 Poster: A snowHead
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In your experience which ski resorts have the worst acces/most difficult/scary access roads in deep winter.
Here's a few that spring to mind.
Hochkar, Lower Austria often has a requirement for all non-4WD cars to put snow chains on. It has a few drops and the road is narrow in places, plus kamikaze buses drive up and down.
Obertauern, Austria isn't so much winding roads as a gradual incline. Some side roads coming off the main resort road are steep.
Sölden, Austria - has winding switchbacks up to the resort.
Lech - coming from the west (St Anton) is often totally closed although I suspect this is more down to avalanche danger than cars getting stuck.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not a ski resort, but the worst conditions I've come across have been trying to drive to my gf's grandfather's house, up in the hills behing Nussdorf am Attersee. Even going under 10km/h, the car was barely controllable on the downs, nearly crashed into a very expensive Merc (should probably have put the chains on lol). Been similar conditions the 3 times I've been there...
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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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Having been up them (and having spun all over the place on the way up to Obertauern in a blizzard) none of those really come close to the roads up to places like Cardrona, Treble Cone or Mount Hutt in NZ. Dirt trails often muddy, icy, snowy, narrow and with vertiginous and unprotected drops.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Sat 1-12-12 22:55; edited 2 times in total
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Some dodgy sections on the way up to Sierra Nevada.
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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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nozawaonsen, +1. the road to tignes, not so much the road but the other drivers.
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| Ricklovesthepowder wrote: |
| Some dodgy sections on the way up to Sierra Nevada. |
Spain or USA?
nozawaonsen, YEEK!
| waynos wrote: |
| nozawaonsen, +1. the road to tignes, not so much the road but the other drivers. |
+1 on that!
Cairngorm ski road aint great either, especially when stuck behind folk who seem to think that the merest hint of snow means they have to drive in slow motion whilst hitting the brakes every time they see a corner or for that matter anything else like a tree, a rock, a snowflake or... well you get the idea! Invariably they get stuck or the people behind them get stuck as a result if there's any ice on the road and the whole thing grinds to a halt, nightmare especially when you're on your daily commute lol 
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| Quote: |
none of those really come close to the roads up to places like Cardrona, Treble Cone or Mount Hutt in NZ. Dirt trails often muddy, icy, snowy, narrow and with vertiginous and unprotected drops.
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I've not done those, but some of my family have, and they say the same - far worse than anything in Europe. No wonder NZ has such a bad road accident death rate. 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| nozawaonsen wrote: |
| http://youtube.com/v/WX0x_Q3fcDg |
 a duck!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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This was my worst...
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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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M20 near Maidstone!
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Re European 'mainstream' resorts I thought the road up the Oetz valley to Hochgurgl was bad. Despite having snowchains on I still spun the car round on the final leg. Luckily no damage was done.
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You know it makes sense.
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The road up to Zinal is a bit hair-raising.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| clarky999 wrote: |
| Not a ski resort, but the worst conditions I've come across have been trying to drive to my gf's grandfather's house, up in the hills behing Nussdorf am Attersee. Even going under 10km/h, the car was barely controllable on the downs, nearly crashed into a very expensive Merc (should probably have put the chains on lol). Been similar conditions the 3 times I've been there... |
Funny enough I was there this summer and thought that in winter the roads around there would be a challenge.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Love mountain roads. Even better in summer on a motorbike... 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| DB wrote: |
| clarky999 wrote: |
| Not a ski resort, but the worst conditions I've come across have been trying to drive to my gf's grandfather's house, up in the hills behing Nussdorf am Attersee. Even going under 10km/h, the car was barely controllable on the downs, nearly crashed into a very expensive Merc (should probably have put the chains on lol). Been similar conditions the 3 times I've been there... |
Funny enough I was there this summer and thought that in winter the roads around there would be a challenge. |
Classy part of the country.
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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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Water was a bit cold in summer though (no prizes for size).
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Boredsurfing wrote: |
| This was my worst... |
But at least you can see!
I came over the Bernina Pass last winter in early January in heavy snow. The snowploughs were doing wonders trying to keep the road open, but the cornices overhanging the road showed it was a challenge. I had winter tyres on, so grip wasn't really a big issue, but overtaking a snowplough when you can't see past it due to the snow was a bit hair-raising. And then when we got to the top is was even worse: snowing and blowing so hard I couldn't see beyond the front of the bonnet. Only thing I could see (due to the contrast) was the roadside snow-poles, and I just had to pick a line down the middle of these and hope I stayed on the road. I was really glad when we got down a bit lower and other vehicles started to be visible to allow me to work out where the road was going. Various route planner showed me the trip from Bormio to Innsbruck should have taken about 3 hours by that route: it took use nearly 9!
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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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| nozawaonsen wrote: |
| http://youtube.com/v/WX0x_Q3fcDg |
Classic, I bet the drivers cheeks were tighter than a camel's bottom in a sandstorm.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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roga, Spain.
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^ aha, different continent that'll be why I remember it as okay 
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nozawaonsen, The bus driver was crazy to keep going, he had it stopped, should have stayed put or stuck some chains on. Seriously dangerous. 
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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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| Quote: |
overtaking a snowplough when you can't see past it due to the snow was a bit hair-raising
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that's prohibited in France.
I enjoy, in a masochistic kind of way, climbing behind a snowplough in the dark, with the orange light flashing. It means it's snowing! 
A transfer bus between Kapaonik and Nis did that with us in it, some years ago when it was still Yugoslavia. Bus did very long and very scary skid, ending up across the road with rear end overhanging a ginormous drop. Driver started up, slid slightly further back.... scared murmurings from the passengers. The stupid rep stood up and told us to stay in our seats. I stood up and said that I thought we should all get out, starting with the kids who were all massed in the back seats, as usual. This suggestion got overwhelming support so we went and stood well off the road, in deep snow and I sent a couple of folk up, and down, the road, to flag down oncoming traffic before the next murderous Serbian driver sent the whole caboodle over the edge. It was one of those times when ones British wish to keep quiet and do as told and not make a scene was overcome by a deep feeling of alarm! There was an enormous 3 inch thick slab of sheer ice broken away, under the wheels of the bus.
After the bus got going, a little girl about 5 years old wanted to pee. The driver very grumpily stopped in a small and very dilapidated town and the poor little thing got bitten by a dog on the way back to the bus. Not a good journey. A dangerous road, covered in ice, combined with mindless driving. The driver had been going much too fast - in fact I had already asked the rep to ask him to slow down, before the big skid.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Get out early before the ploughs and punters, get a bow wave going and blast up the hill road - almost as much fun as the days skiing!
(This from a man who followed a plough into a field during a blizzard late one night! (But redeemed myself later that same night by pulling the busy's pandacar out of a ditch - eventful night that was!)
Deer make for added fun/terror on the ski road up to cairngorm
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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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| Quote: |
This from a man who followed a plough into a field during a blizzard late one night!
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barry, 
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Wengen. We don't even have a road!
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You know it makes sense.
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| DB wrote: |
Obertauern, Austria isn't so much winding roads as a gradual incline. Some side roads coming off the main resort road are steep.
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I've driven that road many times - the buses certainly do approach it in a novel fashion. The trick, of course, is to turn off before you get to Obertauern and skin up to Sudwienerhutte for a spot of lunch and a few circuits off the top ridge 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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zammo,
| Quote: |
I've driven that road many times - the buses certainly do approach it in a novel fashion. The trick, of course, is to turn off before you get to Obertauern and skin up to Sudwienerhutte for a spot of lunch and a few circuits off the top ridge
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Nah... the real trick is to turn off before that and stay at my gaff in Radstadt!
I love the road access to Flachauwinkl... straight off the sliproad of the A10 and into the car-park!
http://goo.gl/maps/1Xtye
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Poster: A snowHead
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Someones already mentioned the remarkables in NZ ski road, sheer drops, no armco, road not tarmac'ed (at least it wasn't when I was last there). Going up in the resort bus sometimes the edge of the road disappeared as it went round hairpins as it was pretty narrow in places too.
Scariest moment I've seen on a ski area access road was following a coach full of kids down the hill (we'd been teaching them that day) in a little resort in the ziller valley, Austria. The braking system on the coach failed totally and it went straight on at a hairpin taking out a rubbish collection chalet style building on the corner and ending up half off the road a la 'the italian job' film!
As the coach went off the edge I had visions of trying to pull bodies out of the wreckage.
No-one hurt apart from the driver who suffered cuts from the smashed windscreen, but lots of very scared kids, some of whom were literally throwing up with fright, poor sods.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
As the coach went off the edge I had visions of trying to pull bodies out of the wreckage.
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I can just imagine - it flashes through the head, doesn't it. They were lucky.
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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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Having driven up to quite a few of the NZ resorts (including some of the club fields) nowhere in Europe even registers on the scare-ometer!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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nozawaonsen,
The guy in the first clip was lucky that truck was there to save him sliding. Do they have to put winter tyres on in New Zealand?
The second clip voice over sounds like Sylvester stallone.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| flangesax wrote: |
zammo,
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I've driven that road many times - the buses certainly do approach it in a novel fashion. The trick, of course, is to turn off before you get to Obertauern and skin up to Sudwienerhutte for a spot of lunch and a few circuits off the top ridge
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Nah... the real trick is to turn off before that and stay at my gaff in Radstadt!
I love the road access to Flachauwinkl... straight off the sliproad of the A10 and into the car-park!
http://goo.gl/maps/1Xtye |
That carpark has got to be the closest lift carpark to a motorway, surely! Although I tend to ride Zauchensee, it's the easiest access ever.
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DB, Winter tyres not required in NZ but it is compulsory to carry chains on the roads to most resorts and compulsory to fit them when told. Lots of idiots who think the 4wd make them invincible.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I vote for Mt olympus, drove it in a 1980 Subie with dubious tyres and only chains on the front.
A bit hair raising to say the least.
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Leukerbad. Plainly scary. Even minor accident is likely to be fatal. On the way there it was snowing and it was dark, but on the way back it was still a daylight and it was the longest bus journey in my life, over a big vertical drop for the most part of it. I thought it would never end.
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