 Poster: A snowHead
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I have the chance of a cheap ski deal in Mayhofen the week leading up to the Easter weekend.
I like steep reds and blacks but also quality blues.
Is the place worth a visit? and do you think it will be mobbed that week before Easter? I would appreciate any other useful information, or personal views.
Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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April 5-10 is the Snowbombing festival, quiet pistes, very rowdy town.
Lots of reds, relatively steep in the main bowl, and couple of blacks that merit the colour. Good blue cruising over the back at Rastkogel and very good reds even farther over at Eggalm.
I do rather like the place 
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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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I agree. Definitely well worth a visit!
A great ski area and a great town for a night out.
You can also ski all the other resorts in the Ziller Valley - with free buses and trains between them. And then there's the glacier at Hintertux, just up the valley.
You won't be disappointed if you give it a go.
I've skiied in over 120 resorts and went to Mayrhofen in January after not having been there for 12 years. I was surprised by how steep the reds are and (as stated above) there are some decent blacks. We also found some excellent off piste -even in relatively poor snow conditions on piste.
Zell am Ziller is also worth a visit - a short train ride away. It's relatively quiet with some excellent interconnected skiing - linked to Gerlos, Koenigsleiten and Krimml.
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Brilliant little area, tougher than it looks. Hintertux isn't just the 'glacier down the road' that's a snow guarantee if Mayrhofen melts, it's a fabulous area well worth a day or two of commuting to get to.
Snowbombing is a great time to go. All the punters are hungover like hell, and the pistes totally empty.
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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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Went to Mayrhofen last month, I loved it.
Huge piste variety, big area and fantastic apres ski.
We enjoyed one SUPERB sunshine day on the Hintertux glacier, you must go. Giant wide, wide pistes as far as the eye can see, one of my best days in a long time.
There's a really nice black (piste 17 I think) which goes very steep at the bottom, and there's also Harakiri which I wouldn't recommend unless you have balls of steel, that's proper steep.
Highly recommend the place - but get up early in the morning to avoid the Penkenbahn queue if you decide to use that lift. We got there at 0830 and walked straight onto it. Between 9 and 10am you'll be waiting 30-40 minutes. But there are other less crowded ways up the mountain.
You also can't ski back to the resort from Penken, but you can from Ahorn which is lovely for some cruisey runs on the first day - and has the ice hotel at the top for a chilled out drink.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just got back from Mayrhofen and loved it. It was chosen so that the youngsters (Bev and Jon, for those who know us!) could be amused by the Snowbombing festival, but as it happened the pensioner (as Bev is now) opted to ski. Maybe the €200 price of the festival ticket put her off.
We had no problems with queues at any time, and I would say the resort was pretty busy. I was also agreeably surprised by the quality of the snow. I would not normally recommend low-lying Tyrol in April, but we had new snow on Monday and only the steeps got rough. Of course it was slushy in the afternoons, but you expect that in April.
We stayed in a wonderful hotel -The Rose which I thought was excellent value. Having been in France this time last year, I was amazed at the low prices in Austria. €3.50 for a full .5 litre of the local Zillertal beer. Lunch from around €5. Really good value.
As for the skiing, we had a couple of excellent days out with the Neilson's ski guiding to Zell am Ziller and to Kaltenbach. Both these places have huge amounts of high piste skiing and are great for piste cruisers like us.
All in all, I think Mayhofen is a much under-rated resort. The town is well-provided with bars and apres places and has a really good fun, skiing atmosphere. Loved it. Will go again.
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Hey I was in Zell am Ziller last week too. Saw the snowbombers in Mayrhofen, had no idea what that was all about! Zell wasn't too great for restaurants on the slopes, and no skiing to the valley on the Zell side of the arena. Seppi's was quality though. All pistes open though until the last day (barring one blue). No queues in Easter week, great ski schools for the kids, decent prices and we had marvellous weather apart from Monday. My first time there, and I'll go back. A good ski area, well maintained and I had a fab week.
Did Hintertux on Wednesday, first time there too. Got chased off the slopes at the end of the day by the piste patrol! That's never happened to me before. We sort of like sitting at the top of the mountain with a beer, watching the sun go down and wait until we have the slopes to ourselves to ski down.
Damn is that it for skiing for the year now.........
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I think you are asking a lot of Zell am Ziller if you expect to ski down to it in April. It is below 600m as I recall, and the temperatures had been around 20 degrees the previous week. We loved the "Winter on the mountain: summer in the town" aspect. The standard practice for skiing in spring is early start, long lunch, slushy finish. Not much wrong with that! I thought the conditions corresponded pretty much to Easter last year in France, though I suppose that was a bit later. I never ski down in Val d'Isere either!
Saving Hintertux for next time.
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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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Chris Bish, Sorry didn't make that clear.. I don't think there is actually a run that goes down to the town, even mid winter. Crikey, I was happy just to be skiing! We went home every evening only to sit on the balcony in shorts.... wish we'd had a bar-b-que that would have been quality!
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Just storage-waxed and put away the skis until next season. Sad. Had to get the mower out at the same time.
fatirishman, It is good to be able to ski down, I agree. I remember skiing through the streets of Kitzbuhel once. It is not often a goer in April though!
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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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Chris Bish and bev bish
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Just storage-waxed and put away the skis until next season. Sad. Had to get the mower out at the same time.
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Think again!! Summer is too long! Yesterday was a powder day at Cairngorm - there's so much snow that it will be open until at least mid May! You could be there in about 7.5-8 hrs from Staffs!! Or Glencoe might be a bit nearer from your neck of the woods.
Or there's always Alton Towers....
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