 Poster: A snowHead
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My Family (2x43 and 1x13girl) have been skiing for a few years now and always drive down to the French Alps for our 1 week. Wife and Daughter can do Red runs, but this requires an awful lot of coaxing from me and whinging from them until they realise that they are capable!
For this reason, they like long cruisey Blues that most of the posters on these forums would fall asleep on! (They loved La Plagne Blues so much that we went there 4 times!).
We are going over New Year this time, and I am tempted by Austria. Obviously this is a little further to go, so I am thinking that Western Austria is more viable (Saalbach would be too far to drive to/back).
So I'm looking for somewhere with cruisey Blues, that is driveable. I *thought* I had narrowed the options down to Lech and Seefeld.. however I just did a search on both and the threads that I saw made me think that they were too small?
Have I got the right "final 2" choices, or have I missed a gem of a resort?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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you could try Serfaus - Fiss, or Ischgl. both are about the same KM as La plange. And either will give you more than you need for a week.
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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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Saalbach would be too far to drive to/back
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jamescollings, Nah, no prob. For example, Calais-La Plagne is about 610 miles and Dunkirk-Saalbach is 670.
Ischgl would probably be the most cruisy.
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Galtur, is a nice day cruisey day out if you go to Ischgl.
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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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jamescollings, Why on earth would you think Lech is too small? The ski area in the Arlberg is huge. Lech would suit your abilities but is pretty big budget to get accomodation there - cheaper to eat on hill than La Plagne in my experience though. Ischgl would also be a very good option (Kappl being a cheaper base to stay and lovely long runs)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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jamescollings, I'd look more at the time you need to reach the resorts rather than the actual distances. Whilst Western Austria is geographically closer, the drive down is significantly slower, especially at peak times. The central Tirol is much easier to reach as it is served by good quality 3-lane motorways for most of the journey. If you are looking at Seefeld (which is tiny and disjointed) then why not look at Ski Welt or the Zillertal. Timewise they are probably just as easy to reach as Seefeld.
Resorts that fit your requirements and are all within a 10/12 hour drive from the Channel are in addtion to the ones listed by the others here: Ski Welt (Söll, Scheffau and Ellmau on one side - Westerndorf and Brixen im Thale on the other), Saalbach-Hintergelmm, Maria Alm (Hochkönig ski area between Saalfelden and Bischofshofen), Kitzbüheler Alpen region (Kitzbühel St Johann in Tirol and Fieberbrunn), Altenmarkt/Radstadt/Zauchensee part of Ski Amadé (easiest ride of the lot as it is motorway door to door!). Rather than drive on to Lech, I would base myself in Zurs or Stuben then I can easily access all of the Arlberg ski area! Accommodation is relatively cheaper as well than in Lech itself.
Depending on when you want to go you can leave on Friday night, arrive in resort easily in the morning, ski all day then get to your accommodation anytime after 15.00. I used to leave Bristol after work on a Friday and was always in resort by 08.00 on the Saturday. I shared the driving with my husband and any other passengers with a driving license and we all got enough sleep not to be knackered when we actually arrived. Accommodation is usually available from about 14.00 onwards but we wanted to maximise our time on the slopes so we never checked in before 16.00 unless the weather was really naff. 
Are you intending to do it all yourself or are you looking to buy into an accommodation only package?
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Hochgurgl and Obergurgl aren't mentioned often on here, but it's well worth considering here. You can also access Solden from there as well, which is has quite decent blue and red options in it's own right. But Hoch/Obergurgl is virtually all cruisy blues and fairly easy reds. Also at that time of year it's as snow sure as it gets. The only concern would be that both there and Solden are very high with few low level tree lined options, so they aren't particularly good in flat light.
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Thanks for the answers.. one and all. I had assumed that the routes down to Austria were similar to those down to France (ie: quick for the first x00 Km and then a snails pace for the last y00 Km). It is good to get some more knowledable people to help me know what is achievable. I'd read all the threads from this year to try and gauge what the individual resorts were like, but as always there are contradictory messages.
I do all the driving myself (wife and daughter sleep through the night) and since the first day for them is just a taster to get their ski-legs back, then I can easily match them even without sleep for 36 hours! (nothing red on that first day!) The added bonus for going over New Year is that we can leave earlier on the Friday compared to half-term week (since I won't be working till 4pm as normal). I might even get a couple of hours kip.. but breakky in the resort at 9am is always our target. I'll be booking the accommodation seperately, and looking for something with a New Year dinner, since we won't know a soul when we get there.
Thanks again everyone.. This is the latest point in the year that we've ever booked our ski holiday... so whether we find anything other than hovels left, is the challenge!
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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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jamescollings, Nothing small about Lech! Also Ischgl mostly pretty cruisy runs. Also suggest you look at Kitzbuhel, on the whole quite steady through the trees with some challenging stuff for good progression. Echoing what has been said above but Saalbach isn't too far, driving through Germany and into Austria is a much easier, and cheaper option to driving through France, especially if its snowing! Cant comment on the Gurgls or Solden, but they are on my list for upcoming trips.
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jamescollings,
Lech is a great area and not at all small but you are right about booking late. I like booking last minute if possible but New Year is popular in Austria and I have failed to get accommodation in Lech at New Year booking in October. (Went to Galtur that year whcih is small but if you have a car combines well with Ischgl.)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| jamescollings wrote: |
Thanks for the answers.. one and all. I had assumed that the routes down to Austria were similar to those down to France (ie: quick for the first x00 Km and then a snails pace for the last y00 Km). It is good to get some more knowledable people to help me know what is achievable. I'd read all the threads from this year to try and gauge what the individual resorts were like, but as always there are contradictory messages.
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It's worth noting that in Austria most of the resort towns are in the valley and the mountains are accessed by a gondola or similar lift. So in an awful lot of cases the roads to Austrian resorts will be quite flat. A good example is the journey from Innsbruck to Mayrhofen, where you'll travel by motorway for a fair chunk of it, then what is a pretty flat road until it reaches Mayrhofen (it gets a lot steeper if you continue on from Mayrhofen to the Hintertux glacier). There's less than 100m height difference between where you started and where you finish. It's very different from France.
Since Austrian resorts have free car parks next to the main lifts, if you have a car you might wish to consider staying somewhere like Salzburg or Innsbruck and driving to resorts every morning. You'd have an awful lot of choice within about 1 hour of Salzburg or Innsbruck. At a time of the year when conditions can be changeable, it's worth considering.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Wed 12-09-12 16:28; edited 1 time in total
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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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if you have a car you might wish to consider staying somewhere like Salzburg or Innsbruck and driving to resorts every morning. You'd have an awful lot of choice within about 1 hour of Salzburg or Innsbruck. At a time of the year when conditions can be changeable, it's worth considering.
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Completely disagree about staying in Salzburg. The decent resorts (Saalbach/Bad Gastein/Zell am See/Kitzbühel and more) are 1-2 hours away on a good day and could be much less accessible in the middle of winter. Last New Year it was impossible to get in or out of Saalbach for a couple of days due to the snow. Why spend 4 hours a day driving (in the dark at that time of year) when any of the above resorts will give you more than enough fun for a week? Stay in resort and you can have an apres Glühwein or two, accompanied by Euro-cheesey pop music, without needing to bother about driving afterwards.
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quinton,
Completely agree, except for the
I would suggest a Jagertee or two (or three)
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You know it makes sense.
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As an (almost) Austrian alternative, how about Selva (or elsewhere in the Dolomites). It's hard to find a properly challenging run on the Sella Ronda, lots of easy cruising. (But avoid the red off the back of Ciamponoi with nervous skiers, wife used to freak about that slope in the morning).
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