 Poster: A snowHead
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Found an apartment big enough for our group and doorstep skiing which is a rare thing. The group is pretty mixed but no absolute beginners. Looks like it links right the way through to Gerlos and Zillertal all on skis.
Has anyone been? What's the village like? I'm assuming it's pretty small but cutesy, and quietish, but if anyone's been it would be good to know.
Ta
D
PS Yes I know it's meant to have an umlaut, I just couldn't be ar$ed.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Is that the first village into the ziller valley?, we had a car last year based in mayrhofen but did all the other little resorts down the valley and loved them. Let me have a quick look at the piste map and refresh my memory but I think this may have been my favourite of the lot.
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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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Deliaskis, I had a right good look at Gerlos for this years family trip (ended up booking Kappl as was a bit cheaper). Place was recommended to me by Matt Brown of www.ineedsnow.com as he raves about the reorts. The resorts are pretty high altitide so Ive been told snow record pretty good.
I drove through both villages a couple of summers ago when in Kaprun. Drove via Krimml (which is also included in pass) - bit of a hairy drive getting to Mayrhofen. Villages look nice and compact. From what research I done mainly Dutch and German visitors and looks a decent apres ski scene.
Not been so I cant comment on personal experience but had my wife not wanted to tighten the belts for the family ski trip I would have booked. The official websites have some decent videos to give you an idea of the place. Also check out Matt's comments on his website
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Deliaskis,
Never actually stayed in Koenigsleiten but skied through it a few times... You're right - "pretty small but cutesy" with snow covered tracks to allow you to ski through part of the village.
The area links with Zell am Ziller, Gerlos and in the other direction Gerlosplatte/Krimml. Gerlosplatte/Krimml is a blue/easy red haven with easy in between piste off piste (obviously easyness depends on snow conditions!).
The Koenigsleiten ski area itself is pretty quiet with some interesting pistes. By that I mean not just straight with even camber, they go round corners and have rollers that can add a bit of excitement if you go looking for it. The lifts are mostly oldish 2 and 3 person chairlifts.
Over the other side, towards Gerlos the lifts are more modern and if you travel as far as Zell, then 6 and 8 person superfast chairs with hoods are everywhere.
I reckon it would be a great place to go with a mixed group - there's plenty of variety and its all well linked.
After reading posts on here it would appear that Austria is renowned for its apres ski. I'd be hesitant to stay in Koenigsleiten if that's important - although, like I said I've never stayed there - who knows what happens once the lifts have shut  But, I know that Gerlos isn't far away (a few minutes by road) and there are several bars there. During the day there is a regular bus link, if it doesn't run in the evening then taxis aren't hugely expensive.
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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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| ollski wrote: |
| Is that the first village into the ziller valley?, we had a car last year based in mayrhofen but did all the other little resorts down the valley and loved them. Let me have a quick look at the piste map and refresh my memory but I think this may have been my favourite of the lot. |
No, it is the village at the far end of the Zillertal Arena ski area (turn left just after Zell am Ziller, and follow that side valley past Gerlos, pretty well to the end).
I never quite got that far when I stayed in Zell, although Deliaskis is right that it can all be done on skis.
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| ollski wrote: |
| Is that the first village into the ziller valley?, we had a car last year based in mayrhofen but did all the other little resorts down the valley and loved them. Let me have a quick look at the piste map and refresh my memory but I think this may have been my favourite of the lot. |
No, it is the village at the far end of the Zillertal Arena ski area (turn left just after Zell am Ziller, and follow that side valley past Gerlos, pretty well to the end).
I never quite got that far when I stayed in Zell, although Deliaskis is right that it can all be done on skis. |
Yes getting confused with Hochfugen which was my favourite area. I was expecting all the satellite resorts around Mayrhofen to be much quieter but they weren't....presumably lots of locals.
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ollski, the Fugen/Hochfugen and Zell am Ziller areas probably pull in a lot of Germans too. Mainly because they are a few minutes drive from the Autobahn and both have extensive parking right by the lifts. Both areas are comparable in size to Mayrhofen, in terms of piste kilometers, but both tend not to feature in UK TO brochures (but do in German/Dutch ones I think).
(ps add umlauts as applicable)
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Thanks for comments folks, it's much appreciated. I think village wise we don't mind if it's quiet as long as there are one or two bars and restaurants we don't mind if there aren't dozens. Last year the best apres venue in town appeared to be our own roof terrace on the house we rented LOL.
Am definitely getting into the idea. From the piste map it is looking like most of the lifts are chairs, and I'm assuming there are no crucial links that are drags only (we have a couple of boarders who struggle with them, and me, I just don't really like'em), but if anyone knows differently, please let me know!
Definitely warming to the idea...
D
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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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| Quote: |
I'm assuming there are no crucial links that are drags only
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Yup... The Tbars can be avoided...
Beware of the longest, coldest chairlift in the world though the final part of the link over into Zell (called the Krimml Xpress)... You need to have all your spare clothes on before you sit on that on a bad weather day!
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| SaraJ wrote: |
Beware of the longest, coldest chairlift in the world though the final part of the link over into Zell (called the Krimml Xpress)... You need to have all your spare clothes on before you sit on that on a bad weather day! |
That's the one which has an intermediate station at the summit, then carries on down to the top of the chair up from Zell, I assume?
I'm surprised that hasn't been replaced yet by one with a cover.
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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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Deliaskis, went there on my second ski holiday and it was great! We skied every day in Konigsleiten but we stayed in Wald Im Pinzgau nearby and bused to the resort each day. The ski in ski out chalets in Konigsleiten looked really nice. I'd def. go back again and it's well worth the trip to ski over to Zell am Ziller one day.
Have fun.
Kersh
PS - do you often holiday away from Zell am See?
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Kersh, almost always holiday away from Zell Am See! Actually that's not true, when it's just H and I, we usually go to Zell, but our 'main' ski trip each year is a group of about 10 of us, and so we don't fit in our apartment, and the thinking is we may as well ski somewhere else for a change as we will always be coming back to Zell once or twice a year anyway! Our place is primarily for letting rather than for us so we have to make sure we don't compromise that.
D
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You know it makes sense.
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My understanding of Königsleiten is that, apart from a few original hotels, it is all relatively new (say 20 years or less?), i.e. not a traditional mountain village. However, despite that, I think it is still quite cutesy, attractively designed, snowy streets and trees. And there is plenty of skiing (I have skied from Zell am Ziller to Königsleiten and back in a day; haven't been on the other side).
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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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| Deliaskis wrote: |
| PS Yes I know it's meant to have an umlaut, I just couldn't be ar$ed. |
 - all skiers should have a German keyboard!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Like many SH here I too skied from the front end of Zillertal Arena to the far end and managed to stop at bottom between Konigsleiten and Krimml. Zilletal Arena is one of the longest resort and it is a day's job to get from one end to the other and return back.
It is obvious very quiet as I think most early immediate skiers would prefer Gerlos.
There is a black run (No. 6) from Gerlos to Konigsleiten. Not a very steep slope but it is graded black. It is quite wide and should be manageable for skiers able to do red runs.
One interesting point is when I skied from Zell to Konigsleiten I met a family on a chairlift. They told me in a previous year they stayed at Konigsleiten/Krimml and tried to reach Zell. They never managed to spend much time in Zell so they booked Zell the year after and skied back to Konigsleiten. So it is a day's non-stop skiing for many folks.
Zillertal Arena is alright but if the sun isn't there the long chairlifted distance can be rather lonely and cold. There is only a single file of lift and run between Zell and Gerlos!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Kersh,
You are obviously young and a good skier.
I managed the White Ring in St Anton (actually between Zurs and Lech) , skied one side of Saalback/Hinterglemm valley and back from the opposite side and went round the Sella Ronda in both directions (a circular loop of about 40km) but didn't managed the full distance from Zell to Krimml to be back in a day. I suppose if I go in March/April time with more day light the distance should be manageable.
Try the about loops yourself sometimes. I believe Sella Ronda is the world biggest loop.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| saikee wrote: |
There is a black run (No. 6) from Gerlos to Konigsleiten. Not a very steep slope but it is graded black. It is quite wide and should be manageable for skiers able to do red runs.
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It is steeper than most of the red runs in the area, but the fact it is so wide does make it doable for most red run skiers, as you say.
But if you do want to avoid it, you can use the chair coming up past it to go down as well. Quite a lot of people do that, because there is the wide blue beginners area at the top of that slope, and the beginners won't get down the black safely.
But when you take the two chairs right to the top of the next mountain from the bottom of there, the red off the top seemed steeper than that black to me! The one that takes you down to the grilled chicken place 
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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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| saikee wrote: |
| You are obviously young and a good skier. |
I think it was more bravery than skill in those days when I was young. I probably don't qualify as young anymore. 
alex_heney, I got that chair down when I was there many moons ago as I really didn't fancy that black! Like you say, lots of people doing it.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
I managed the White Ring in St Anton....
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The mind boggles 
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