 Poster: A snowHead
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A change in circumstances means that Mrs H and I are able to take a second ski=ing holiday this year!!!! 
We're off to Val Thorens at the beginning of April and fancy going to Austria at the beginning of March. We like a bit of snow in the village, so we're looking for somewhere fairly high. We've been ski=ing for 6 weeks and would like to take on a few more reds this time round after having a lovely time cruising the blues in Val Thorens last Easter. At the moment we're looking at Obergurgle / Hochgurgl
Any snowHeads have some other recommendations for other resorts, or things to say about Obergurgl?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Lech.
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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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Hi Ian we went to obergurgl last year and we really enjoyed it, it's the highest parish in austria so good snow shouldn't be a problem. We went over to hochgurgl a couple of times and the snow was great, the slopes are good for intermediates, the only minus point for us was, and we are not party animals but the absence of any decent relaxing bars at night, if there are any we couldn't find them but we don't like packed out smoky bars. The bar at the hotel edelweiss at the bottom of the slope in obergurgl was the place to be for quite lively apres ski it was nice there, mainly people in mid thirties upwards so no yobs, but later on it was very quiet indeed but great skiing.
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Ian Hopkinson, Obergurgl is delightful. I learnt to ski there. It is the only time I have ever found my imagined destination to be the same as the reality. It is just like you thought all ski resorts would be. Small, chic, snowy and friendly. You and Sharon will love it. And the standard of accomodations is excellent as well. Enjoy!
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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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Andy, you didn't find the Josl Keller then. Not quite the ministry of sound, but a lively bar underneath the hotel Josl. Warms up around 9pm through to the early hours.
Ian, I would agree with Jonpim, that it would be a really good choice for early March. I've always gone in December when it can be a bit billy baltic at the top, but early spring would be wonderful. Great mountain huts too.
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Anywhere in Austria will be fine at this time. Don't get too hooked up on altitude. Eastness is just as significant. My bet will be that there will be plenty of snow in Austria at this time. Any level. I think you have mostly skied France to date. The difference is that in France you are skiing in a huge efficient machine a bit like a snowy Alton Towers whereas in Austria you are travelling from place to place by a natural and efficient way of getting round the mountains. Unless you are snowboarding of course. I think you will love Austrian skiing.
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Thanks for the comments!
If we're interested in the Arlberg area (Lech, Zurs, St Anton) is the whole area easily accessable from any of the resorts? And what is the resort of choice for the tight-fisted in this area?
Chris, we've skied Westendorf - on the edge of SkiWelt - a few times, but fancied a change.
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| Ian Hopkinson wrote: |
| If we're interested in the Arlberg area (Lech, Zurs, St Anton) is the whole area easily accessable from any of the resorts? And what is the resort of choice for the tight-fisted in this area? |
There's a fine bus service between them so it's not a problem to get between them. Lech's not so expensive in fact, although the UK tour operators might load a premium onto the price. There's loads of very good pensions around Lech. Stuben is very nice as well and worth a look.
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Stuben is lovely and a good base in the Arlbeg if you want somewhere quiet between the party-mad atmosphere of StAnton and the more sedate and elderly Lech/Zurs.
Lech is (or was) geriatric bling-bling; full of loaded 60+ retirees in fur-trimmed ski suits, too much gold and reptilian perma-tans. It's quite fun to go there if only to lower the tone a little! The village and the skiing are charming though. I'm hoping to bump into a nice rich heiress there one day who fancies a bit of British rough.... 
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For convenince then somewhere in St Anton is good but the village is strung out so the bars i the centre of town can be 10-15 min walk at night. This is not so much a problem with skis as the lifts go from all all along the valley. The tourist office is very good - I turned up on the train and walked in to the TO at 0830, made a few calls, basic german is useful, and was upacking within the hour. The area can be tough by other resorts standards but well worth the visit. Nightlife is v good but can get expensive geting into bars/clubs late. The Aussies seem to run the coat checks and need the money...
I was going to say Isgchl as it has all the right stats and reviews but have never been able to get in there with my late arrangments. They have their clientele and do not need to discount. So maybe notthe place for a budget.
Obergurgl is fine. The skiing is red and blue with no horrors and the lifts are quick and effiecient, with a few exceptions, and I can't recall any queues. Apre-ski starts right off the slopes and continues until the sun goes down. Watch out for the drunk skiers falling down the final run....!! It gets harder to find lively bars later in the evening. But all things considered this is a good bet IMO. The hotels are mostly of a good standard. We stayed at the Muhle, ****, just a few min walk out of the village and the owner makes his own snaps. He ends up the only one drinking it and is always p*****d.
So St Anton if the price is right but Obergurgl would shade it for me...just..!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ian Hopkinson,
The whole area of St Anton is accessibale by bus but I have only done it from St Anton. If Lech is the right price it may be worth a go. Don't know anyone who has actually stayed there, it has always been a lunch stop for me.
The people there certainly like to show off their wealth, but then you are unlikley to see them sking too much.
Not entirely sure about this but I don't get the impression that the lift system is the most modern. But someone may correct me here.
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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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Ian, Saalbach would meet your needs. Plenty of cruising blues and reds, excellent infrastructure so you can ski up and down the valley easily. Its about an hour or so from Salzburg airport and it also has some great hotels.
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Chris Bish is right - altitude isn't everything. We went to Kitzbuhel last March, and whilst it isn't a particularly high resort we had continuous snow fall for most of the week meaning we had knee deep powder every day. Its a beautiful place too - medieval old town, great nightlife (The Londoner is a great bar in town) and the skiing was really good. Of course there's also the Hahnenkamm downhill to try your hand at too! Oh and I believe they've installed a new gondola as well meaning its easier to do a ski safari all the way up the valley towards Pass Thurn.
Enjoy wherever you go!
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You know it makes sense.
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Ian - I love Obergurgl, (see previous posts on Resorts) but Lech is wonderful. It didn't seem to me to be 'elderly and wealthy' but then I am 42  Lech is full of wide blue and red runs, all immaculately pisted. It never gets very busy, as the lift pass sales are limited. The ski instruction is great. We were there the last week in March and we're going for 2 weeks this year. The lift system is as modern and quick. The snow is very reliable. The hotels are great. We've not yet been to St.Anton because we've only skied for 5 weeks (same as you?) - I think the skiing is harder there. Try Lech.
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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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Ian, having just spent Christmas at Saalbach/Hinterglemm, I'd so agree with hayley t. We stayed in Hinterglemm and it was gorgeous, I'd forgotten how pretty Austria is, and how welcoming and friendly the people are. The skiing area was excellent, well linked with lovely long runs and no lift queues. Some of the blues are more like reds in places. And as for the apres ski!
I've never been to Obergurgl, but it's another one on my long list of places to ski.
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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 in the skiwelt region is great. We were there a couple of years ago in Mid-March and it was fine for snow. Loads of cruising runs and all of the skiwelt area to play with.
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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.
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Cheers all for your comments!
I think we'll be going to Obergurgl this time around, but Lech / St Anton is a definite prospect for the future. We've been to Westendorf, close to Kitzbuhl and on the edge of the Skiwelt system a few times, and really liked it, but fancied a change. I do like the Austrian atmosphere, and based on our experience of Westendorf, Saas Fee and Val Thorens, the Austrian mountain restaurants are streets ahead...now all I need to do is brush up on my German!
You're right Eric2004 - we've been ski=ing about the same number of weeks!
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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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Rachel Q - Glad you had a good time. Its a great place and still relatively unknown to a lot of British skiers. Lets keep it a Snowheads secret too! Did you go into Saalbach? I'd love to see it at Christmas as I imagine it's really pretty.
Ian Hopkinson, I recommend you learn what the German and Austrian meals are as the menus are nearly always in German (no translations). The only place I've found that was different was the Ski Welt which has a higher level of British visitors.
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| hayley t wrote: |
Ian Hopkinson, I recommend you learn what the German and Austrian meals are as the menus are nearly always in German (no translations). The only place I've found that was different was the Ski Welt which has a higher level of British visitors. |
Certainly sometimes the menus are in German only, but the waiters/waitresses invariably speak good English and will translate for you. However, I agree with your recommendation and in that spirit people may find the following Austrian gastronomic information useful:
Soups
Gulaschsuppe=Goulash Soup, Tomatensuppe = Tomato Soup, (I bet you could work out these first two  )
Erbsensuppe = Pea Soup (sometimes mit Würstl = with Frankfurter), Leberknödelsuppe = Clear Soup with Liver Dumpling, Knoblauchsuppe = cream of garlic soup (recommended!)
Meats
Huhn= Chicken, Schwein= Pork, Kalb = Veal, Rindfleisch = Beef
Typical Main Courses
Wiener Schnitzel = Breaded Veal Escalope, Jägerschnitzel = Pork Escalope with Mushroom Sauce, Fleischkäse = meatloaf (more like cooked luncheonmeat), Tiroler Gröstl = Fried chopped up potato and bacon (sometimes mit SpiegelEi = with Fried Egg). Anything mit Pommes = with chips (i.e French Fries for US Snowheads - or is that now Freedom Fries? )
Typical Desserts
Apfelstrūdel = Apple Strudel, Sachertorte = famous Viennese Chocolate cake, Kaiserschmarren = Chopped up pancake with fruit puree dusted in icing sugar, Germknödel = Steamed sponge pudding filled with jam and poppy seeds, served with either melted butter (too rich for me) or VanilleSauce i.e Custard (my preference). Anything "mit Schlag" is with whipped cream.
Drinks
Bier vom Fass = Draught Beer, Weizenbier = Wheat Beer (Good Flavour, but be aware often served with yeast so appears cloudy). A useful drink at lunchtime if you want to limit alcohol intake is Radler (= Shandy).
Guten Appetit und Prost!
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I recommend the Tiroler Grostl followed by Apfelstrudel mit vanillesauce und funf weizenbier! Yum
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hayley t, we didn't go into Saalbach at night - Hinterglemm was enough for us. We only passed through a few times when we were skiing the circuit, and it seems a much busier and bigger town than Hinterglemm. Did you ski that lovely 7km run down to Vorderglemm? We started at the red at the top of the new gondola, and then onto the blue, so it must have been about 10km skiing in all. That's was a real leg burner by the time we'd finished! I must get fitter.
Don't worry, we'll definitely keep it a Snowheads secret - I like it that there were very few Brits there!
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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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We did the Vorderglemm run first on recommendation as a good warm up. It was great and we earnt out hot chocolate by the time we reached the bottom! As a bonus, we also saw one of the best romper suit & mullet combinations ever!
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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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Sharon , best of luck for the future, whatever it may hold!
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Ian - try 'spetzle' - Austrian dish - with cheese. The menus are in English in Obergurgl. The Eidelweiss & Gurgl does good lunchtime food. My favourites are the spetzle and the turkey salad - oh and the goulash soup!! Have fun.
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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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That's Spaetzle, not particularly and Austrian dish, it's more German, it made with flour, eggs, milk or water and salt. It nothing more than noodles really and generally served with something else, like potatoes or pasta. I rather like Spaetzle but a lot of people detest it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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ise, yep not bad but it does depend on what you serve it with
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ian and Sharon, Obergurgl was designed just for you. You will have a wonderful time. I wish I was going with you, but it seems I am going to have to do some work this year after all. Sad!
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FAQ
I keep meaning to get back there one year but so many mountains, so little annual leave.... 
