine, albeit a bit patchy in places, in the valley.
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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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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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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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Thanks you too Avago, !
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Avago - If possible please can you post some condition reports while you are away next week if you get internet access?
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hammerite, I'm in Scheffau from the 19th - if I can get online I will post some reports/pics up for you too.
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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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carolwags, if that is the case, cancel the booking with the car hire and buy some at an Obi outlet (like B&Q, Great Mills, etc.) You will get the right size from the Fahrzeugschein (a copy of which must be in the hire car by law!) which will be in the car, or just look at the tyre sizes.
Mine cost me about 30 Euros at Obi. They are always signposted (big orange signs) or you could call into the huge Hornbacher DIY outlet which has its own exit from the A9 just as you go into Munich (do not drive off on to the A99 - head for the city centre instead). You can easily pick up the A 8 by following the signs on the Mitteler Ring Ost (Richtung Salzburg).
Sue
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Hi, I am going to be taking three brand new skiers to Hopfgarten, we fly out tomorrow, this will be the 17th. I am hoping to jump straight on the slopes, from reading above it sounds like I should go straight to Ellmau?? would this be correct?
Any reccommendations on cheap ski instruction for the three beginners? Also I would like instruction..I've had two weeks on the snow. Any tips?
Might end up driving over to Mayorhofen for the day if not much is open in the ski welt.
Emma 
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Oh and what is the gondola called in ellmau and scheffau
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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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milky, We are there too! Where are you staying? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Samerberg Sue wrote: |
carolwags, if that is the case, cancel the booking with the car hire and buy some at an Obi outlet
Mine cost me about 30 Euros at Obi. They are always signposted (big orange signs)
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If you're looking for an Obi, there is one just off the A8 autobahn by Rosenheim (though that means going a little past the Inntal exit that you would be taking for Söll, etc.; Rosenheim is the next exit after the Inntal junction). Take the Rosenheim exit and turn right towards Rosenheim. You will see the Obi on the left as you drive along but you have to go past it on the dual carriageway and then turn back at the next lights (I usually drive about 100 yds up the side road on the left, turn round at the entry to a furniture store and come back again).
supernatural, I would expect the Salvenbahn to be running out of Hopfgarten, for even if one can't ski down to the village there, the lift (second section) now runs to the top of the Höhe Salve, so it would be the obvious way for Hopfgarten skiers to get into the SkiWelt.
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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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espri, turn off at the parking place immediately after the railway bridge and you get the road directly to Obi - - it's just before the entrance to the big Mercedes car place (Inntal Porsche-Zentrum)! The road goes back on itself and over the main road and round to Obi! Signposted to Frauendorf-Nord
Will be in touch about the Haggii! (says she licking her lips greedily! 
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You know it makes sense.
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milky, It would be great if you could post up a report while your away. I hope you and Avago, each have a great time.
supernatural, if you do go to Ellmau, there are three ski schools, Hartkaiser, Top and Skischulle Ellmau. I have lessons booked with Hartkaiser, not sure who Jnr is booked in with as we did it through the TO.
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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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milky, A work colleague (who isn't on Snowheads) is staying at the Waldrand, for the week starting 2nd January.
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Poster: A snowHead
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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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hammerite, as promised...
Snow conditions in Scheffau and on the rest of the Skiwelt are pretty good at the moment. Not been any snow here while we've been in resort, but the temperatures have been generally well below freezing so most areas have retained good coverage. We headed over to Westendorf today and the pistes were brilliant, noticed on the way back that some areas in the scheffau bowl are showing the mud a little bit though  . Also, it warmed up alot today so there's been a bit of a meltdown in the valley.
That said, most pistes are open and in good condition - Should be no problems for you on the 26th, more snow expected this week and freezing levels set to fall again, no need to worry!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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milky, only those who have the stoicism to tolerate a bit of mud should be allowed to go to the Tirol - do the 1000's of enormous Bavarians complain about the odd blade of juicy alpine cow food poking through the piste - I think not!ll!
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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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Excellent, thanks for the report milky, hope you are having a great time!!
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Glad you're having a good time milky, and thanks once again for the update. Conditions look great with some fresh snow tomorrow forecast so should hopefully be perfect on Sunday when we get to ski . Are the runs down to the villages open given the warmer temps over the last couple of days and rain? Or is all the action up top?
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hammerite, valley runs are open and have been all week... looking a little bit threadbare in places but perfectly skiable at the moment.
Freezing level falling again at the weekend so more snow cannoning should see them remain so even if no snow falls between now and then  !
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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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milky, great pics - I love it like that when you have the slopes all to yourself
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Been a good week so far, but similar as milky had last week, now it's got warmer today some of the slopes could be in better condition - they deteriorated quite dramatically in a couple of hours. Lovely white groomed pistes this morning turned into browny stained pistes with thin sugary mounds in between. Very spring like according to the more experienced OH.
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FAQ
Have a great time.
