 Poster: A snowHead
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Just got back from a fantastic week at Ischgl. The snow and weather were superb and the apres was , er, plentiful  Also full marks to Inghams and the hotel Solaria for making our stay so much fun.
However - a warning to anyone taking advantage of the 'duty free zone' at Samnaun:
For anyone that doesn't know, it is possible to ski into Switzerland from Ischgl. not only possible but 'encouraged' (lots of route markers, and signs promoting 'duty free'). So 'hey' we thought, 'it's a good excuse for a bit of a trek - lets do it'.
The run over from Ischgl down piste 80, a very pretty and gentle red is worth doing just for fun, but sure enough, as you enter Samnaun Dorf, the first place you come to is a very nice restaurant, with good food and beer at reasonable (for the alps  ) prices. The toilets are downstairs (aren't they always?) but at this place they are opposite a large Duty Free shop
Now I don't smoke, and nor does Mrs Axs, but sadly our two eldest do, and so do their friends, so after a good lunch we checked out the prices. The allowance is 200 cigs, or 250gm of tobacco per adult (over 1 . We were a group of 4 over 18 and one sixteen year old so we used four allowances. Cigs were 27 Euro for 200 or just over £2 for 20. Tobacco was 20 Euro for 50Gm, which I understand is about 1/3 of the UK shop price. So far so good.
We stock up, putting the spoils into my backpack and that of Mrs Axs (the Kids of course were not wearing backpacks) and set off back to Austria. We rode the 'World Famous' Pendelbahn double decker gondola back up to Alp Trida (which is in Austria) and at this point made our big mistake. Two of the kids wanted to do some of the Alp Trida reds, while three of us just wanted to ski back to Ischgl, so we separated. The three of us rode up the N1 lift to the top of blue 11 ready to ski back to Idalp, and as we got off the lift we were stopped by a customs officer. Of course we had four allowance worth of cigs and there were only three of us. 
We radioed and phoned the other two but couldn't reach them so we ended up with a simple choice, pay a 100 Euro fine and keep the fourth pack of cigs, or pay 40 Euros and dump them. We chose the 40 Euro route. So in the end, 600 cigs cost us 121 Euro which is about £3.20 per pack. Not too bad, but we did feel a bit hard done by.
Aparently, the customs 'zone' can be ANYWHERE in the ischgl ski area. They can even (we were told) search your bag as you enter your hotel.
So the moral is, DON'T go over the limits - they DO search anyone with a backpack, and either all carry your own allowance, or if in a group STICK TOGETHER. Obvious really, but no one pointed this out and no-one told us where the checkpoint was (we assumed it was at the top of the gondola as you 're-enter' Austria).
Thought I'd post this as it might save someone else a 40 Euro fine.
P.S. back at our hotel the bar staff told us that the week before a woman had been caught smuggling Rolex watches and was fined 20,000 Euro After that 40 doesn't sound so bad
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Don't know why the duty free goods make so much news in Ischgl. Switzerland can also be accessed from the French side of Porte du Soleil and the Italian side in Zermatt. Don't think I have seen duty free goods mentioned there.
It appears the duty free stories are part of the fun in Ischgl. The run #80 is called Duty Free run. I always thought a skier would want to travel light and the last thing is to blast the backpack with bottles of spirit and cigs.
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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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saikee, the Swiss side of Portes du Soleil is not duty free, nor is Zermatt (hard to imagine skiing to Zermatt for a bargain!). That's why the fuss about Samnaun.
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Axsman, alternatively, hire some race tuned downhill skis and just glide away from the b*s at the border. This plan can't fail. Those guys can't ski 
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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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Steilhang, he had some but swapped them for a pair of comfy pillows with bindings 
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Frosty the Snowman, a couple of bottles of Smirnoff with bindings I could believe...
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Axsman, First of all I'm glad you had a great time. I'm a bit of an Ischgl veteran having been loads of times. I've also done red 80 into Samnaum loads of times and have never been stopped at customs. OK I don't carry a backpack but ski with mates who do and they've never been stopped either. Indeed I've never seen anbody stopped. At the exit of the Samnaum cable car there is a customs hut but I've never seen anyone in it. I've been advised to carry my passport just in case but have never been asked for it, nor as anyone I know. I just think you were extremely unlucky. Interestingly, however, the old customs hut has been replaced with a new one so maybe the authorities are geting more serious.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Axsman, I don't know where you flew from/to but but the cig prices at Geneva airport were about that kind of price anyway, and at least that way all your group will be with you! 
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Frosty the Snowman,  Nothing wrong with comfy pillows 
Steilhang, Do Smirnoff bottles work well in Powder? I'm liking the possibilities
Agree with the comments on bottles of booze being heavy though (and the booze wasn't cheap anyway so didn't bother) Run 80 is called 'Duty Free Run' on most piste maps but I've seen it labelled 'Smugglers Run' on at least one
Corky, The customs hut at the top of the Samnaun Cable car is where we THOUGHT we had 'entered Austria' and so having come through in a group, with less than our group allowance, we thought nothing of separating. Getting caught for 'smuggling' at the top of Blue 11 was the equivalent of being searched in Leicester having flown in to Birmingham  I mean at what point HAVE you entered the country and imported the goods? shirley the first point of entry, not halfway back down the hill?
ski-finder, Yes but it was more fun skiing over to Schweis for them (and I repeat, I don't even smoke).
Just to put this in context, they were stopping EVERYONE with a backpack. There were two guys in front of me queuing to pay their fines in the customs hut, and as I walked out, another guy was walking in. Personally I think it's just a revenue earner for the Austrian authorities. By making the point of entry 'anywhere in the zone' they can catch the unwary (like me and the poor sod from America) and make a few quid. I reckon at 40 Euros a pop they were pulling in well over 800 per hour the day I got nabbed. Still someone has to pay for the excellent Ischgl lift system and piste management
On a serious note this little 'adventure' by no means spoilt the holiday, possibly even added to it as something we'll remember for quite a while. I was very impressed with all aspects of Ischgl, we will almost certainly be going there again next Easter - the kids thought it was the best place we've skied and I tend to agree with them. IMHO it certainly lived up to its 'snowsure' reputation, and the pisting was first class. There was also tons of off-piste for those who can handle it (our boarding son did NOT want to come home )
The lift system is second to none for speed and efficiency, even on the busiest days (and this was Easter break) the queues were relatively short and mostly we never waited for more than a couple of minutes.
I would also say that the resort's reputation for 'irresponsible, drunken skiing' is undeserved. In our experience the skiers there were of a higher standard (technically) and more considerate than the usual mix we have experienced in France and Switzerland. We saw no incidents of out of control skiing, and very few minor collisions. Lift queues were generally good-humoured and courteous. The Austrians do seem to like skiing with their ankles bolted together, but hey, that's their prerogative. They are also musical geniuses with the best quality apres on the planet! (We had fun).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Axsman wrote: |
Corky, The customs hut at the top of the Samnaun Cable car is where we THOUGHT we had 'entered Austria' |
The Alp Trida area is Switzerland. The border is at the top of the mountain, basically after you get off either the N1 or O4 lifts. Looks like you know that now.
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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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| Axsman wrote: |
But if that's the case, why don't they sell duty free in Alp Trida?  Does not compute? |
Not sure really. Possibly the cost of shipping the stuff up the mountain. Can't think of any other reason.
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You know it makes sense.
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Axsman, Can I recommend HERE for you next year 
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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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Frosty the Snowman, Looks good!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Axsman, It was the name I thought apt....not the family bit!
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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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The Aosta valley is a duty-free area so smokers and drinkers from La Rosiere stock up in La Thuile, haven't seen a douanier yet.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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David@traxvax, David is that right? I have been to La Thuile, Courmayeur and Aosta/Pila but hadn't noticed that they were 'Duty Free' ?
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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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Axsman, the entire valley had duty-free status conferred on it by the Dukes of Savoy because of it's remotenesss and it's remained in place today, you can buy 1litre of single malt whiskey for €16 in La Thuile.
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Axsman, don't know, but IIRC you're not allowed any duty free booze 'n' fags when travelling within EU, only duty paid elsewhere, so I guess at best you can bring in the normal duty free (as if coming from a non EU country) when going from a duty free zone to any EU country, directly or indirectly, do not pass go, do not collect (more than) 200 Malboro Light.
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richmond, Makes sense (so probably ISN'T the rule ).
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Sounds right. Weird, these little duty free enclaves; I imagine that there's large scale smuggling by locals, given that (I assume) that the shops in these places will sell you as much as you like. What would happen here, I wonder, if, say, The Isle of Thanet was a duty free zone?
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FAQ
(we were 'got' at the top of N1).
