Niederau, Kirchdorf or Alpbach

A snowHead

Wasn't planning on family ski trip this year due to finances however have been looking at some seriously cheap deals and now thinking we can go. We are all competent skiers with my youngest at 8 able to ski with us all now. Fun park would be good as would some cheesy après.
All the above resorts coming up with half board flights and transfers for around £1500 for 5 of us. Which would suit best?

A snowHead

Boabski, impressively low prices. When are you going?

Dobby

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Kirchdorf itself is very small but, if you're prepared to bus around a bit (15-30 mins), you could ski several resorts in the Schneewinkel from there, e.g. St. Johann in Tirol, the Steinplatte (above Waidring - has a fun park) or even Fieberbrunn or the Pillerseetal/Buchensteinwand, though these two are a bit further away.

Both Niederau and Alpbach would probably suit you. Alpbach is, I think, a slightly larger area but from Niederau you could also ski at Auffach, further up the Wildschönau valley. In any of the resorts you should try to find out how near the lifts your accommodation is (the main village of Alpbach is quite a way from the skiing though there are shuttle busses, I think; Inneralpbach is nearer the lifts).

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boabski, Alpbach is a beautiful village, in fact it's been voted (by the Austrians) as the prettiest village in Austria. I learnt to ski there on my first ski trip in 1984. As espri says the main skiing is on the Wiedersbergerhorn mountain which is accessed from the gondola station near Inneralpbach, but there are frequent shuttle busses from Alpbach village centre if you are staying there.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

From Niederau, you also have the option of the Ski Welt, as Hopfgarten is only 10 minutes away. Not sure if there is a bus though as we drive so just hop in the car.

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Thanks folks. Will discuss with better half

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I have never skied Niederau which seems to be sold as a beginner area. Its piste map does show up two unlinked areas which could be covered by a short bus ride.

I did Kirchdorf (also known as St Johann in Tirol) in half a day when I skied the Ski Welt as it was covered by the Ski Welt pass. Thus it wasn't that big.

Alpbach is also small but I did it as a day trip from SKi Welt. It has its own ski pass as the resort lies between the SKi Welt valley and the Zillertal Valley (where Mayrhofen locastes). Both Niederau and Kirchdorf are in the Ski Welt valley which has also the famous Kitzbuhel resort.

All three resorts are minor domains and so if the skier sticks with any of the three the cost of the ski pass can be significantlt cheaper. Aslo the accommodations at the minor resorts are more affordable as it is more difficult to attract visitors to go there. Small domains are equally nice for skiing but the size may not be able to sustain a fully week activities.

According to Bergfex Kirchdorf and Alpbach have 60 and 54km piste respectively. Niederau/Oberau aren't even counted as parts of the 359 skiing resorts by Bergfex which lists them as resorts for cross country skiing only. I would estimate a beginner would do 10km piste per day where as an average recreational skier would manage 30km. Thus a resort needs to have about 200km piste to fit both.

I know some British TO do packages for the minor resorts as they could possibly get a better margin out of them. This distorst the real skiing possibilities as many British skiers know minor resorts better than the premium resorts like St Moritz which few TO would do possibly due to low margin and low volume.

After all it is free

boabski, Have taught at Auffach a tele serviced intermediate area with some nice steep reds a good nursery area on the first station and a short black if I remember, a gun barrell and enough to keep a second week skier interested for a few days, BUT if snow conditions are poor in Neid.&Alp. everyone rushes to it because it is high 10,000' and has the best snow in the area, car park fills quickly and queue for lift in village can be half an hour+ in peak times so get there early or stay in the village.

Saike kirchdorf is not on the ski welt pass and not also known as St Johann in tirol, they are two seperate areas but covered by the schneewinkel pass which also cover Fieberbrunn and Wiadring. With regard to Kirchdorf as already posted if you happy to take buses you can use 4 different ski areas, Kirchdorf itself has only 3km's of piste and at night there is almost nothing to do. But it can be a cheap base to ski the other areas, you could easily get to Kitzbuhel for the day also.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I've not been to Niederau or Alpbach, but have done Kirchdorf.

As mentioned above, you can access a few other resorts from Kirchdorf on the Schneewinkel pass, St Johann, Fieberbrunn etc. Skiing isn't that challenging there but if you're with young kids then perhaps not a bad thing. It was also mentioned above that Kirchdorf is pretty quiet, which is very true. However...

When I went about 7 or years ago for a weeks holiday there were a few evening excursions (with Thomson I believe) to a local traditional sledging hill. Great fun! All get towed up to the top of the hill behind a tractor and one-by-one you make your way down. Good for a cheap laugh and could see kids enjoying very much. We also had a night out at a local Austrian Skittle Alley!! Much the same as our pub skittles really, but still a bit of a giggle. Would also be suitable for kiddies!!

Hope that helps.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I am going to Kirchdorf in January. Hope it snows. Ihave been before but I started skiing late in life so don't want too much excitement.It is very quiet at night .The ski school is very good and it is a very friendly place, not touristy at all just a small Austrian village. Ideal for children and young teenagers No temptations.

snow reports

For a similar price I can go to mayrhofen. Think this would be a better, albeit slightly more expensive, option?

boabski, With the same lift problem except here one has to queue to get off as well as on.

You know it makes sense.

With Mayrhofen the situation is a bit different. Any ski pass purchased with 4 days or more in any resort with the Zillertal Valley will entitle the holder to all the 7 unlinked areas. Zillertal Arena and Kaltenbach are the two areas comparable size to Mayrhofen. One can take the bus to Hintertux, the last resort in the dead end of the Zillertal Valley, to ski the the glacier even there is no snow in the valley.

Having said above I did find the queue in Mayrhofen a problem because it was almost continuous walking but I suppose I might not have hit it at its busiest time. In any case any queuing problem in Austria is peanut by the French standard according to my own experience.

Marhofen is just one of the 5 base stations accessing the same area. It may be better for skiers to take the bus to the other quiet chairlifts to ski Mayrhofen. The two most adjacent lifts to Mayrhofen are Finkenberg and Horberbahn which are quieter early in the morning whereas the other two base station at Tux are relatively deserted. Mayrhofen has got 159km piste. A 4+day ski pass is good to ski the entire 560km piste in the same valley. In term of skiing possibilities there is no comparison between this and a self contained little resort with 50 to 60 km piste. If snow is poor it will be the same for all the above resorts which are within a circle of about 50m. The two extremities between St Johann in Tirol (Kirchdorf) and Mayrhofen is only 86 miles.

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Niederau, Kirchdorf or Alpbach

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