Stuben - 2nd week of Easter links and ski school question?

A snowHead

Considering going here for family Easter hols, thanks to some recommendations on here.

Does anyone have any experience how Stuben holds up late in the season?

Do they always manage to keep the links open?

Looks like blues there and back, any one care to comment on suitability for kids? They have both done the red down to Courchevel 1800 last year.

Lastly I'm not experienced in Austria ski schools, the kids have only skiied in France.

Potentially opening a can of worms, but how are Austrian ski schools compared to French? they seem to do all day for kids, with a decent lunch break as opposed to mornings only in France.

Cheers,

Greg

A snowHead

or does anyone have historical snow records, or can point me at a web site?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Stuben , no problem with snow (its north facing) until end of the season & beyond..

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Hello again. Seems like I'm one of the (lucky) few to experience staying in Stuben with family on this site. Don't think there is a record of snow levels in Stuben which is a pity as I reckon it would be up there with the best in terms of snow records.

This is by no means scientific but just as an example during my week there in early March, there was approx 2m of snow at village level. And that had been with a week previous of extremely high temps. It basically started snowing on the Wednesday afternoon and was still snowing on the Saturday when we left. During the same period we were in St Anton where it was not snowing (or literally a few flakes) and in Lech where the snow falling was much lighter. My sister went with the family during Easter and the snow was still plentiful then. The previous year saw Lech close after Easter with over 4m up top. Have not heard of the links being closed in 7/8 visits to the Arlberg but that's not to say it does not happen. Sometimes I have seen the upper lifts closed due to avalanche risk/high winds but the lifts in Stuben would still be open

Zurs is only a few km away and has something like the 3rd best snow record in the Alps. Warth/Schroecken have the best and they're say 10km as the crow flies. You could get in touch with Matt Brown of www.ineedsnow.com as he raves about Stuben. He's based in Innsbruck but very knowledgable for Austrian resorts.

There are hardly any runs at Stuben but as a result they are really quiet and to be honest we were quite happy ripping them up with the kids all day. They are in the main tree lined and plentiful off piste if you fancy. The link into St Anton is dead easy and there is a 7km run from the St Anton side right into Stuben - it's my favourite run in the Arlberg. My 5 year old skied with us on the Tuesday to the Mooserwirt from Stuben which is no mean feet, given that many nervous skiers struggle with the amount of skiers late afternoon on that piste.

Have only used ESF once in Belle Plagne and was completely underimpressed. The ski school in Stuben was great because there were so few kids around. Our youngest was the only one from our group in ski school but he had a great time and came on well. When we picked him up there was usually 3/4 kids in group with a max of 6 and even at that there were 2 instructors out on hill with them (ie away from nursery slope)They took the kids for lunch for an extra €10/12 and it was in one of the restaurants in Stuben - different one each day I think and they told you which one they would be at so you could meet up with if you wanted or did as we did on a couple of occassions, take them out and ski with them in the afternoon. Pricewise it was about the same for a full day in ski school as a half day in ESF. There was a Swiss family we got friendly with there and their kids went into ski school every day and it was just the two of them to the one instructor.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

kitenski, the snow records for Lech, Zurs and St Anton all show that the resorts close in April just as the snow depth at the top reaches its peak, so it is because people lose interest and they lose their seasonal workers rather than any lack of snow. The lower levels do drop in April, but not massively so, and the biggest issue would be the air temperature rather than snow depth.

Austrian ski schools are generally good, but make sure you specify that you want lessons from someone who speaks good English. Don't expect a class only of English speakers - there will be Germans, Dutch and possibly Russians as well, so the instructors are usually pretty good at switching languages. Instructors will usually have 6-8 kids, although they may join two classes together for short periods and have 2-3 instructors - unlike the recent ad I saw for a French mega-resort where it said "New this year - class sizes limited to 12" as if it was some major breakthrough and leading the world with their progressive thinking. rolling eyes

The split day works well, with 2 hours in each session and a 2 hour lunch break. Most ski schools will offer the option of feeding and supervising your kids during the lunch break, or you can meet up with them, eat, and then ski with them for an hour or so if they have the energy. With chocolate stops, the kids never ski for more than 1.5 hours in a session, and never for more than an hour at a time.

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thanks all, all sounds very promising, may actually make a decision and book anytime soon Wink

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

kitenski, I'll send you some pics from Stuben this year. Should be able to find your email address from when you got me on your HP friends and family deal when I got the laptop a few months back

After all it is free

kitenski, did you decide to fly, if so what flights did you end up choosing ?

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kitenski, Im going to Stuben in Jan im flying from Stanstead-Friedrichshafen with Ryanair i managed to get flights for 3 and snowboard carraige for £150.....

snow reports

kitenski, probably just not released yet, I think that route is year round.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Kitenski, you may like to check my website out, it deals with St.Anton but has info about Stuben and the runs between St.Anton and Stuben. I would go along with everyone else and say that you will have no problems with snow conditions in Stuben.... www.st-antonamarlberg.co.uk

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Stuben - 2nd week of Easter links and ski school question?

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