 Poster: A snowHead
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Alpbach in Austria - anybody been - whats it like? Would it be safe to go in mid-March?
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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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It is a small resort favoured by the British TO. We skied there in Jan 2004 and were surprised to ran into a young British lad working there as an instructor. Mid March should be OK.
It has 40km piste which seems to be a sort of size some British schools would take kids to learn skiing. A beginner might got drag along a 1.5km run 4 times before lunch and another 4 times after lunch to clock up 12km a day whereas a normal skier would cover 25 to 35 km in a day. Thus going for a week a resort with about 100 to 150km would be big enough to entertain an average skier I would have thought. Non-beginners should ideally aim at anything above 70km piste.
Alpbach lies between the the valley that has Ski Welt (Soll, Ellmau, Schffrau, Westendorf..) and the famous Kitzbuhel and the Zillertal Valley (Mayrhofen, Zillertal Arena, Hintertux) along the main road between German border and Innsbruck. Most skiers would go to either valleys.
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I have checked with Bergfex.com and it reports the area now has 54km piste with altitude ranging 600 to 2100m.
It should be understood there is nothing wrong with the resort itself as long as the visitor is aware of its size and that it has about 17 runs. We did it in a day trip from Ski Welt. Small resorts are normally picturesque, not invaded by the international crowd and can be very relax place to ski if you are not looking for the high mileage. As a rule small resorts can have difficulties in attracting visitors and so their prices will be competitive and offer good value for money.
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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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the skiing is quite varied. We had a particularly good instructor there, who spoke brilliant English (had worked in Loughborough for 3 years  ). The village is certainly picturesque - cows in byres in the village, real mountain feel. The ski bus (essential) was reliable, IIRC. I think if I were going to Alpbach again I'd go for an intensive session of lessons. There are a host of British families who have been returning there year after year. When my son broke his ankle toboganning he was in a red mist of pain and heard a weirdly familiar voice saying "you look like you need a hand, mate". Turned out to be a chap he drank with regularly in a pub in Portsmouth, who was there on his own. He was in his 20s but had fallen in love with Alpbach going every winter with his parents as a youngster. Very friendly locals, too. The snow was poor when we were there (January) but that's luck of the draw, isn't it?
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Thanks everybody who responded. I have a week off in March and need to go somewhere cheap!
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FAQ
), and of course conditions in a month's time may be substantially different to now. 
