 Poster: A snowHead
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Looking to book something for Jan 2012. I'm currently giving Saalbach serious consideration but it's looking a wee bit pricey at the moment.
Have done the Arlberg a few times with the family and Kappl the last 2 years, so looking for pastures new.
Want something based on the following criteria.
Half board
Very close to slopes or lifts
Decent apres in resort, ie a cheesefest 
Kids will be 8 11 and 14 and can handle most slopes, but we'll typically stick to cruisy blues and reds. They like fun parks and wee runs in between the trees etc
Under €2k for the accomodation
Within 1.5 hours of Salzburg, Innsbruck or Munich
Don't need 100km's of runs but don't want to get bored in a week.
Don't need beginners slopes etc nor will we be looking for ski school.
Potentially could be going with another family, 2 of which are lower intermediate
Very happy to go independent, rather than through tour op
Any tips welcome
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Why not try St Johann in Tirol good family resort, not a massive amount of piste but has a free ski bus to Fieberbrunn and Steinplatte both of which are included on the local lift pass. Reasonably cheap as well.
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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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Kitzbühel would work if you choose accommodation up by the Hahnenkamm. With Skiwelt you'd probably be better off with Brixen or Ellmau as the lifts are closer to the accommodation there. Pretty sure there will be plenty of possibilities in the Ski Amade region too.
I like the idea of Saalbach and I'd really like to try Ischgl but they are both always out of my price range.
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boabski, take a look at Wagrain - right in the middle of the Sportwelt Amade area with the potential to move to other areas either on skis or by local bus.
I have just come back from Altenmarkt and was well impressed with its prices and its location, however I always have a car with me and am independent. It fits all your criteria except the close to slopes thing unfortunately.
Others that spring to mind and off the beaten track a wee bit are Großarl and Bad Hofgastein. Again not in the usual suspects brochures so maybe the prices are not so inflated.
Schladming is amazing in what it offers but can be pricey. The buses between the 4 hills are included on the ski pass, so you can travel to one end and then ski back to the other in a day (bloody knackering but well worth it!).
Have you considered Serfus/Fliss - I have heard it can be a wee bit expensive but everyone who goes raves about it. I've not been there for for a good few years so would hesitate to comment about current conditions.
If you are prepared to look a wee bit outside of the box, I can thoroughly recommend the Serre Chevalier area in the Hautes Alpes region of the southern French Alps. Fly to Grenoble and the transfer time is relatively short I believe (again only ever went by car!). It certainly ticks all your boxes. They also get good snow when other areas of France don't 
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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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schaldming is a great family resort, and the sport hotel royer has some of the best facilities i have ever seen in a ski hotel, food in the buffet restaurant is not quite up to the standard of the montanna in oberlech, but there is an alternative al a carte restaurant which does some great dishes ( the witch's hat was my kids fav ) and you can swop between the two with an allowance.
5 min walk to main lifts , same time to town , good linked skiing for all standards 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Schladming.Fantastic Resort and a lot cheaper than the Arlberg resorts.Would also recommend the Sport Royer.It has a fantastic Pool with a water slide for the kids and a lovely new Spa area and its only 1 hour from Salzburg.
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boabski, Serfaus / Fiss perfect for you. The Schloss Hotel in Fiss is highly recommended.
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boabski, Why not Leogang? and have acces to Saalbach, not so expensive, and quit, nice to be there with kids, and cross over to Saalbach,, 
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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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boabski, Tux, Tux, Hintertux! Or the slightly lower Mayrhofen. Complete with cheesy apres and enough skiing to keep you entertained. Massive fun park at penken for the sprogs and a regular bus service linking Mayrhofen to the glacier and all lifts in between. Worth a look!!
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I was skiing in Hinterglemm today and was thinking what great slopes it had for all standards. All sorts of accommodation too. Leogang would let you get over there via Saalbach but I suspect it would be too much to and fro skiing.
Actually all the places mentioned would be fine. And Fieberbrunn is another smallish area worth thinking about (though the accommodation may not be directly on the slopes, apart from a few hotels).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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boabski, agree with the recommendation for Leogang giving you access to saalbach Hinterglemm with needing to actually stay there. Leogang is fairly compact and all close to the lifts too.
Also suggest Zell am Ziller because it links over to Gerlos (better still, stay in Gerlos but that's a longer transfer)
Or Fugen & Hochfugen well worth a look if DIYing.
Finally, defo look at Serfaus.
I think those selections meet your wish list.
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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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boabski, would you not consider hiring a car so that you are not so restricted by your "close to lifts" criterion? Provided you are somewhere with easy (and preferably free) parking at the lifts, it can be a great way to explore a wider area.
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| Leogang is fairly compact and all close to the lifts too. |
Not sure I would agree with Bode Swiller about that. It seems a rather long, drawn out village to me. But probably no different from most other resorts unless you've actually got ski in/ski out. There are ski busses most places.
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You know it makes sense.
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Another for Wagrain.
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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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Solden would be a good choice.
Apres is nearly as good as Ischgl. Plenty of blues and reds especially up on the 2 glaciers. Transfer is very quick from Innsbruck. You won't get bored in a week and you have the option of a day at Obergurgl as well.
It's not amazingly popular with British tour operators so DIY might be the best way. Having said that I was in a group of 4 who did a last minute trip this year for £200 B&B through Neilsons. Would have been £150 if we'd held out another day.
The best apres and nightlife spots are around the Giggijoch gondola. However the queues at the Gaislachkogl tend to be a bit less in the morning in my experience.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'd recommend Obertauern. Will (or should) be snow-sure in January. Loads of cruisy blues and reds that you can follow in a circuit so you don't ski the same slope twice in a day. Nice little play area. Most of the resort is ski in/ski out. 1 hour from Salzburg. Good apres. Night skiing if you want. Dead easy to sort independently.
Sorted!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ditto Obertauern, little gem of a resort. More than enough for a week, has good apres and good standard of hotels all close to lifts and decent mountain huts all at not to bad prices. I have just come back from a week in St Anton (skied the whole area, Lech-Zurs-Oberlech-St Christoph etc) and yes its a lot bigger area than Obertauern. But honestly i would go back to Obertauern before St Anton. This coming from a man who's fave resort is Val disere (so i do like big ski areas ) Obertauern is small in comparison but it ticked all the right boxes for me and the others in our group and IMHO is a very underestimated resort and one that i will deffo be revisiting at some point in the future.
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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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boabski, Saalbach is a bit pricy but it's worth it. Great ski area for intermediates and the town has good apres of the cheesy variety! Have a look at Hinterglemm too. I haven't been to Saalbach for 4 years but prices on the mountain were reasonable back then.
Kitzbuhel would also be a good choice but make sure you choose a hotel near the Hahenhamm lift or on that side of town as it's quite a big place.
We've always found Soll good value but it is a 5-10 minute walk to the main gondola from the town centre. There is a ski bus. There is good apres also.
All the above have got 150-200km of runs. Soll will give you access to the whole Ski Welt which is 250km.
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Thanks for all the options folks.
Have looked at Serfaus before and was on a par with Lech in terms of pricey accomodation - trying to get for under €2k for a week for 5 of us half board.
Don't think I would consider Leogang as the thing that is appealing about Saalbach is the apres.
I'll chat to my brother in law about Kitzbuhel as he's been going the last 3 years with the family and off again on Wednesday. (his budget is bigger than mine these days fnar fnar)
Completely forgot about the Zillertal - had looked at Gerlos a year ago or so and looked excellent. Will look into that again and possibly add Mayrhofen/Zell into the mix.
Will not hire a car as we both like a wee apres drink - it is a holiday after all.
My mate was in Obertauern last NY and was not won over - think it was because their hotel was not great and their mates was much better 
Will check out Wagrain
Any specific recommendations on accomodation would be welcome too
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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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Another vote for Hinterglemm - was there a couple of weeks ago and thought what a great area it would be for family skiing. Hotels and food were also very good value. Probably the liveliest apres ski I have seen after Ischgl. Some of it was very full on - a bit like the Bierkoenig in Mallorca but on the piste, but Eurocheese prevails everywhere and you can pick and choose your spot.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Another mention for Zell Am Ziller-I stayed in Mayrhofen over NY and went to the other resorts nearby by train. Thought Zell am Ziller was nice and was worth going back to.Also have a look at Kaltenbach which is the bottom station linking into Hoch Zillertal and Hoch Fugen. Plenty of skiing there and you can ski back to Kaltenbach. Easy transfer by train from Innsbruck as the station is about 5 minutes walk to the gondola and the accommodation seems to be very close to the station.
Both the Zillertal Arena (Zell am Ziller, Gerlos etc) and Hoch Zillertal and Hoch Fugen were very reasonable for mountain dining and both areas are usually open until 25th April or 1st May I think, quite a bit of the skiing is quite high up. The snow was very good over NY week in both areas. I think accommodation is very reasonable too, in fact I was thinking next NY I'd go back and stay in one of those areas instead of Mayrhofen as you could ski back, in Kaltenbach you could anyway.
Hope that helps.
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Oh-forgot to say-there seemed to be plenty of apres ski going on in Kaltenbach without it being too wild. Can't remember about Zell Am Ziller but I'd say it was likely to be similar. Plenty of beer huts at bottom and all that. Good bus system too back to the station.
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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: |
If you don't mind going back to the Arlberg
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Stayed in Oberlech twice, Stuben once and St Anton 5 times and would go back in a heart beat - but should be heading to St Anton with boys next year since I'm missing this year  so want to try a new area for the family trip. Also trying to get half board for under €2k for a family of 5 - that ain't going to happen in Lech
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boabski, I was thinking about a car for visiting a range of other ski slopes within a wider area - if you were based in a village (e.g. the recommendation for Altenmarkt, above) you wouldn't have to take the car out at night. Or do you drink heavily all day too?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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For your apres, the Goatsstall in Hinterglemm is *almost* as good as the Mooserwirt. Saalbach would also appear to fit your bill perfectly, Bauers Schi Alm is one of my favourite drinking dens - and would be fine for the kids too as its a jolly rather than rowdy vibe.
Ski Welt fits everything apart from the apres, IMO. Kitzbuehel could be a goer though. Ischgl would also be perfect, but a fair bit pricier - and the apres is perhaps less suitable for the kids than in Saalbach.
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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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boabski,
http://www.pension-falkenstein.at/ - well up the hill, great for ski-in and ski-out, nightmare for shopping and nightlife
http://www.talheim.at/ - out of town on the Saalbach side, 20 minute walk to town, bus stop nearby
http://www.barbarahof.at/ - nice hotel, not so good location: neither one nor the other. Ideal for quiet nights in
http://www.hochtor.at/hochtor/wi/index.php - good central location, easy walking access to lifts on both sides of the valley
http://www.penhab.com/where-we-are - good piste side location on the south side, close enough to the centre
http://www.tristkogel.at/lage.php - good piste side location on the south side, close enough to the centre
http://www.saalbach.com/fileadmin/user_storage/saalbach_com/Downloads/OrtsPlan.pdf is worth printing as large as you can and studying for a bit - the house numbers appear random, which I suspect is because they were allocated in the order the house was built in the village, so 12 and 471 will be next door to each other while 13 is 2 miles away.
Location wise, Hochtor is the best on your list, and is close to the Intersport and Sport 2000 hire shops as well if that matters.
The Goaßstall is a great place, and unlike the Mooserwirt the snaky wobble of death afterwards is only 40 metres although it does have people on toboggans to dodge as well. €4 for a gluwein or large beer, and if you come back after the kick-out around 7, the whole place turns into a civilised restaurant for 2 hours serving excellent food before the staff change back into their Apres gear and the whole thing starts again - except we were there last week when it was quiet, and even on Friday night at 10pm it was little more than a staff party compared to the 500+ people at 6.30
The London Pub is a teenage meat market, if you like that sort of thing. Also, don't expect to find the public swimming pool where some of the maps say "hallenbad" - it was demolished and turned into a posh hotel some time ago.
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You know it makes sense.
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BoaSki,
Here are a couple of suggestions.
Serfaus / Fiss in Tyrol. http://www.serfaus-fiss-ladis.at/en
Easily reachable from Innsbruck. Went there last year in early Feb. possibly are a bigger area than you are looking for. Good spread of runs mainly Blue and Red. Decent height and vertical. Relatively recent expansion, well connected lift system, wasn't particularly busy. seems to be used mainly by Austrian and German families. Equipment hire is very well organised and of really good quality. Skis and boots are kept at the main lift station each night in specific hotel allocated lockers, one locker per room (no charge for this). I didn't think i would like this practice, but it actually was pretty good, the locker rooms are heated, so no cold stiff boots in the morning.
Pretty good week of Skiing. I'm going back next year.
We stayed in a hotel in Fiss called Asters. About 5 mins walk to the lift station & ski/boot locker. Good price on the rooms (they seem to keep the same room rate all season, regardless of peak or off season), excellent food for a 3 star.
http://www.asters.at/
This years new resort visit is....
Damuels in Vorarlberg (closer to switzerland).
http://www.damuels.at/?_lang=en
Really only reachable from Friedrickshafen or Memmingen. I've arranged a taxis with the hotel for the transfer. Billed as 'the snowiest village on earth' should be interesting. looks like a reasonably well connected ares, decent heigh, and one assumes fairly snow sure. Unlikrly to hear many english voices i sispect.
We've booked into the alpen hotel mittagestpitz, looks pretty good, and good price. http://www.alpenhotel-mittagspitze.at/en
Should be interesting, anyway time will tell how good it is...
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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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ousekjarr, wow - that truly is excellent. Will get prices from some of them. Ta muchy
Bob, Asters looks pretty decent value. Have discounted Serfaus etc because it looked very dear the last time I priced it (admittedly that was probably for 4*s hotels)
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Poster: A snowHead
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Bob, curious to know who you fly into Friedrichshafen with? According to the current news coming out of Memmingen, Ryan Air will not be offering it next year. It was announced in our local newspaper a few weeks back. So at the moment, this season will be the last for Mr O'Leary's operation. My family used to use the Friedrichshafen option for as long as it ran and have also used Memmingen, but we have now moved to using Salzburg as our cheapo arrival/departure point. I also live closer to Salzburg than any other of the airports which helps me with the pick ups.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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boabski, You're welcome - full trip report to follow. In the meantime if you've any detailed questions feel free to send me a pm while my memory is reasonably fresh.
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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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ousekjarr, the Penhab have already come back to me. Run by an English chap and Swedish partner. Decent price, so it could well be a goer.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Samberg Sue,
I can't fly to freidrickshafen anymore from memory the only flights are from manchester now. FDH used to be a Ryanair destination but they pulled out at the end of last year, usual rubbish about landing fees i believe.
I live in Hampshire it was pointless to make such a long journey up north, so Memmiungewn works (even if it is with Ryanair) ok on this occassion.
Although mywings (http://www.flymywings.com/de/flug) were promoting the fact that they intended to offer flights from Gatwick to FDH, they haven't gotten off the ground yet. Ha Ha
I do stitill use Salzberg and Innsbruck other trips for, BA often works out the cheapest route to INN with Skis.
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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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BoaSki,
Yep same value thought went through my mind when booking.
Fiss works well, its kinda central, and easy to ski back to.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Damuels in Vorarlberg (closer to switzerland).
http://www.damuels.at/?_lang=en
Really only reachable from Friedrickshafen or Memmingen. I've arranged a taxis with the hotel for the transfer. Billed as 'the snowiest village on earth' should be interesting. looks like a reasonably well connected ares, decent heigh, and one assumes fairly snow sure. Unlikrly to hear many english voices i sispect.
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Bob,
Very interested in Damuels for a family holiday. They seem to have expanded the ski area to include Mellau, but it looks like Fontanella is no longer on the regional lift pass.
I'd be grateful if you could post a review and update on ski area developments on your return.
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JimG2009,
Yep happy to post a review.
Bob
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