Austrian resorts W/C 18th Feb

A snowHead

Hi all,

I posted a thread in the resorts reviews section and notice quite a few members live out in Austria so hoped for some more replies with those with first hand experience. I'm hoping to book an Austrian resort for the week of the 18th Feb this year but many people have replied stating it will be mobbed in Austria that week?

I did some Googling and it would appear that none of the Austrian schools are out that week? Have I been miss-informed? I could go the week before but this is obviously UK half term and would avoid that just out of prices-18th doesn't appear any more expensive than the week after.

Thanks snowHead

A snowHead

audio1482, As I'd posted in your other thread if it's the best week for you just go ahead, book it, and enjoy it without worrying about it too much. I've been in Austria over Christmas and New Year and so long as you miss rush times (ski school meeting etc) you probably won't notice the difference. Maybe a good idea to get away from the main muster areas at the top of the main gondola(s) too.

Particulary in lean snow times home runs can get icy and dicey, more so the busier it gets. When you book ask about home runs to avoid etc, I know at the end of the day when you're tired and relatively inexperienced it can be a nightmare. I tend to stay away from the home motorway runs-finding a red home psite helps if not I stick to the sides and try to dodge people as best I can!

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audio1482, I'd go along with what grizwald said. stop worrying and just enjoy whatever happens. And if you're not enjoying it have a couple of gluhweins and you soon will. Laughing

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audio1482, I agree with both the posts above. Compared to a French peak week, it is not a big problem if you are flexible and select a resort with a variety of accesses to the system you want to ski in.

Example: Ski Amadé, Flachau - three different ways to access the main mountain area. The majority choose to go via the Achter Jet bubble directly up to the ski school meeting area. By hopping on one of the free buses, or by driving a couple of kilometres in either direction, you can easily get up the mountain by either the Star Jet lifts or the Space Jet ones. The difference, they are chairlifts and you have to do it in stages. By travelling a wee bit further on the buses or by car, you have Flachauwinkel in one direction linking into Zauchensee on one side and Kleinarl on the other. In the other direction you can get to the Rote 8er at Wagrain and link into the Wagrain, Flachau and Alpendorf systems.

Another example: Mayrhofen - bigger problem as there are not as many options and the majority of people are linked to the Ahorn cable car for both uplift and download. Don't choose Mayrhofen in a peak week unless you are prepared to use other areas by jumping on the Zillertal buses or trains, or alternatively have a car for exploring the whole valley.

BTW it will still be cheaper than in France wink

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

audio1482, Just to clarify my comment on your other thread - w/c 18th Feb will be one of the busiest weeks in a resort such as Saalbach, as Holland, Denmark and Bavaria have school holidays and Saalbach is particularly popular with guests from these areas. The impact is that most hotels will be fully booked (or at least not inclined to offer discounts) as will most self-catering accommodation. But it's possible that the UK Tour Operators who book a chalet for a whole season might have empty rooms, as it's not half-term in most of the UK and they are unlikely to fill the rooms with guests from elsewhere. So try contacting Nielsen or Ski Miguel, who both have chalets in Saalbach.

Just because it is the busiest week of the season doesn't mean that the place is mobbed - just more busy than usual. Obvious bottlenecks are the lifts in town that go up to the higher runs, but in Saalbach, two new high-speed lifts built in the last 2 years have taken the sting out of this problem. Likewise, the lower slopes where the kids and beginners are learning are going to be very busy for the first 3 days before people are able to go higher up and the lower lift queues will be full of ski-school classes from 09.45 til 10.30. Above the mid-stations there is plenty of skiing ( nearly 200km ) and a number of runs that will be so quiet that you'll wonder if it really is high season. Book an instructor for a day and ask to be shown around, or just ask your host. You will also find the mountain restaurants will be busy, so aim to stop for lunch at 11.30 or wait until 13.30.

As for conditions, it's minus 20 with bright sunshine here just now and the 2.5 m of snow is going nowhere fast.

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From observation crowd isn't a problem in Austria seems to have a lot to do with the French prefer to ski inside their own country. If you don't have the French in a queue, like those in mid Feb in a French resort, its length will be limited.

Another difference is Austria skiing is more of the regular sport for everybody to do it whenever they can arrange the time. So there are a lot of small resorts uniformly spreading over the Alps and the busy time is the weekend. In France the visit to a skiing resort seem to be an annual event as many French travel a long distance to the Alps, take the whole family, stay inside a resort for the whole week very much like most British would do.

After all it is free

saikee, Good point - Austria being a small country (about the size of Scotland, isn't it?) the Austrian visitors in the major ski resorts are no doubt in the minority, and if different regions of Austria take different half term weeks and visitors from other countries are also arriving at different times, that will make a difference.

Help!!

Austrian resorts W/C 18th Feb

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