 Poster: A snowHead
|
Zillertal Austria
Wildschönau Austria
If yes could you give me an overview of skiing and apres facilities
Thinking of a school trip!
Thank you
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Zillertal is a valley, quite a few resorts in there (Mayrhofen for one).
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Zillertal Austria - is this not the whole valley ? lots of resorts, I stayed in Mayrhofen, plenty of good skiing for all levels once you have taken a Gondola up + a snow sure Glacier. Apres is wild particularly in the Dutch dominated villages.
Is wild apres wise for a school trip ?
Wildschönau Austria -small villages Neiderau, Oberau, Auffach. Very limited skiing in Oberau, smallish area in Neiderau, more at Auffach. Neiderau is a great place to learn & for second week skiers +it would be easy to keep track on everyone in the small village. I have only stayed in Neiderau and enjoyed the cosy nature of the resort where you already met many of the punters in the bars & the disco on the slopes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
To avoid confusion worth noting that there's the Zillertal valley (ie the valley itself) and The Zillertal Arena which is a group of linked smaller resorts (Zell am Ziller, Gerlos, etc) in the valley, which does not include Mayrhofen, Tux etc. Although I've been elsewhere in the valley I've not been to The Zillertal Arena other than driving through, but had impression it was quite family friendly.
Edited to add maps and correct spelling.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Fri 1-10-10 8:15; edited 5 times in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Yes, I have been to both.
Neither are individual resorts, BTW, they are both ski areas with several unlinked villages, with The Wildschonau being very much smaller than the Zillertal (each of the main Zillertal areas has more skiing than the total area available in the Wildschonau).
How suitable each of them is for a school trip will depend on a number of different factors. For younger children, or those with little skiiing experience, or if you are worried about them getting out of control in the evenings, Wilschonau will prbably be better. But of they want a lot of skiing, the Zillertal would probably be better, particularly if you avoid staying in Mayrhofen.
The Wildschonau has three main villages - Neiderau, Oberau and Auffach. All three are small villages, and are linked by free ski bus (about 15 minutes from one end of the valley to the other). Neiderau is the one most commonly used by UK visitors. Oberau only has a couple of runs, the other two have about 30Km (Neiderau) and about 40Km (Auffach) of pisted runs.
Unfortunately, the year I visited was the year of very poor snow, and we only had snow to ski on for one day - the first five days we weer taken by bus to Kaltenbach - in the Zillertal!. But that is unusual.
The Zillertal is much larger. The best known resort is Mayrhofen, but you can also stay in Finkenberg, Fugen, Kaltenbach, Zell am Ziller, Gerlos, Konigsleten, Hippach, or a few smaller places. The skiing is divided into about 4-5 main areas, plus the Hintertux glacier. passes for one day or less are for individual areas, passes for two or more days are for the whole valley (that used to be 3 days or less for individual areas, 4 or more the whole valley), and include travel on the train up and down the valley.
The Mayrhofen area is 157 Km of piste, The Zillertal Arena has 166 Km, the Hochzillertal has 171Km, Spieljoch has less - I think it was about 50Km, but I'm not sure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Hi there
I have only been to Niederau and would say if you are going at half term then expect to wait a very long time in the queues. as said before it is a tiny area and there are only a couple of drag lifts at the bottom for everyone (not just the ski school) to use. we went at half term last year and it put us off ever going in half term again! also the ski school, whilst many sing its praises I was dumfounded when my 9&10 year old sons were left unsupervised on the gondola with children younger than them with no adult in the gondola and my son said one of the boys was jumping around in it trying to swing it and the kids were petrified! this I was not impressed with and also the length of time the kids had to queue for the drag lift, if 9 of the class made it up the lift they were then left unsupervised at the top of the drag lift, left to their own devices whilst the instructor sorted the stragglers out. The tuition itself was good, but the other bits put me off, I really think when it is children, their should be 2 instructors.
If you want to know any more info please pm me and I would be happy to answer any questions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1969jma, You need to know which village in the Zillertal the company is going to base you in before any decision can be made in terms of good, bad, indifferent.
The Wildschonau is a good base for school groups and despite polo99's comments has an excellent reputation for its ski school. Depending on when you are thinking of going, it could well be a nice option as it is easy to keep the kids out of trouble but amused when not on skis. I've taken several groups there and have enjoyed it a great deal.
If you are thinking about going at Easter, I would opt for the Zillertal area if the date for Easter is in April. It can be good in the Wildschonau, but your options are limited if it isn't.
polo99, do you expect a ski school to provide an instructor for every gondola cabin? There are always these odd situations and had someone told the instructor in charge, something could have been done about it. But to dis a resort on such a minor point seems a wee bit of an over reaction to be honest. As for the queues, yes that is a problem at Half Term, but had you moved from Niederau up to Auffach you would have improved your options a wee bit and seen more of the area on your pass. There are buses running on a regular basis between all three centres. Or you get to the lifts at 08:30 when they open, no queues then ever and you get to ski the runs more or less on your todd! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I went to this area but it was in 94 so am really struggling to remember which ski area we used. I thought it was called either Zillertal or Hoch Zillertal and we spent a day at Hochfugen. The zillertal bit we skied was accessed by a gondola from the valley floor and wasn't linked to other areas. I would say it would have been ideal for a school group as the ski area was not too large but had a mix of blue and red runs. It was my second time skiing (the first time having been learning in french and a complete disaster having failed to understand the most technical bits like weight transfer!) and it was in Zillertal that I gained confidence and really learned to ski. I remember there was a red run called the apple strudel run (in austrian) and it had a cafe selling apple strudles part way down  . Hochfugen also had some nice easy blues at the bottom - good for beginners/intermediates. The Austrian ski instructors were very friendly and spoke good English. There was jolly Austrian music playing in the cafes. All in all if I were taking a school ski trip I would definitely choose Austria. The only drawback was that it was not ski to and from the door.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Thank you all for some great information
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I tend to describe the two in a way similar to alex_heney although I have not skied Wildschönau before.
Wildschönau is probably better known for one of areas called Neiderau which stood out as a "beginner" area. Most visitors coming into that area via Worgl would go to Wider Kaiser or Ski Welt which is many times bigger and just next to Wildschönau. I would say most visitors passing through Worgl would go to Ski Welt which has 8 satellite re4sorts fully linked together or to Kitzbuhel known for its famous terrain. Wildschönau in this respect cannot match Kitzbuuel or Ski Welt but that doesn't stop TO to offer it if cheap accommodations can be had. IT is exactly like Allpbach which is a tiny skiing place with 54km piste sold by the TO and is the next junction pass Worgl from the German border to Innsbruck motorway.
Zillertal Valley is the junction after Alpbachtal. It has 7 unlinked areas with one of them called Zell am Ziller or Zillertal Arena. The most popular area could be Mayrhofen as it has the steepest groomed black run of Austria. The dead end of the Zillertal Valley is Hitertux which is a galcier and snow sure even in summer. One of the main attraction of Zillertal Valley is any ski pass purchased for 4 days and above will automatically entitle the holder to ski freely in the entire valley which is well served by ski buses.
Thus I tend to echo alex_heney view just based on the 70km summed piste lengths that Wildschönau is smaller than even the 4th largest area Hintertux having 86km piste.
The relative positions of some skiing resorts starting from the A12 at the German/Austria border are
Austrai/German border A12
|
|
(15 miles)
|
|
Worg ---------(7miles)---------(Hopfgarten of Ski Welt linked to Westerdorf, Brizen, Soll, Ellmau, Going, Iter & Scheffrau)------(8miles)-------(Kirchberg for access to Kitzbuhuel)
Worg ---------(6miles)---------------(Niederau, first area of Wildschönau)
|
|
(10 miles)
|
|
Rattenberg--------(6 miles)-------------Alpbach(a small skiing area)
|
|
(5 miles)
|
|
Weising ...........(5miles)............(Fugen first resort in 30-mile long Zillertal Valley) .----Hochzillertal------Zillertal Arena----Gerlosstein-----Mayrhofen---Ahorn-----Hintertux
|
|
(23 miles)
|
|
Innsbruck
If one has a limited choices of visiting the skiing resorts then any of Ski Welt, Kitzbuhel or Zillertal Valley is a "major" attraction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
