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Galtur/Ischgl 3rd Jan 2009

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Glatur Trip

Sorry about delayed transmission but this seems like the only place in the world without a Wifi connection.

Saturday Jan 3rd. Too excited to sleep arrived at Manchester airport well early, no need to worry as Terminal 1 was very quiet. Was recalled to check in as Austrian Airways had decided to use a smaller plane a Focher 100 which was about 80% full. Nice flight, free wine, good looking hostesses. Arrived at Innsbruck 1 hour late to the annoyance of those who had come on the Gatwick flight. Its lovely sunny blue sky day 0C at ground, should be out skiing. Arrived at Galtur at 4:30 pm after an hour & three quarters transfer, which is not great as I had been out of the house at 6 am. Seems like I can get a discounted pass for being over 60 this is good by mate has to hire boots & skis & Inghams quote £150 for 6 days for standard items, this is reducing the beer money. We are in Hotel Alpenrose. It is nice & clean, decent bedroom & the food had been acceptable so far, so a good deal for the money. It is right at the outskitrs of Galtur but Galtur is a small village & does seem to much action. The Hotel seems to only partially full, mostly with Russian or German speaking guests.

Sunday 4th Jan, patch cloud, sun breaking through in afternoon, -5 cold, light wind a promise of snow but a mere hint od a dusting.
Explored silvretta area (Ischgl & Samnaun). They have a good solid base extensively augmented by snow cannons. The pistes are heavily compacted and scraped back to ice in places. I found the artificial snow very fine and dragged on my skis. Skied Idalp, Hollenkar, Alp Trida Trip areas. The array of detachable lifts fanning out from Central points: Idalp Alp Trida is impressive at dispersing the crowds to all points. Most runs are graded red, a few blue runs but not that easy, very few black runs but a number of runs designated ski trails & extreme ski trails. My ski budy found it more difficult than he liked. We skied the hyped Duty free run to Samnaun. It could be done in faily quick time, less than an hour from Ischgl base. Not rating as an day trip like Sella Ronda or traversing the 3 valleys. Had lunch at the Schmugglers Alms as everybody does, I was a bit slow in realising the prices were in Swiss Francs not Euros & thinking it was a rip off when it was not so bad. The place is a theme park pastiche of a mountain hostel. Didn't buy any contraband as I had not brought my passport + didn't fancy skiing back with it just to save a few Euros. I will have to buy some perfume before I go home to appease the wife for me disappearing on another skiing trip. It looked to be cheaper than the Airport Duty free. A Gondola & chair lift, a little skiing & were back at Idalp. Idalp was very crowded, did a few runs from there but was not feeling safe with number of unskilled skier & boarders going a high speed with partial control though this area overloaded with novice skiers & boarded. Decided to head down early 3.30 pm - total carnage the run home is a quite severe in places red run. Alternating from not wide to wide, a mixture of piles of artificial snow, scraped patches, small moguls & OK snow. The tra`` ffic was horrendous, made worse by being the home run & beyond the ability of may novices and the number of hell for leather youngsters. Russian seemed to be the language of most punters, it is Russian New Year this week. I have never been anywhere with such lack of ski etiquette, I can only assume the FIS rules have not be published in Russian. Stopping in bunches in the middle of the piste (skiers) was the norm & speed without control order of the day. My buddy was skittled by a snowboarder. I felt truly unsafe. I had gone to Ischgl as part of my quest to find the best ski resort & Ischgl is on some peoples lists. Not a chance in my book, it could be classy but they need some enforcement of safety standards & not just ignore thinks in the rush for roubles.

Monday 5th Jan, cloudy with sun breaking through, very cold in shade. Skied Galtur's own little area to escape the crowds. It made a refreshing change with family oriented resort. Skied everything at least once. Apres skied at the Weiberhimml hut was the normal on the tables thing but a little more friendly with the family atmosphere and not too mad. It was a nice day.

Tuesday 6th Jan started out clouded becoming sunny later , very cold down to -11C at the peaks out of sun. Put distance between ourselves and the congestion at Idalp and enjoyed all the runs in the sunny bowl of Alp Bella. Off piste just about fully tracked but as it has been very cold since the last big snow it was still in good condition and not crusted. Then back to Idalpe and did the Schugglers run with starting with Red 81 instead of red 80. Wandered through Samnuan & checked out duty free shops. Completed the route & back to Idalpe. Took the Gondola down to avoid the madness.
At night went to Tommy's Garage , great bar with live music on Tuesdays & it was Tomm's 40th birthday a great night Frank cound really play the guitar.
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I was in Ischgl the 3rd week last Jan. There was a lot of snow but not a lot of skiers. Our home runs from Ischgl down to the town city were full of snow all the way.

Galtur being at the end of the valley has a lot less skiers. It is just not a large resort. Kappl is the same size as Galtur, with 40Km, and should be a good place to visit as it is an extra 6 miles further away from Ischgl (with 235km piste including Samnaun) if you travel from Galtur. The last resort from Galtur is See, with 33km piste, located another 4 miles away from Kappl or 17 miles from Galtur. Ischgl is the place with the night life.
snow report
 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?
Wednesday, slightly cloudy start then sunny still very cold. Did the Red 7 down to the Ischgl from the top it is several km long and not busy in the morning but cold as it is a deep narrow V shaped valley, I would not do as home run as the congestion & number of maniacs flying through. Then explored the area mmmmm nice piste conditions & not too busy 3 decent restaurants - very busy at lunchtime. Went back to Tommy's Garage bar, dead tonight, no live music, went to the ice pyramid bar opposite fire station - can't remember real name - its a real fancy place but only me and the bar maid in there she was real excited to have a customer, I made a proposition to whisk her away to paradise, she was tempted but declined. Only sign of life after 10 was a pisteurs burger transport cafe, pretty good burger & coffee for a few euro. Continued to hunt for an unsecured wifi connection without luck so had an early night.

Thursday clear blue sky, very cold out of the sun but went back to Alp Bella area basked in sunshine, had half a bar-b-q chicken with salad, bread and a applejuice for 11 euros, might have been cheaper in S Fr but I had forgot to bring the residue of my funds from my Wengen trip which is a mistake as we seem to spend as much time skiing on Switzerland side of the border as in Austria. After lunch tried the only lift still to do from Alp Trip & found a new bowl with some interesting terrain. Continued to the opposite end of the ski map via ledges & lifts and one red which looks horrendous from the top but not bad if you don't think about it, left a pile of people petrified looking over the edge including my buddy. I found a nice bank off the edge of the piste to sunbathe on, wait & watch the fallers cascading down. I was surprised when I shed my skis I was sinking up to my knees in the snow even though most of the snow is from before Xmas it is still soft & crust free. My buddy eventually made it down without falling. We worked are way back to Idalp & then took the middle gondola back down to Ischgl. It was bloody cold in a shaded Ischgl. We used the travelators though the tunnels just because every mentions them. Liked the look of the lap dancing clubs but suspect you would need a gold card. There are many impressive (expensive) looking hotels & restaurants. Last full day tomorrow, still no sign of our rep, haven't seen him since he dropped us off from the coach, not even to the door. He is probably avoiding us, afraid to tell us what ungodly hour we have to leave to meet our 6 am flight.

Friday, cold, blue sky, sunshine. Did the schmugglers run first off, cold until we got out of the shade and the other side of the mountain, beautiful morning, pistes all virgin corduroy, left crowds behind. Back on the Gondola to Trip Alp, stopped to admire the view in sunshine, coffee & a chocolate bar. Did laps centred on Trip Alp and Bella Alp. Had sunbathe laid in the snow. Played on the boarder-cross half pipe & bumps. Didn't do the home run took the Gondola - chicken maybe.

Would I go back ? Yes, great terrain & lift system, but would stay in Ischgl as Galtur was dead most nights and the ski bus gets a bit wearing by the end of the week. I Don't know if there will be less Russians during the rest of the season but with them being in the majority and lack of etiquette overwhelms the immediately access-able areas. I would not care to negotiate the slopes in icy conditions. The majority of runs are tough reds which will suit advanced skiers. Many of the red pistes would be black at other resorts. I wonder if it not to deter those who don't do black runs as without doing these runs much of the area would be closed to them. Remarkably few black pistes - its seems to be fashion to designate difficult runs as ski trails with the disclaimer of liability for maintenance & patrolling.
snow report



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