 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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Hinterglemm/Saalbach in Austria,
edit - and welcome 
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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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Yo DJ - Welcome to 's
Be prepared to get a different opinion from everyone that replies.
Personally I prefer Austria for skiing for various reasons but I think the overall experience is better than that of France and Italy (that I've tried anyway). Probably the main reason is the apres ski, which the Austrians have got down to a fine art - well 'fine' is maybe not the right word when describing their apres - cheesetastic more appropriate. Also you'll get better value for money in Austria than France plus the beer is far superior.
22nd March is reasonably late on in the season and with most Austrian nursery slopes being at village level you MIGHT struggle with snow quality. Mayrhofen gets a great rep for skiing and apres but only been in summer myself - but thinking of going to Gerlos (just along from Mayrhofen but higher up) with family in January. Saalbach would be a very good option but snow does suffer in the sun a bit.
Good luck
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I would say Arinsal. Cheap, good hotels, great nightlife and very good slopes for beginners - excellent ski school.
I've taken my brother and boyfriend there to learn
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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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nice one cheers for the quick replys!
what about this bulgaria thing then? am i right in thinking its an absolute dive given alot of the reviews i've read etc...?
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skank pit - Andorra is a similar price and WAY better.
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| boabski wrote: |
Yo DJ - Welcome to 's
Be prepared to get a different opinion from everyone that replies.
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Agree with this! Everyone has their own view on this.
Would say Austria is a good place to start - plenty of resorts with both good learner slopes and some more tricky stuff and in my view no-one can beat it for Apres Ski. Seen some good suggestions above.
Think the following site is pretty good for finding a resort - seems to have a nifty search engine that churns out scores for resorts depending on your preferences. Tried a few options and results look sensible.
www.wtss.co.uk
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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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DJ_Tipster, I would look at Andorra. Seems to be ideal for first trip. We went there for our first trip in our mid 20's (2 couples) and had a great time.
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DJ_Tipster You will not go wrong with Saalbach. Best apres-ski and slopes at your doorstep (unlike Mayrhofen). No walking or bussing. 200km of fully joined-up pistes, suitable for all grades and great ski schools. Your beginner friends will not need to incur the expense of a lift pass at the beginning of their holiday (unlike many other resorts) because the nursery slopes are free or cheap. Top-notch ski-schools. Great bars and restaurants. Awarded 5 out of 5 stars by the ADAC Ski Guide Alpin (Germany's equivalent of the AA). Favoured by the RAF and the British Police for their annual ski championships. Normally voted one of Austria's top three resorts (along with St Anton and Ishgl, neither of which would be recommended for beginners). Also, at 3,000 feet, the village is 1,000 feet higher than the likes of say Kitzbuhel, Soll and Zell am See.
One side is south-facing and, if it's hot weather (it may not be) the snow does suffer as the day progresses (like any other resort), but that's no problem. There are lots of other slopes that don't face south. The locals recommend starting the day on the south-facing side and then, as it warms up, working your way round to other slopes. There is no problem with snow coverage - there has been massive investment in snow-making on 90% of runs, so they can guarantee snow down to village level until the season closes in mid-April. (Last season, the snow machines were in fact redundant!) Check out www.saalbach.com and my own website below for further info. I can accommodate up to 10 people. Also www.transferservice.at . Feel free to ask any questions - I can probably save you a packet!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Agree with this! Everyone has their own view on this.
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Sorry but I beg to differ 
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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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they can guarantee snow down to village level until the season closes in mid-April.
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No they can't. Not if it's warm and chucking it down with rain.
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DJ_Tipster, you've obviously been searching the internet long enough to know that anyone who just gives you a long list of "plus points" for a resort, with no disadvantages, and suggests that snow can be guaranteed till mid-April on slopes down to 1000m is not exactly objective and might even have a commercial axe to grind. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Have been to Saalbach in March: Absolutely loved the resort and ease of getting to slopes, BUT
The afternoons were very slushy down to resort level- we tried to stay high, but might be a problem for beginners.
I would love to go to Saalbach again, but will try not to go too late.
As for OP: Just remember that you will not need huge area , and look at smaller better priced areas for a great first time. Livigno in Italy one recommendation.
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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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pam w, indeedy! End of Jan 2007 anyone?? 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Austria or Italy would be my bet. France probably has the best range of skiing, but as beginners you don't really need that, plus the downsides to France are the expense and general lack of nightlife.
Some Austrian resorts are very low and may be patchy or bare at resort level by the end of March, so choose a high resort with a good snow record. Plenty of Italian resorts would fit your bill.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
I would say Arinsal. Cheap, good hotels, great nightlife and very good slopes for beginners - excellent ski school.
I've taken my brother and boyfriend there to learn |
I'll second Arinsal, very relaxed atmosphere on the slopes and good nightlife. Horrific transfer time though!
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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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queen bodecia, Happy Birthday
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Andorra, I had my 2nd week skiing there (at Soldeu) and came on leaps and bounds with their confidence building slopes and brilliant ski school. Nightlife was good too but had to force earlyish nights on myself so I couild get up for ski school!! Long transfer (had forgotten that), think it was 4 hrs.
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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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pam w Stung by your cynicism into responding, I've just checked the historical snow reports for Saalbach on www.skiclub.com - they had more snow in the first week of April on upper and lower slopes than during January or the first half of February. Second week of April this year (not untypical), the levels were 122cm on upper slopes, and 46 cm on lower slopes. Do you actually know the resort? (Genuine question). They've invested millions in snow-making (460 machines and 90% of slopes capable of being covered mechanically - not that they have needed to of late), and the slopes, being grassy in summer, don't need much cover to be skiable - they even mention that on their website. We've been there in late March the last couple of years and it's been fine - obviously, as always with Spring skiing, you choose your itinerary with the weather, the time of day and the direction of the slopes in mind. After we left last year they had a massive dump of snow, and the year before they actually extended the end of the season. The locals all enthuse about Spring skiing in Saalbach but do emphasize that in hot, sunny April weather, one should aim to start early when the pistes are firm on south-facing slopes, take a leisurely lunch and then do one run in the afternoon. If you're unlucky with the weather (and I certainly would not dispute that it can rain buckets anywhere as Spring approaches), conditions higher up still tend to be OK, and they do have easy slopes above 1500m. You'd be hard put not to be able to find decent snow somewhere in this 200km ski area, which is very easily navigated.
I stand by what I've said and refute your slur that my objectivity is being clouded by commercial motives (I'm doing this for love, not money - can't you tell when someone is being genuine?!). Having organised Easter ski holidays for many years, I fully concede that if good snow is paramount, somewhere like Tignes is a better bet in late March/early April - in fact anywhere above 1800m. However, as we all know, the weather can never be predicted and even high resorts can be awful (- worst ever was Alpe d'Huez in early April, when it rained heavily and ruined the snow, even at the very top on the glacier). However, I put forward, or rather seconded, Saalbach in response to talk of places like Bulgaria and Andorra and Mayrhofen. Also "lively nightlife" is unlikely to be found in any of the high French resorts I've been to. There's no denying that it could rain, and you're always going to have your fingers crossed in late March. However it could also be fresh powder, (like it was last weekend above 1500m across the Saalbach/Zell am See/Kaprun region!) (I'm not recommending July skiing hols by the way, although one snowhead has been raving about celebrating his first wedding anniversary by skiing Kaprun in fresh powder on 19th July).
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Sorry if you're stung, but to suggest that snow is guaranteed down to village level till mid April is, as you have now acknowledged, misleading. No, I don't know Saalbach (I've always been put off by its reputation for being rowdy) but I've skied in many resorts, including low Austrian ones, and I know how snow cannons work.
You could, as you have now acknowledged, have either buckets of rain or deep powder in late March. To say "you're always going to have your fingers crossed" is rather different from saying that "you cn't go wrong" and that they can "guarantee snow down to village level" till the end of the season.
So, we now seem to agree. I also agree with you (on the strength, not only of holidays but also of having spent most of the last seven seasons in the Alps) that, on the whole, March skiing is likely to be much better than Christmas skiing. It just annoys me when people push the benefits of their favourite resorts without acknowledging the drawbacks.
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I recommended Sallbach too, it is an easy resort skiing wise, good apres and relatively high for an Austrian resort and I would suggest adding 500 ft to have an altitude comparison with the French mega resorts (different eco climate ?), plus there is free chair lift accessed beginner slopes with snow canons at resort level which is ideal for learner boarders.
Edit - to gurantee snow you might want to go to the highest resort you can find, but you always take the risk of the higher slopes and lifts being closed due to high winds or bad vis, spring skiing will be choppy and slushy below 1500m anywhere, so you would need most of your skiing above that level and it would be handy to be at a resort near to that altitude whereby the resort maintains skiing back to base with a little help from the canons
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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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| rayscoops wrote: |
I recommended Sallbach too, it is an easy resort skiing wise, good apres and relatively high for an Austrian resort and I would suggest adding 500 ft to have an altitude comparison with the French mega resorts (different eco climate ?), plus there is free chair lift accessed beginner slopes with snow canons at resort level which is ideal for learner boarders.
Edit - to gurantee snow you might want to go to the highest resort you can find, but you always take the risk of the higher slopes and lifts being closed due to high winds or bad vis, spring skiing will be choppy and slushy below 1500m anywhere, so you would need most of your skiing above that level and it would be handy to be at a resort near to that altitude whereby the resort maintains skiing back to base with a little help from the canons |
rayscoops - Nice to hear some rational comments from someone who's actually been there!
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pam_w - I'm surprised that you think I'm in agreement with you! No one reading our exchanges is likely to detect much common ground. My comments were intended to be an elucidation and expansion of what I said previously, rather than an acknowledgement that anything I had said was misleading, or that your opinion of this particular resort is more reliable and authoritative than mine. You must feel very sure of yourself to castigate me for advancing my honest opinion of a place I know very well, yet your admission that you've never been there speaks volumes. If I had read a review of yours, enthusing about a place that I'd never visited, I like to think that I'd have responded differently. Without more evidence, I certainly would not have publicly questioned your integrity. I hope that I might have had the humility to respect your knowledge of relevant facts and to appreciate the information given. Most people who contribute to this forum seem to enthusiastically advocate one resort or another without attracting criticism. I make no apologies for recommending and providing information about my favourite resort, which I have found to tick more boxes than any of the dozens of other resorts throughout Europe that I have visited in the last 30 years. My initial recommendation took account of the date of departure and the specific requirements given by DJ_Tipster, as well as the contributions of other snowheads. It is unfair to say that I mentioned no disadvantage - I acknowledged that the snow suffers in the hot sun on south-facing slopes, but I advised on how that problem can be circumvented. I also pointed out the many countervening advantages (and I agree with rayscoops comments about the adverse conditions so often encountered in high resorts - Arcs 2000 and Tignes are lonely places in bad weather!). I would not have recommended Saalbach to DJ_Tipster if his party had been looking for plenty of difficult slopes - it's mainly for intermediates. My subsequent remarks about having one's fingers crossed and about rain apply to a greater or lesser extent to any resort and do not derogate from my earlier assertions about late season conditions, based on actual knowledge, research, conversations with local people and experience of conditions in this resort. I adhere to my comment that you can't go wrong with the resort (on 22nd March) as compared with many others I have been to that don't meet the particular requirements that DJ_Tipster has identified, and which don't offer the same variety of options for a successful holiday; however that is very different from saying that you can't go wrong with the weather. It remains to be seen whether your scepticism, concerning the assurance of snow on resort-level runs until the end of the season in April, will be vindicated - if it is, I shall not blame global warming but will eat humble pie and admit my extreme naivety, but from what I have seen in recent years, I shall also be very surprised. (I am not saying of course that at 1000m it would necessarily be the best quality snow, but it will get you home if you don't want to take the lift - but I've had that situation in Val d'Isere, Verbier, St Anton, La Plagne, Alpe d'Huez, Baqueira, etc, etc). Equally the locals often talk about the heavy snowfalls they tend to get after the season has ended. When I was in Saalbach in late June, I was amazed how much snow still lingered on the north-facing slopes, and one of the nicest, snowy days I remember (incidentally) was on 19th November 2007!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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you see the problem is we cynical lot round here don't like one particular resort being pushed down our throats at every possible opportunity, especially when there is a commercial interest. It's hardly an unbiased opinion now is it? In your posts, have you ever suggested anywhere else other than Saalbach or has that been a perfect destination for all enquirers?
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cathy I see where you're coming from with your insinuations of commercial bias, but your cynical attitude is unbecoming. I have sampled dozens of resorts before turning my back on 'serial monogamy' and plumping for a good all-rounder that I can honestly recommend to anyone, except those in seek of extreme challenges, and those who may have decided that high tea, a snooze and early to bed with a good book in a French chalet is preferable to the lively party atmosphere of Austria. How can anyone in that situation not be biased in favour of what he or she genuinely believes to worthy of high recommendation? What would be the point of me recommending a place, if the person concerned found what I'd said to be unreliable when they got there? I see many others enthusing about their favourite resorts (e.g. Mayrhofen et al), but I only question what they say if I have actually been there and have been able form my own opinion. Have you been to the Ski Circus? I am not alone in my appreciation of it.(Incidentally, my last contribution to the Kitzbuhel debate was in the form of an honest question). In an effort to be helpful and to provide much useful info about somewhere I know very well to those who seem to be angling for that kind of resort, I seem to have fallen foul of a pair of 'cynics' (to keep this polite), who seemingly prefer to pick holes in what I say than contribute their own positive recommendations. Although you criticise me for contributing my pennyworth 'at every opportunity' (28 posts against your 7734) , I have in fact only searched for discussions featuring 'you know where' only a few times and have contributed only when I thought I could help. I would not, and have not recommended this resort to everyone - for example, I would unhesitatingly recommend the Paradiski (especially Vallandry), Zermatt, Serre Chevalier, certain parts of the Trois Vallees and the Portes de Soleil to anyone who expressed a preference for what they can offer. Moreover, though the Ski Circus is perfect for intermediates and does have a few blacks, I don't pretend that it is an ideal area for those looking for a preponderance of difficult skiing. Also I would not seek to deter beginners from visiting the many attractive small resorts that they will not be satisfied with in future years. Having said that, I really don't see why I should feel inhibited about enthusing, and dispelling ignorance, when appropriate, about my own favourite place, just because you and Pam are sitting there, waiting to swoop down and bite me in the neck!
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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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Tatman's Tours - bit defensive there are we?? Yes, I have been to Saalbach and I thought it was a great resort. However we have seen this all before and it gets very tiresome when a poster with a commercial interest in a resort just keeps pimping that resort. Nothing at all to do with the number of my posts against yours  I don't get what you mean there.
BTW - just a hint, keep your posts short. My attention span disappears after reading more than 2 lines, especially when its just one para.
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Oh come on Tatman, for goodness' sake. You can't possibly expect to get away with asserting that the only thing necessary to guarantee snow down to 1000m till mid April is a load of snow cannons. I just contradicted that rather silly suggestion, only to be confronted by long diatribes accusing me of an endless succession of sins. Give it a rest.
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, I suspect you're right at least on some years, which means it's not guaranteed to have snow down to 1000m. But I've never been, so can't know with any certainty.
I do have a little sympathy with TT with his comment about people on here who make assertions about places they've never been. My favorite pet peeve is Whistler. If you listen to many folks on here who comment, Whistler's runs are likely to be torrents of raging water by March, and green to the top by April. Strangely I've skied 20 days there in early May in last 4 years, and have twice been able to ski easily to the base (675m), had excellent skiing above 1000m, and 1 day of drizzle in village (snow higher). And they usually stop making snow around the end of February.
So y'know, sometimes, some places, strange things happen with more regularity than we'd all expect. Local knowledge can be very useful indeed.
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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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| Quote: |
Local knowledge can be very useful indeed.
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Indeed it can. But brochure style hyperbole helps nobody. It sounds as though Saalbach would suit the OP well - but it remains the case that to state that snow to village level at 1000m is guaranteed till mid April is nonsense. That's all I did, though to judge from all the subsequent huffing and puffing you'd think I had been critical of Saalbach itself. That would indeed have been irritating, given that I've not been there (though plenty of people who have been to one or two French resorts, or none at all, feel perfectly qualified to write off the whole country as full of rip off merchants and mega resorts).
You don't need to have been to Saalbach to know how snow cannons work.
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w, why go on about snow to the village until mid April when the OP was asking about mid/late March ? - Ok I know TT mentioned it but it was just one comment (of many, many, many and a throw away comment, at that, about the fact you can ski back to the resort late in the season) by TTours in support of the pimped resort's snow record/canons
I stayed in Hinterglem in the first week of March last season and the pistes were too hard (seriously rock hard) for me to ride on my board (even at resort level) before 10 am. It also snowed half of the time I was there. I would suggest that the third week in March would be ok for newbie boarders even though Saalbach seems relatively low at 1000m, but compared to, say, Morzine at 1100 m it will be like a snow heaven !!! I would compare Saalbach with the likes of maybe Verbier/Val D etc with repsect to skiing back to the resort amount of snow coverage, and by far better than, for example, Chamonix
Although quiet, the resort of Khutai near Innsbruck, at 2000 m (or Arosa in Switzerland at 1800 m) with and easy blues and reds, mostly serviced by gondolas and chairs, would also be perfect for beginner boarders
Tatman's Tours, you have gone over the top a 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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Arinsal sounds great for you: school has an excellent reputation with lots of British / English speaking instructors, has had great snow the past four years in March, decent nightlife throughout the village, and you'll usually be able to get fairly cheap deals there.
Have a look at www.arinsal.co.uk for photos and more information about the resort. Also, have a look at www.ski-finder.co.uk which helps you choose resorts that will be suitable for you.
Hope this helps!
Steve
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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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Another vote for Arinsal, or possibly Soldeu! Andorra is great for skiing on a budget plus has really good nightlife.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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DJ_Tipster,
Best bet, find a resort you like the look of in a tourist brochure and book it.
If you go with the idea that you're going to have a good time you most likely will. Many people are looking for that perfect place and if anything differs from their expectation they get stroppy. Don't do this.
Just go somewhere and have a good time
(some people won't like these tips).
I have found that 1 bit of snow is almost that the same as the next
Most hotels (if you choose a reasonable one - look at the pictures not the words in the brochure) are OK
Most big ski areas will give you everything you and the rest of your party are looking for.
If you spend too long pouring over where to go you'll be disappointed when you get there
Just find something that looks OK and go there.
Remember that it's a holiday so relax
Unless you "really" are a whizzo skier you really don't need a zillion miles of off piste
Oh and have a great time
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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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FWIW I also recommend Saalbach. Stayed there last feb with some mates and had a great time. Not as 'lively' (or expensive) as Ischgl, but plenty going on, good slopes (for intermediates) and the Hotel (bergers sporthotel was clean, comfortable, reasonably priced with good food. Only gripe was the fairly long trek (about 200m) up a bit of a slope to reach the main lifts in the morning, but the walk back down in the evening was fair compensation.
Mr Tatman seems a decent type to me, (although I've never met him) Shame on anyone who considers his group a bunch of T.W.A.T.(S). 
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| Tatman's Tours wrote: |
pam_w - I'm surprised that you think I'm in agreement with you! No one reading our exchanges is likely to detect much common ground.
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Unntil this post, most of us would have done so.
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My comments were intended to be an elucidation and expansion of what I said previously, rather than an acknowledgement that anything I had said was misleading,
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There was an implicit acknowledment of that, in that you were later saying "There's no denying that it could rain, and you're always going to have your fingers crossed in late March." However you lok at iut, that implies that your prevous comment thaht they could "guarantee snow to resort level until mid April" was misleading at best.
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or that your opinion of this particular resort is more reliable and authoritative than mine.
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There has never been the sluighhtest hint from her that might be the case.
She is just saysing (correctly) that NOWHERE can "guarantee snow to resort level until mid-April".
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You must feel very sure of yourself to castigate me for advancing my honest opinion of a place I know very well, yet your admission that you've never been there speaks volumes. If I had read a review of yours, enthusing about a place that I'd never visited, I like to think that I'd have responded differently.
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Possibly you would. But if she had been telling us things about the resort that are not true of any resort, then you might have argued about it.
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Without more evidence, I certainly would not have publicly questioned your integrity.
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The problem here is that you have been perhaps a little over-prolific in promoting Saalbach/Hinterglemm. It isn't just this thread, it is loads of different threads where you have done so.
Now it may well be that you are doing it for "love not money", but when there are large numbers of posts from one person praising a resiort where they are known to have a commercial interest, people are going to be a little cynical.
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I hope that I might have had the humility to respect your knowledge of relevant facts and to appreciate the information given. Most people who contribute to this forum seem to enthusiastically advocate one resort or another without attracting criticism.
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So long as they are not straying into giving the resorts benefits beyond what is possible, yes. Although most of them don't have a commercial interest in the advbocated resort. There are plenty of Snowheads who do have a commercial interest in a particular place, but they are mainly a little more circumspect about recommending it.
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I make no apologies for recommending and providing information about my favourite resort, which I have found to tick more boxes than any of the dozens of other resorts throughout Europe that I have visited in the last 30 years.
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Which is fair enough, just tone it down a little.
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<snip>I adhere to my comment that you can't go wrong with the resort (on 22nd March) as compared with many others I have been to that don't meet the particular requirements that DJ_Tipster has identified, and which don't offer the same variety of options for a successful holiday; however that is very different from saying that you can't go wrong with the weather.
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Well not really. Saying "you can't go wrong" is implying that you are virtually certain of good conditions. Which is, of course, dependent on the weather.
You may well be less likely to go wrong with Saalbach than with many other resorts, but that is not to say it can't happen.
If you had said "You are unlikley to go wrong..." that would have been fine.
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It remains to be seen whether your scepticism, concerning the assurance of snow on resort-level runs until the end of the season in April, will be vindicated
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It will take a poor snow year to be able to tell whether that is true or not. There is no doubt that in most years, their snow making capacity will allow it.
But there is no way they can guarantee it.
Incidentally, I'm not sure what basis you are using for suggesting that Mayrhofen is likely to be worse (although you virtually always have to take a gondola down at the end of the day, many people don't mind that).
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I agree with Waynes tips and will add one more...
Try to find accomodation near as possible to the slopes. Lugging skis round for the first time, in ski boots isn't fun!
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Lugging skis round for the first time, in ski boots isn't fun!
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very true. But a bus service can work OK, provided that it stops really near your accommodation, and is a frequent service and not too crowded. Crowded ski buses are horrible. Wayne's right though - it's your own attitude which will make or break your first ski holiday and however much research you do, nowhere is perfect, especially if the weather is rubbish. You just have to take a bit of a chance on that, wherever you go. But it's still sensible to do some research and ask around. Just be aware (and you will be after reading this thread!) that a discussion about the merits and demerits of ski resorts can bring out the worst in some people.
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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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Mr Tatman seems a decent type to me
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Axsman - Thank you for your vote of confidence! Much appreciated. Count yourself an honorary T.W.A.T.
I know Bergers Sporthotel, which is obviously very central in the village and handy for the Schattberg Xpress and the ski buses to Hinterglemm (as well as the night-life). (Incidentally you don't say much about the goings-on in the basement - Kings').
Accepted it's an uphill walk to the Kohlmais and Bernkogel lifts, although it works both ways - I'm located directly opposite the Kohlmais Station and therefore have all of 10m or so to walk, but I find it a bit of a hassle walking down to the Schattberg Xpress - maybe 300m. However you can't be close to all the lifts, which, as you know, go off in three different directions, and where you were located was more or less in the middle - as you say, about 200m to the furthest lift, and about 100m to the nearest.
This of course pales into insignificance compared with all the walking and bussing around that some people don't seem to mind.
(Let me know if you're ever contemplating another visit - I'll buy you a beer).
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Tatmans's Tours - being a happily married man whose wife does on occasion read these forums I of course never frequented the basement establishment of the Bergers Sporthotel and so could not comment on the no doubt interesting entertainment on offer there.
In fact we are contemplating a return visit next Feb so a beer buying opportunity may present itself. 
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