 Poster: A snowHead
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I thought I'd post a bit of a review of my past week in St Anton, given that I've learnt and got so much information and advice from Snowheads.
I took my first ski trip the week before Xmas, 2011 in AdH and have since been completely hooked on skiing. My excitement for skiing did not go unnoticed amongst my group of friends who quickly put my enthusiasm to good use and asked me to arrange this years trip, the week before this Xmas.
So, after much research, I arranged our holiday in May this year, taking a chance on weather but securing a great deal at the Chalet Baren in Nasserein, St Anton, which is run by Ski World.
An early easyJet flight into Innsbruck from Gatwick on 17th December meant we had the chance of squeezing in an extra half a day of skiing if everything worked out well. Transfers were fantastic, around an hour from Airport to St Anton in a small mini van. No waiting around for other flights to come in. Whether that will be the case for the whole season is another matter but it suited us perfectly. We were dropped at the main terminal and met by Ski World reps who arranged for our luggage to be taxied to the Chalet along with us.
Arriving at the Chalet at 1230, which was about half full for their first week of operation. 7 from our group and 5 others. The chalet have 3 live in chalet hosts who were fantastic. Great food and they couldn't do enough to help us. One of our friends couldn't make the whole week due to work commitments but joined us later in the week was staying in St Jakob. When we asked the chalet hosts if it was possible to set another place for dinner so he could join us in the evening there was no issue with this. Fantastic service and a credit to Ski World. The rep on the other hand was not so great. Hopefully that was just first weeks nerves and he'll settle into his role as soon as he realises it's a job he's doing and not a ski holiday.
Chalet was cleaned daily, lounge area was cosy and rooms were comfortable, down pillows and duvets. Not all were en suite, but the communal showers and toilets were very clean indeed.
Ski World had told us that we wouldn't be able to pick up rental equipment until at least 1400. Some of the group had their own gear, some had to rent everything so we headed to the small Intersport in Nasserein to chance our luck with renting.
Intersport were fantastic. I think we took them a little by surprise, but those that needed rental equipment were sorted within 30 minutes or so and we were ready to hit the slopes for a few hours extra. New boots and skis for those that needed to rent and the staff were super helpful advising that skis or boots could be exchanged throughout the resort for something else.
We purchased a days pass from the Nasserein Gondola and were advised that what we didn't use would be refunded at the end of the day, so we all stumped up about EUR50. We skied for an extra couple of hours which cost us EUR28.00 in the end.
We also purchased the recovery insurance for the week, EUR15 if I recall.
Now the skiing. I learnt last year in AdH during a week in which it pretty much dumped. Powder on piste every day, although visibility wasn't great. This time round the conditions were pretty much the same, but the snow was absolutely incredible. Some of my group are very experienced skiers and I had the least experience which they were aware of and took into consideration. I decided to ignore the piste colours (as I read on here that they aren't rated as clearly as other resorts) and concentrate on what I'd learnt from previous lessons in the UK and AdH. It wasn't long before everything came flooding back and I were taking all the runs in my stride. I struggled mostly when it was icy, but other than that, held my own within our group and we all skied together for the week.
Favourite runs were Red 37, which one morning was absolutely epic. We were first up there and skied to the bottom of the T bar in probably a foot of powder in areas. Making our way back up we all fell off about a quarter of the way up due to too much powder on the lift run. The lift operators hadn't cleared it that morning. We had to try and climb out of powder that was waist deep. I also enjoyed blue 36, into 20, 23/23a into 1. Great run to cruise along on. I also loved the narrow reds in Stuben. Rendl opened the last two days we were there and played in some great powder just off the edges of the piste, although I struggled to link turns in the deep stuff. It'll be some time I think until I'm good enough to ski well enough off piste.
All in all an absolutely epic week, skied every day from first lift until close, in great weather and bad, epic conditions with a bit of ice and moguls to boot and I feel my skiing really came on. By the end of the week I was seeking out the steeper parts of the runs and having fun using the moguls as mini jumps and challenges.
With regards to Apres ski, I don't drink so this isn't a big part of the holiday for me. The guys took advantage on a couple of nights but mostly we had quiet evenings in. I was in bed by 11pm all nights I think!
So, two weeks down and I really can't get enough. I'd go as far as to say addicted. So much so, I'm off to Bad Gastein in three weeks for another week, hopefully in conditions just as great.
Now I just need to start planning where my next fix after Bad Gastein will be and where I get the money and leave from work from!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Boosterfaceman, sounds like a great trip! 
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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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Great review, getting me in the mood! By the way how did you find nasserein in terms of getting to and from the lifts in the morning? Didyou fever walk down to or back from the town or galzig? Not drinking I suppose it wouldn't be such an obstacle....
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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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8611, we were literally 2 minutes from the Nasserein lift, so got that up every morning and worked our way across from there. There was enough snow cover to ski back to the back of the chalet every evening as well.
There was never a queue at the Nasserein lift, not sure if this was the case with lifts more central.
Not if, but when I go back, I'll definitely stay in Nasserein again. Suited me perfectly, but then I'm not mad on the party side of things.
Enjoy your trip!
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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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As far as Austria goes it does not get better than the Arlberg.
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