Poster: A snowHead
|
I'm trying to figure out the best driving route from Bratislava-Vienna to Schladming. The Planai web site routes you this way:
From the east
Vienna - Semmering - Leoben - Liezen - Ennstal B 320 regional highway0
This route mainly consists of back roads. Is this really the route to take or is it better to take the autobahn either via Linz or Graz?
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I`m afraid I can`t help with the route but I wonder whether you can help with Schladming. We`re off there in just under 2 weeks and I know next to nothing about the place. Do you have any useful info ?
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
johnfmh,
I travel from Vienna to ski resorts around Bruck on the Mur quite often (was at Präbichl nr Leoben yesterday).
The roads are better than the map suggests, after the A2 it's mostly two lane / dual carriageway and speed limits are 130 kmh (or 100 through the tunnels) 80 / 50 mph in old money. There's even a new tunnel to bypass Semmering which cuts around 15 mins off the journey during normal times but much more at peak times. Graz is too big a diversion to the south and the Vienna / Salzburg road is wider but has far more traffic (and hence roadworks).
Hope this helps
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
johnfmh, sorry I can't help with the route, but I have spent a week in Schladming in 2001 and I'm also returning there for a week this year from the 19th Feb, beetle.
There is loads of stuff on the net if you just search Google - hope the following links help a bit:
http://skisnowboardeurope.com/schladming/
http://www.tiscover.at/at/guide/96863sy,en,SPOT/objectId,RGN264at/home.html
http://www.tiscover.at/at/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,RGN264at,season,at2,tisindex,1/home.html
http://en.skiamade.com/ (area lift pass)
mailto:touristoffice@schladming.com (to contact the Tourist Office in Schladming)
My friends and I have skied in Austria for many years but this is the first time we've actually returned to a village. We had a very good time there last time, liked the place, a proper working Austrian village/town with it's own brewery and full range of shops and businesses - very different from French purpose built resorts. Accommodation tends to be in smallish family run hotels, but there are also good self catering apartments (not rooms stuffed with bunk beds), but catered chalets are relatively rare in Austrian villages. The skiing was great - you can choose to ski anywhere in the Schladming Dachstein-Tauern area, and that covers alot of pistes, and a couple of times World Cup courses that you can go down too. I particularly enjoyed the skiing on Hauser-Kaibling, and Pichl, both a short distance from Schladming itself. Taxis are plentiful and not expensive if there is a small group of you to go to other lift stations away from the Planai which can be very busy with queues first thing in the morning. Apres ski is whatever you want to make of it - generally quite lively in most of the bars both on the mountains and in the town. I don't recall night clubs etc, but did visit plenty of bars!
Hope you have a great time - where are you staying?
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
DB,
This is what I needed to hear. I'll go ahead and take the, Vienna - Semmering - Leoben - Liezen - Ennstal B 320 regional highway route, as suggested by the Planai web site. Thanks!!
Thanks Icequeen for all the information about Schladming.
My in laws live in Slovakia and my plan is to ski two days at Jasna in the low Tatras and then ski 3 days in Schladming and 3 days in Bad Gastein. I've been travelling to Europe every winter since 2000 and I always combine a ski trip with a trip to see my wife's family. I chose Schladming and Bad Gastein this year because they are reasonably close to Slovakia yet still considered to be major ski centers. In the past, I've always taken a flight from Vienna to Innsbruck and then skied places like Arlberg, Ischgl, and Soelden. This year I will drive to the Schladming/Bad Gastein area and take a short hop back to Vienna for the flight home to DC at the end.
I have not finished booking my lodging yet but I don't really care that much about where I stay. In Austria, even the lowest level hotels are clean and comfortable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
johnfmh wrote: |
DB,
I have not finished booking my lodging yet but I don't really care that much about where I stay. In Austria, even the lowest level hotels are clean and comfortable. |
I agree totally - I've never stayed anywhere truly awful in Austria - which is more than can be said of certain other places!
|
|
|
|
|
|
IceQueen,
My biggest concern is schnee. Right now, Planai is only reporting: 40, 30, 30. That's not a lot. I'm hoping some decent size snows hit the Eastern Alps prior to Mid-February. But if not, Planai apparently has a decent artificial snow system. Bad Gastein is higher up, so natural cover is better, especially at Sport Gastein. However, none of these places get the same kind of snow that the Western Austrian Alps get, and that probably explains why the Arlberg and Ischgl are so darn popular. To be perfectly honest, I would not be skiing Europe this year if it weren't for family committments there. The combination of better snow in Tahoe and UT and the crappy American dollar make America look pretty good right now. On the other hand, the contrarian in me always says, "take the road less traveled--it may be more fun." Europe has a lot more to offer than just skiing: the scenary, villages, food, and people all make for a special kind of experience that is hard to find in the land of fast food, Interstate highways, shopping malls, and BUD Light.
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
johnfmh,
Depending on the micro climate conditions, two resorts not that far away from each other can have significant differences in snow fall so best to look at a few resorts nearer the time. Two of my "local" ski resorts are literally on the opposite side of the same mountain but the snow levels can be completely different.
Another western Austria ski area to consider is Nassfeld, over Christmas/New Year it had more snow than most other places in Austria (inc St Anton).
http://www.bergfex.com/nassfeld-hermagor/
Taupltiz is a small ski resort which seems to be a magnet for snow, good for a day/weekend trip.
http://www.bergfex.com/tauplitz/
Just in case all else fails there's a good train link to St Anton from Vienna which I shall be using this coming weekend
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
IQ many thanks for info.
Sounds great. Were staying in Hotel Landsgraf. No idea what it`s like but if it`s a typical Austrian hotel it will be clean and comfortable.
Just hope there`s plenty of snow coz I was was one of our group pushing hard for Austria !
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
DB and IQ:
Thanks for all the info. I'll let you know how it turns out. "Ski Heil" as they say in Austria.
BTW, I'm heading to Okemo, Vermont, in two days to freeze my *ss off. The high temperature there for Friday is -16C and the low will be -23C. The Alps may not have much snow this year (YET) but at leas the temperatures are more moderate. Well, freezing is better alternative to hanging around DC for this inauguration.
|
|
|
|
|
|