 Poster: A snowHead
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Resort: Kirchberg, Kitzbuhel and the Ski Welt
Country: Austria
Author: Ousekjarr
Date: 25th February – 3rd March 2012
Our holiday: We alternate between large family groups and boys trips, with this being the latter. All three of us had always wanted to see Kitzbuhel despite it being one of the lowest resorts in Austria, so we took a chance on the conditions and booked up in November. Not being a Russian oligarch, we aimed for Kirchberg as a backdoor into the Kitzbuhel area, and which also offered us the option of dropping into the back of the Ski Welt via Brixen.
Websites : http://www.kitzbuehel.com/en/ has most of the information on the area, including accommodation searches, lift details, and so on. For the Ski Welt, http://www.skiwelt.at/en/ provides the same detail.
Basics : Kitzbuhel sits in a north-south valley, with the majority of the pistes on the western side facing northeast and southeast. Kirchberg’s side of the mountain is mainly north facing, while on the opposite side of the valley there is access into the Ski Welt area of Gampenkogel, which provides a number of runs in varying directions.
The Kitzbuhel area has 170Km of pistes from 800m up to 2004m, with 67Km blue, 79Km red, and 24Km black, plus 32Km of ski routes. There are 54 lifts, comprising 2 large cable cars, 8 gondolas, 17 surface lifts, 3x 8seat, 6x6seat, 8x4seat, 3x3seat and 6x2seat chairs.
The main part of the Ski Welt is primarily on the north facing side of the range, but with some south-facing runs down to Brixen.
The Ski Welt claims 279Km of pistes from 620m up to 1950m (although in the main range, the highest point is 1829m), with 124Km blue, 128Km red, 11Km black, and 16Km of ski routes. There are 91 lifts, comprising 1 funicular, 14 gondolas, 39 surface lifts, 2x8seat, 10x6seat, 17x4seat, 2x3seat, and 5x2seat chairs. The longest run is 6.5Km, and the biggest vertical is 1009m.
Travel: We flew from Luton to Salzburg with Easyjet, and then picked up a pre-booked car (via http://www.cheapcarrental.co.uk/) from Europcar at the airport. We’d initially planned for only two of us on the trip, so had booked a small car for €185, and ended up with a VW Polo. Despite now having three people and three sets of skis in the car, it was adequate, coping with 180cm skis with two of the back seats folded flat. Transfer time was 90 minutes on a Saturday evening, with no real traffic to speak of at any time during our trip. Alternatively, the train from Salzburg runs to Kitzbuhel and Kirchberg via the Innsbruck route, with a change at Worgl - see http://www.oebb.at/ for details, 2.5 hours travelling time.
Flights : This was our first winter flight from Luton, and was on time, comfortable, and relatively stress free. Salzburg was busy as always on Saturdays, but we were through passport control quickly and our luggage was delivered in 10 minutes.
On the return, Salzburg airport was as busy as I have ever seen it, but our flight left with only a short delay and this was made up on the way so we arrived on time. Baggage return at Luton was a little chaotic, especially as we had to walk the length of the baggage hall to get to our bags, then go back three quarters of the way to collect the skis from outsize baggage, then back again to the exit – as everyone has to pass the exit, why not have the outsize stuff delivered there?
Lift system : Mixed – in the Kitzbuhel range, there are a number of excellent modern chairs and gondolas, and of course the 3S gondola from the top of Pengelstein to the top of Wurzhohe is a spectacular piece of engineering which opens up a large area to those coming from the Kirchberg side, but once on the southern end of the range towards Pass Thurn, the lifts are a little more dated and we suffered a little on the one day we spent in this area due to the combination of slow, open chairs and freezing rain in strong winds.
3S gondola
In the Ski Welt on the other hand, the lift system was excellent – mainly modern chairs and gondolas, plus the funicular out of Ellmau. While there are a number of T-bars and Pomas, these are generally short and placed in areas where it is not essential to use them to get around.
The terrain : Mixed – the highest point in the Kitzbuhel area is around 2000m, so just about everything is tree lined except for the very top of the runs. However, most of the upper area was fairly open, so when the wind was blowing it felt quite exposed at times, especially on the Pass Thurn side. One major disappointment was that we seemed to spend a lot of time trying to skate uphill – the main access into the central area from Ehrenbachhöhe is down the undulating blue 18, where the only option is to ski into and back out of a shallow bowl to get to the next lift. For hesitant skiers, this is impossible and even for us going flat out, we found it very difficult to get back to the lift level due to the poor conditions, of which much more later.
Much of the Kitzbuhel area struck us as being a bit boring, with a lot of pistes which were clearly roads, and with little of interest on them. In other areas, there may be lots of runs, but they are all very similar with the obvious exception of the Hahnenkamm.
The Ski Welt on the other hand was mainly sheltered, with lots of tree-lined runs, and with a good selection of terrain across a huge area providing a lot of variety.
Brixen uplift
Snow and Weather : Poor – anyone thinking of visiting the Kitzbuheler Alps has to take account of the fact that it is one of the lower areas in Austria, and anyone not expecting slush in the last couple of hundred metres into the village is deluding themselves unless the conditions are exceptional. We gambled and lost - we arrived in 14 degrees, through green fields and past the pistes of St Johann which were white ribbons on green hillsides, and it wasn’t looking good.
Our first day on the mountain was 12 degrees, with drizzly rain for much of the day. The snow constantly grabbed at the skis, and it took about a 15 degree slope before it was possible to pick up speed, so when this was combined with visibility of about 10 metres, the whole day turned into a succession of discovering uphill patches where we hadn’t seen it coming and were unable to maintain any speed, so we had to skate, sidestep, or walk up.
Our only improvement during the week was that the rain stopped, most of the time. By the end of the week, the temperatures were up to 15 degrees by noon, and the snow was wet and heavy by 11am. We slogged it out to 3pm on most days, but only by adopting techniques which felt very unnatural but got enough weight towards the back of the skis to prevent them stopping dead on the piste without warning and throwing you out of the bindings onto your face. For skiers who normally have to be dragged off the hill as it is getting dark, they were short and trying days.
Snowmaking had clearly been used in many places to top up the base, but there were bare patches showing on some pistes, and the area around them was full of exposed rocks, tree stumps and other hazards.
Anything under 1500m suffered badly throughout the week.
Blue sky skiing - but with temperatures of 12+
The Mythical Kitzbuhel Snow Report : I can’t let this pass without comment, as it was a major source of irritation and is something which really needs to be publicised until they sort it out. So, here’s the detail of our week, with the corresponding daily update from the Kitzbuhel website, cross-checked with several snow report sites:
Sunday: 12 degrees & rain at the top, foggy, slush all over, with icy patches underneath.
The Kitzbuhel website was reporting: Powder
Monday: 14 degrees, but 1cm of snow overnight onto frozen slush.
The Kitzbuhel website was reporting: Powder
Tuesday: 7 degrees and rain, heavy, soft and wet snow which grabbed at the skis
The Kitzbuhel website was reporting: Powder
Wednesday: 6 degrees, 1cm of snow overnight onto boilerplate.
The Kitzbuhel website was reporting: Powder
Thursday: 8 degrees, no fresh snow. Slushy moguls everywhere by noon.
The Kitzbuhel website was reporting: Powder
Friday: 13 degrees, sunny, and a broad thaw underway across the whole area
The Kitzbuhel website was reporting: Powder
The website was apparently updated every morning, and every morning it was updated to “Powder”, which was last accurate about 6 weeks before. J2ski were happily sending me powder alerts by e-mail, when I was standing up to my ankles in water – not their fault, as they can only pass on the report from the resort, but they offer this because people make decisions based on it. I pity anyone who turns up to Kitzbuhel in preference to anywhere else because they’ve reported a powderfest...
The Hahnenkamm : Everyone wants to see it for themselves, and most competent skiers have a wish to ski on it, so we did. Well, sort of – some parts were closed entirely, while other parts were quite simply the product of some sadistic warped mind. Clearly, the lift company can’t close it all because the punters would be up in arms, but when one of the main sections is a brown field with 1.5 metre high moguls and 20cm of slush in between them, it really shouldn’t have been open. In good conditions and after fresh snow, I would probably enjoy it, but on this occasion we gave it a miss and never went back to it. Skiing for us is about fun, not about enduring extreme discomfort just to tick off the boxes. We also saw very competent skiers wiping out badly due to the conditions.
Lift Links: We’ve been to a good number of places in Austria, and Kitzbuhel was fairly typical, with organic development where the terrain suited rather than custom-built areas which erased the existing farms. As a result, the valley access was a little spread out and not in the most convenient of places, but once on the hill it was reasonably well connected.
The Ski Welt provided an interesting contrast – even more spread out on the valley floor due to its vast size, but it was clear that the upper lifts were very well planned, and where there were issues they had been addressed. In particular, we experimented in the Gampen area in our constant search for north-facing slopes, and when we descended towards Brixen we realised to our dismay that the slope ran out a good 300 metres from the lift on the opposite side of the valley, and it looked from 1500 metres up like everyone was walking across the valley floor. You can imagine the grins when we found that a short tunnel section under the railway terminated in a magic carpet to get us back up to field level, where a drag rope eased us across to within 10 metres of the next lift.
One word of warning – take care when navigating. I met one Irish group picking their way down the lower slope back to the valley floor in Brixen after 4pm who were convinced they were heading for Ellmau, with one of them struggling with a muscle strain due to the terrible conditions. Since they are on either side of a large mountain range, their friends weren’t impressed by their request to be picked up as it was a 60 mile round trip on minor roads.
Calf deep slush with the viscosity of wet cement, on the run into Brixen
Queues : Nothing of note at any time
Off-piste : There might be some if there is enough snow to allow it. Most of our off-piste excursions amounted to moving 5 metres off the side to avoid the atrocious conditions on the piste, although in some cases this resulted in skiing into what seemed to be partially set concrete. The Ski Welt was distinctly better in this regard, but even this had its issues – on one day, we had to return to Brixen via Hohe Salve but found that the red run off the side had been closed for a race with the result that the only exit was via the black run 2C down from the church. What looked inviting first thing in the morning had turned into a mess, with huge moguls all over the top section of the piste, which was very steep. This whole slope was littered with bodies at interesting angles, and this quickly became an example of where skiing down alongside the piste was significantly easier than skiing on it.
Hohe Salve at 10am
Fashion reporting : Nothing too extreme was spotted, although there was a Dutch party of about 12 on the piste who were wearing identical lurid jackets. One wasn’t too bad, but when they congregated it became difficult to maintain any sort of focus.
Formation fashion victims
Facilities : Kirchberg was something of a revelation – nice atmosphere, several small bars and cafes, and generally a good mix of facilities which will suit most tastes. The fact that all of the lifts are away from the centre of town kept the noise under control, and it gave the impression of a town which benefitted from the skiing rather than being dominated by it. A reasonable supermarket in the centre of town provided everything we needed.
Food : We’ve yet to have a bad experience in Austria. Good wholesome food is easy to find at a range of prices, although the menu can be a little limited if you’re not a fan of Austrian or Italian cuisine, or if you are vegetarian. Of the restaurants and bars we visited, our pick was Kalswirt on the main roundabout in Kirchberg ( http://kalswirt.at/ ) which did excellent food at reasonable prices, and had a welcoming if small bar. On the mountain, nothing really stood out for us in the Kitzbuhel area although all of them were good.
Apres Ski: The inevitable London Pub in Kirchberg was the only place we found in which three men in their 40s could have a relaxing drink after a long hard day without feeling ancient or out of place, or having to stand. The atmosphere was good from late afternoon, but we generally left around 6pm before the DJ spoiled it by removing the rock classics CD, cranking the volume up to 12, inserting the party cheese CD, and shouting over everything to justify his presence.
Accommodation : we chose Kirchberg because it was significantly cheaper than Kitzbuhel while giving access to the same area. We stayed in the Gasthof Alpenrose, above a pizza restaurant, which was handy for just about everything, and at €800 for an apartment for 3, was just over half the amount we’d been quoted for a smaller place in Kitzbuhel nowhere near the centre. The apartment was comfortable but somewhat dated, and overall it was good value for money.
Costs:
Flights £120pp
Car hire €186 plus €40 for fuel
Accommodation €266pp
Lift pass €210 for 6 days, Allstar Pass (access to Ski Welt included)
Typical lunches on the mountain were around €10pp for a main course and large drink. A 0.5L beer was €4.00-4.50 both on and off the mountain, with gluhwein at €4, and hot chocolate or coffee around €3-3.50.
All in, around £850 for a week with meals included.
Conclusion: Kitzbuhel was something of a disappointment to me, compared to my previous experiences of Austria. The snow conditions were certainly a large part of this, but also the lack of variety, roads masquerading as pistes, and the diabolical snow report really annoyed me by the end of the week. Kirchberg on the other hand was good, and the slopes on Gampen would have been excellent in better conditions.
The Ski Welt eclipsed all of this – even with the poor conditions, we were able to find reasonable runs on north facing slopes until well after 2pm on most days, and without the Allstar pass this trip would have been poor overall. With it, it was below average – but in a better year, the Ski Welt would be very good.
In summary – do Kitzbuhel if you have to, but only book it at the last minute and when the 10-day forecast is excellent. Consider the Ski Welt instead, or just about anywhere else in Austria as an alternative, or do it as a day visit. If you must ski for a week in Kitzbuhel, do it from Kirchberg and spend the savings on food and drink.
Looks good, until you try to ski on 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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ousekjarr, nice report. That takes a fair bit of work. Refreshing to get the truth rather than the kind of puffery you read about resorts in the press. Think you got dead unlucky with the temps mind you. Seem to remember it was pretty much the same all over.
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I met one Irish group picking their way down the lower slope back to the valley floor in Brixen after 4pm who were convinced they were heading for Ellmau, with one of them struggling with a muscle strain due to the terrible conditions. Since they are on either side of a large mountain range, their friends weren’t impressed by their request to be picked up as it was a 60 mile round trip on minor roads.
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Don't know which way they were taken but 60 miles isn't quite right. It's about 10 miles one way via Hopfgarten/Itter/Soll and a bit further via Reith.
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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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Bode Swiller, oops my mistake - 60Km, not 60 miles - Google gives it as 29.4 via Itter, and 20.2 via Reith.
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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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ousekjarr, whatever. They were bloody daft and it'll teach 'em to study the map in future.
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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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Just a quick question, was the weather in the Kitzbuhel/Ski Welt area any different to anywhere else in the Alps that week? Im sure the whole of the Alps had similar temperatures.
I wasnt out in Kitz that week, but arrived on the Sunday after you departed, and there was another dump of snow throughout the Alps and the skiing was amazing.
I skiied the Ski Welt later on in March and could still ski down into Ellmau, though at 4 o`clock it was as to be expected.
There is this continual falacy that lower resorts mean less snow. Id say its more to do with the direction the slopes are facing. For example the run back into Brixen from the North is always losing its snow, whereas on the other side coming down from Westendorf is open right to the end of the season. Same temperatures, same height change.
Im glad you prefered Kirchberg, though there are more bars than the Londoner which honestly is now a bit dated and is stuck in an 80s timewarp. People go there I think because of the Londener in Kitzbuhel, but are actually nothing to do with each other, and is usually full of Dutch more so than Brits.
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jafa, the temperatures were pretty high in most places, so I'm sure other resorts were also having trouble unless they were north facing (why we spent more time in the Ski Welt) or higher, or both.
I suspect however that none of them were reporting powder all week 
Lower resorts and less snow are not inextricably linked, but if the temperature in the valley at 800m is 10 degrees, slopes at 1800m will on average be 6.5 degrees colder, and those at 2800m will be 13 degrees colder given similar aspects. So the chances are that the slope at 1800m is soft and slushy while the slope at 2800m is crispy, so lower resorts are more likely to mean worse snow. Snow quantity and retention are different matters, but that's also dependent on microclimates, wind, aspect, etc.
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ousekjarr, sounds like you had some bad luck with the temperatures, though from your pictures I would say you didn't have any problems with lack of snow. Of the two resorts Kitz & Ski Welt I actually prefer Kitz. Under normal circumstances you get some really great off piste runs off Ehrenbachhöhe and Pengelstein all the way down to the valley. Not necessarily butt clenching stuff, but nice. Like jafa said we had some amazing dumps later on this year. You were just unlucky.
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Steilhang, I agree we were unlucky with the weather. However, if it had been better I'd still have been disappointed by the uphill sections and the boring roadways, but no doubt some of the off-piste would have made up for it a bit.
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FAQ
