 Poster: A snowHead
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Greetings,
We are a small family of three that have been living and skiing in New Zealand. We have an opportunity to visit Europe from mid December until end of February and we'd love to get some skiing in. The hardest thing about posting is that it feels like we're almost asking someone to tell us what to do!!! It is hard to know where to go to research ski fields from so far away.
We are quite self sufficient and, coming from New Zealand, used to smaller fields with more rudimentary facilities. If there is anyone that could help point us to places to research skiing, fields and self contained accomodation (we'll have a car) in Austria, Slovenia or (as a random choice) Slovakia we would be very grateful.
As an example we've been told that in Austria the Maria Alm township and ski area could be good, only we have no way of verifying this. We have looked at ski prices in Slovakia (Jasna) and at first glance it seems like the value for money in Austria is still very compelling.
Also, as another probably stupid question, are we mad to hope that we can still find accomodation for both the XMas / New Years period and for the month of January?
Remember we're flexible about where we go and probably more attracted to the lesser known and quieter fields.
many 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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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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jonathanco,
Good move in contacting this lot. They're very helpful and you'll get more info about skiing than you ever knew existed.
Others will know much more than me about the smaller Austrian resorts and should be along soon. I know nothing about Slovakia or Slovenia although I would think they would offer excellent value for money which will help the Pacific Peso go a little further if that is an issue.
Some general advice: Resorts in Austria and Italy can be surprisingly close to each other and Italy can be cheaper than Austria. Well, they're close compared to a Chch - Wanaka drive or an Auckland to Ruapehu jaunt. Although sadly, Europeans are denied the joys of gravel access roads.
European resorts - even the small ones - are gobsmacking compared to Kiwiland but the basic principles still apply. Up the mountain prices can be eye-watering.
Wot robboj said about mid to end of January is good advice. Mid term school break weeks tend to cover most of February and should be avoided as the prices more or less double and slopes, lifts, restaurants and rental shops are horribly crowded. Although not as badly as Coronet or Mt Hutt in the Kiwi school holidays and once you find your way around the hill, choke points can be avoided.
Austrian and Italian accomodation is mostly hotels or B&Bs and these can be good value. Self catering apartments are cheaper and you might like to try www.ownersdirect.co.uk to see what's available.
Depending on how much time you want to spend researching and comparing prices while on the road, you might even be able to get a good last minute deal from one of the large British ski holiday companies. They focus on the mega-resorts but there are also some smaller places on their books. If you wait until two or three weeks before you want to be on the slopes (i.e. late December or early Jan), the prices for unsold ski weeks come down considerably. They also offer deals like two lift tickets for the price of one during quieter periods. Inghams, Neilsons and Crystal are three of the companies that spring to mind but there are several more whose names escape me right now.
They usually have some self-catering holidays available or you could end up in a catered chalet where everything is laid on and you get to meet a whole lot of new people. If you work it right, this could be cheaper than you can do it by putting the holiday together independently.
You are gong to have a great time.
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jonathanco, welcome to Snowheads. 
When you say "get some skiing in", do you mean spending most of your time in Europe skiing, or doing lots of other things as well?
One of the biggest costs is lift passes, and although you have some time to plan, some of the best lift pass deals, where you get a big discount for buying season passes in advance, will be closing soon.
The Ski amadé area in Austria offers a huge range of skiing, on one pass - there are a number of Ski amadé experts on snowheads who will be able to advise - though I think they have a very good website. Visiting cities like Salzburg would also add a lot to your holiday.
There are also some very good deals available on French lift passes, but on the whole France will be a bit more expensive (needn't be a lot more expensive if you avoid the big names though - ).
Skiing in NZ you will be used to driving to ski, so living somewhere a short (and easy and safe......) drive from the lifts won't be a problem for you. A lot of european skiers think they're hard done by if they have to walk more than 150m from their accommodation to a piste. 
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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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Are you wanting big resorts covering lots of ground with loads of skiing possibly over several interlinked valleys or something more intimate?
Do you want intermediate skiing or a fair amount of challenging stuff?
Is Off-piste and powder important or do you mostly ski pistes?
How important is nightlife?
How important is price? (sometimes less famous places are cheaper).
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jonathanco, Maria Alm is a very beautiful resort, full of all the cliched charm of an Alpine village/resort but still with very modern uplift and a very good interlinked area. It is also relatively quiet and under the radar of the other better known areas in the Ski Amadé. If you have a car available, buy the Salzburger superski pass and you will have a phenomenal amount of choice of places to ski that are all within an hour's drive. It's a while since i skied there but I will definitely be going back this winter as I have it on my "hit list" to visit this season. They have upgraded a couple of lifts and made the connections between the resorts easier.
There is a snowHead here who has some self-catering accommodation in that area (HausWasserbauer), why not send them a private message asking about the cost and availability.
You are also well placed there if you want to tour other regions, e.g. visit Salzburg or some of the south-east Bavarian tourist places that do not involve skiing (Chiemsee, Königssee, Bad Reichenhall, Berchtesgarten, Hohenwerfen, etc.). In terms of travelling you are pretty centralised and can get around fairly quickly and easily.
Sue 
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I've skied in Slovenia and Slovakia and have posted quite a bit o here about both, do a search there has been lots of threads before. I've skied Rogla, Krvavec, Kranjska Gora and Vogel in Slovenia and Jasna in Slovakia. I enjoyed my holidays in Slovenia although the resorts were pretty small, I'm not big on mileage but think I may get bored for a whole week at some of them now. I would go back to Jasna as it felt much bigger and you got more of a sense of traveling. The top of the mountain was left ungroomed when we were there so there was an infinite number of ways down and I would happily go back and spend a week in good snow there. I think both Slovenia and Slovakia have more potential for off-piste if you're into that, I had bookmarked this blog post in case I ever decide to do something like that
http://skizinal.blogspot.com/2008/04/it-not-high-it-fog.html
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hi all,
Thank you all for the response so far, we really didn't expect to find out much but having your advice and enthusiasm is awesome and definitely encouraging.
To answer a few questions, we're looking to stay at most in one or two places and hopefully ski for 4 - 6 weeks. We need somewhere that can cater for beginners/intermediate whilst still offering some skiing for a more experienced skier, however a large amount of off-piste or double black diamond isn't necessary. Also we'd probably prefer somewhere a bit smaller and lesser known, gut feel is that even those fields would offer a lot compared to what we're used to. Night life isn't a priority, although it's nice to be somewhere with a sense of community we don't see ourselves being out until the wee hours ... we're hoping we'll be too exhausted for that anyway.
We're still skiing in NZ here, I'm hoping to get down to Mt Ruapehu for some spring skiing next week, there is still a 2 meter base. We're very excited at the thought of skiing in Europe but absolutely blown away by the extent and choice, it's just too much to take in at one go ... at least we won't have to deal with narrow gravel access roads, although they are part of the charm down here
thank you all again for your advice, has been a very pleasant surprise!
p.s. our favourite NZ ski field is Ohau (www.ohau.co.nz) - very small but the people and the lodge are amazing, a great place to visit on your way to or from Queenstown and Wanaka 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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jonathanco, sounds like a great plan. Having been through your ski areas in November 2009, the other thing to be aware of is just how busy the whole of Europe will seem to you, especially the roads!
I'm afraid I'm not an "Austrian" ski expert, but might suggest to you that you should look at the Italian Dolomites (Dolomiti Superski lift pass) as an area which would cater for all three of you, is pretty, has lots of variety and good reasonably-priced food.
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Four to six weeks!!!!! Jeez, envy is not the word for it.
Dolomites would indeed meet all your requirements easily; also relatively laid back, spectacular scenery and the food is, well, Italian, nuff said. You should at least treat yourself once to some Austrian apres though; think endless cheesy musical hakas with smiles and much ho,ho,ho - don't anticipate driving afterwards.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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yes, the scenery in the Dolomites is incredible - the whole of the Alps is pretty good, but the dolomites are in a class of their own.
Might come down to language. If you speak a little German, go to Austria, if you speak a little Italian, go to Italy. In the smaller places it really helps (I stayed in a hotel in the Dolomites where they'd never had Brits stay before, and I've done German-speaking ski lessons in a tiny Austrian resort where there were very few Brits, and the right level for me was a German speaking group). It can make a bit of a difference to your reception locally.
If you speak a bit of French, ditto France.
But you can get away anywhere without the local language, as people will be keen to sell you stuff.....
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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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| pam w wrote: |
yes, the scenery in the Dolomites is incredible - the whole of the Alps is pretty good, but the dolomites are in a class of their own.
Might come down to language. If you speak a little German, go to Austria, if you speak a little Italian, go to Italy. |
Of course in some parts of the Dolomites like Val Gardena, being part of the Sud Tirol and part of Austria up till the end of WW1, German also comes in very handy there as well. 
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Alastair Pink, sorry to drift the thread - but assuming that I only have time to brush up either my Italian or my German before I go to Val Gardena, which should I do?
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You know it makes sense.
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You could do worse than Westendorf - with the links to the rest of the SkiWelt on one side and Kitzbuehel on the other, there's lots of terrain to cover (depending on dates you might even get to see the legendary Hahnenkamm downhill race in Kitz). Lots of piste at al levels, lots of relatively safe offpiste to explore (not many people seem to ski offpiste there either, so finding fresh tracks is easy), small pretty village with a really friendly vibe, couple of fun bars (on and off the hill). Day trips to Innsbruck and Salzburg easily very doable too. If you buy the Tirol Snowcard (which for that length of time you probably should do) you will also get access to 70-odd other resorts within a two hour drive/bus/train ride from Westendorf.
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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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jonathanco,
It would be a shame to make a trip to Europe and not allow a bit of time to ski at least one of the big ski areas. You get to let your skis run a lot more over here than back in NZ, it made me change the way I was skiing when I first came over. It is also nice to spend the morning skiing and finishing up at a restaurant miles away from where you started. Of course this will get expensive if you do it too often.
Look at altitude and snow records when researching the smaller resorts. Many of them are lower down and have not made the same investment in snow making. These days this can make it difficult when there is a lack of natural snow.
If you are doing your research on the internet search for 'ski areas' rather than 'ski fields', 'ski resorts' rather than 'ski towns' and 'piste' as opposed to 'ski run'.
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Poster: A snowHead
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jonathanco,
Nice trip you're planning there!
I would echo sideslip1 - the best thing to do in Europe is to enjoy something different than NZ, i.e. to include in your trip at least one large area. The benefit is that you can still stay in a small place which is linked into megaresorts with 100s of miles of pistes.
It may be a good idea to go for a smaller resort in the Christmas / New Year period - you may have more luck there with availability and relatively lower prices during what is an expensive period. Then move to a bigger area in January.
The other option is to leave the decision on where to go in January until you get here. It's not a busy month and you'll be sure to find a lot of accommodation options.
The Dolomites could definitely be a great area for views / amount of skiing / food. (Plus you can go to Venice in 3-4 hours). Otherwise, there are many great areas in Austria, several of which are mentioned above. If it was me, I would pick Austria over Slovakia or Slovenia.
You may not be interested in nightlife but quite separately from that, Euro apres-ski taking place in the late afternoon /evening, especially in Austria and to some extent Italy, might be a fun experience (though be warned that some people hate it).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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With the amount of time you have I would consider trying a few different areas, over 6 weeks 2 weeks Austria, 2 weeks Italy, 2 weeks France oh and add Switzerland in there. The danger in doing this like anything else is that the place you move onto you won't like as much as the previous place! Austria makes allot of sense for that amount of time huge areas are open to you on the same pass which are easily accessed. Another disadvantage to changing resorts is not being able to take advantage of a season pass offer.
All the main European counties that offer skiing have their fans and critics. As an overall Ski experience I like Austria, generally food and drink prices are punitive in France for so so quality at best-the punitive bit applys to Switzerland too, although i have no idea how the NZ $ is fairing against the Euro the CHF has been as stong against the £ as I've ever seen it this year. have a look at Kitzbuhel, proper town vs a resort access to Skiwelt and Saalbach on one pass. Plenty to do if you ever tire of the skiing and want a day off. I love the skiing in France but little else, love the food, scenery, skiing and the food again in Italy but not the place for lively apres (I don't have kids).
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Another disadvantage to changing resorts is not being able to take advantage of a season pass offer.
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a very good point.
As is proximity to Venice - you really have to go to Venice, it's such an amazing destination, one of the few which lives up to all the hype. The Italian motorways make driving very easy.
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the staff in hotel, restaurants and tourist shops will be able to speak English.
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no they won't, not all of them, once you get off the beaten tourist track. One of our friends - admittedly the most total duffer at all languages (not excluding English  ) failed utterly to book a table for 4 for dinner at one of our local restaurants in France. It's really great to go somewhere where not everybody speaks English!
I loved those Italian valleys - I spoke enough German to cope in the German speaking ones, but practically no Italian (a deficiency I am now busily remedying) and we had to resort to sign language and a phrase book more than once. One hilarious session the manager of our hotel rolled up his trousers and pointed to his lower leg, in order to indicate which cut of beef (shin) was on the menu for supper. the young waitress (daughter of the family, it was a family hotel) spoke about 15 words of English, about the same as my Italian. It was fantastic - the only non-Italians in the hotel - the sun shone, the scenery was out of this world. There was SFA snow, but it wasn't a ski holiday so we didn't really care, and I did get a couple of hours over a lunchtime on deserted pistes in Cortina.
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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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Would agree with Pam, Venice is stunning.
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Venice is indeed stunning. Especially in winter when the cold keeps the smell and a higher number of tourists away. It's a must do.
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I have just managed to get my head around the Austrian resorts and how the passes for areas such as Ski Amade work, but now the thought of a side trip to Venice and all the recommendations mean I might need to look at the Dolomites? I do speak some German which could help.
Can anyone give me a site or two to use to look for accommodation? (self catering is OK)
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jonathanco, For info on the Val Gardena ski area see this site. A google search for other ski areas in the Dolomites such as Val di Fassa, Arraba etc will show you their tourist office websites as well.
One useful website for accommodation in both Austria and the Sud Tirol Dolomite region of Italy is www.tiscover.com
Hope this helps.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Will search this on the forums, I promise 
Wondering if anyone that has provided advice to me so far (or feels like chipping in) could recommend Voralberg, in particular the Montafon valley?
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jonathanco, I can't advise on Voralberg but I'm throwing another suggestion into the pot...
The Tirol SnowCard www.snowcard.tirol.at is a season card that works in 82 ski areas in Tirol. Some of the areas that are included are large, some of them are small. You could possibly stay somewhere like Innsbruck and visit a different resort each day. Then, if you find an area you particularly like you could find accommodation in the resort itself and spend more time exploring one place.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| SaraJ wrote: |
jonathanco, I can't advise on Voralberg but I'm throwing another suggestion into the pot...
The Tirol SnowCard www.snowcard.tirol.at is a season card that works in 82 ski areas in Tirol. |
If it fits in with your timing, you might find the special Olympia Snow Card Tirol interesting. Because it could be of general interest I have given more details in a separate thread.
In short it would offer you skiing at any the 82 areas available on the normal Snow Card Tirol for three weeks on any dates starting between 9th December 2011 and 22nd January 2012. You could also take the chance of seeing the stars of tomorrow in action
I haven't seen any mention of children's versions of this ticket (though there is a half-price child's version of the normal Snow Card Tirol).
One other thing to note is that in most states in Austria (except Tirol and Vorarlberg, I believe) children up to 15 years old must wear a helmet when skiing.
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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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+1 moffatross.
The rest of Scotland's not bad either, when the snow's there.
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You know it makes sense.
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you should really also try Where to Ski and Snowboard, here: http://www.wtss.co.uk
lots of good information.
some friends had a complete lack of snow a couple of years ago in Slovenia around Xmas / NY time. They ended up crossing the border into Austria.
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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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jonathanco,
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Wondering if anyone that has provided advice to me so far (or feels like chipping in) could recommend Voralberg, in particular the Montafon valley?
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Only skied briefly in Gargellen which was very pleaasant. Meant to be a great area. Bregenzwald has a reputation of being excellent value for money of the British tourist track and very snowy. Never been though.
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FAQ
) ski centre in the world. 
