Early April, Ischgl, Lech or a better idea ?

A snowHead

Welcome any thoughts. Have done April trips to Obergurgl twice (2010 and 2012), and Stuben once (2011).

Preferred the snow conditions in Obergurgl -Stuben was warm (17 degrees at resort level when we arrived) and found snow very soft by 11 am.

Want to try somewhere new, considering Ischgl or Lech (or other suggestions). Intuitively prefer Lech (dad and 11 year old so no need for mad Apres) but worried by various comments re sunny slopes and lack of north facing pistes.

Both energetic intermediates. 4 day break only so short transfer an advantage.

Don't mind downloading at the end of the day.

Any ideas and hotel suggestions welcome.

A snowHead

Early April should be fine. Would be very surprised if you had to download at the end of the day in either resort. Of course you can't tell what the weather will be like in the Alps in April, but even in Warm Springs I've had no problems with snow quality in either resort even mid April or indeed early May in Ischgl. obviously it's spring skiing, but all the nicer for it.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Blastfromthepast, Ischgl is the better bet of the two with more of the skiing at a higher altitude and it's more set up to downride the gondolas if you need to.

I stay in the Feriengluck hotel which is well located and reasonably priced but short breaks aren't always easy to book at anything other than short notice

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We have booked to go to St Anton for mid April. We are obviously keeping our fingers crossed, but previous years have been good for that time of year.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks all

Quotes for nice Ischgl hotels coming out quite pricey but hey, you can't take it with you...

Have come across Warth as an option -apparently snowey and north facing which I can see is helpful (and an attribute of Iscghl, less so Lech)

Is the road from Lech to Warth likely to be open in April ? If it is Warth may provide a base to get the best of all world.

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Blastfromthepast, The road is closed in winter. Next year Lech and Warth will likely be connected by the gondola. Worth waiting Wink

Ischgl is quite busy as it is high - might be expensive for less than a week accommodation but that will only say that the snow is good even late in the season.
You could check Serfaus as well, big and modern but again lower terrain might suffer as it is south facing.

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As much as I love St Anton and the Arlberg area my money would be on Ischgl if you wanted to hedge your bets. The end of March last year it was really warm-as high as mid 20's in the town by afternoon, but then I believe there was a decent dump the week after which was the first week of April.

The pistes were in great nick though, and only the lower pistes were moguled up on the main home runs by the end of the day and were a bit of a challenge to the less experienced in our group, Lech seemed no better given less traffic just typical spring conditions all around really.

After all it is free

Still mulling this over. Hochsolden now on the short list as we don't need apres ski. Most skiing high and glaciers too, but south facing. No need to ski to Solden base station as this would be very patchy I'm sure. Any views welcome. Not sure whether 1000m additional height relative to Warth compensates for the slope orientation ?

Are you particularly set on Austria? There are quite a few other options in both France and Switzerland which are relatively snow sure for that time of year as well?

Also given you haven't booked now why not hang on until closer to the time so you can find out what snow conditions are like in the different resorts?

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Blastfromthepast, Have you considered the Stubai Valley in Austria. You can fly into Innsbruck and the main villages of Neustift and Fulpmes are only some 30/40 minutes away by public transport or 25 minutes by taxi. The stubai glacier has some 120 km of pistes for all abilities right up to itinerary routes and some very good off piste. There is also a smaller ski-ing area called Schlick 2000 just outside Fulpmes reachable by a 5 minute ski bus ride. The snow in this area is always good in April and comparable to both Ischgl and St Anton ( I speak from experience). The bonus here is the short transfer if you are on a short break when every half hour counts. There is a vast array of accommodation for all budgets but not attracting the premium prices of the more big name resorts.

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NickyJ, flights booked to Innsbruck but can certainly wait till nearer the time. Will have a squiz at Neustift

Aha missed that bit.

You know it makes sense.

Lech definitely wasn't a slushfest last Easter.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Wouldn't go for warth. No snowmaking, which means late season it can be sketchy. I would go fur Zurs: snow up there is typically in best nick in the arlberg in April. Was there 2 years ago in v late April after a bad season and the snow (which was man made) was v good.

ischgl is a safe bet but soulless. St Anton is a bit risky: schindler will be fine but the rest may not be. Hintertux is also excellent:best glacier in Europe in my view, and some good non glacial terrain with snowmaking.

w94.

A snowHead

A snowHead

You could try Samnaun for the Ischgl ski area. Download in the world's only double-decker cable car! Quieter, smaller and more spread out than Ischgl but we liked it for weekends when living in Munich. It's an interesting duty-free 'enclave' of Swtizerland There's one road in and out of it from the Swiss side but the main road in is via Austria.

You could also have a look at Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis and I'd add a thumbs up for Hintertux.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Both areas you can ski to town until last day of the season.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I have been to St Anton twice right at the end of the season (first weekend in April) and it is okay in the morning high up but after lunch we are talking wet and slushy moguls, went to Lech both times and the same was true, above middle station in the morning good but after lunch soft and slushy. This is spring skiing though and have experienced the same in Val D and Val T at Easter. Have been to Stubai 3 times in April and conditions were much better here. The queues at the middle station to get to the bottom were horrendous though as the ski route to the bottom was closed. Not sure if this has improved as we haven't been to Stubai for a good few years now. I have also been to Obergurgl and given the choice I would probably go for Obergurgl as it is a tad higher and has mainly north facing slopes. Somewhere I haven't been is Solden, this may be an option? Have been to Ischgl once in December, it is a great ski area but not sure what it would be like in April, probably similar to St Anton and Lech.

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Blastfromthepast, The front face of Stuben was excellent early April 2012, and at Zurs Madloch and Trittkopf were even better! Late season dump meant soft stuff all over. Lots of very decent snow cover in Lech even at April, skied there the past half dozen Easter hols, only issue is the lower slopes are made of slush-puppy! Best bit about Lech ............. Strolz's end of season sale bargains!
Funnily enough I'm considering Warth this April.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

Hotel Sonne in Ischgl now booked. Think will try Warth next winter with the younger son and once Lech link in place. Any top tips for Ischgl welcome. Thanks as always for all the useful advice.

Been lots of times including last week. Best lift for your location is the Fimbabahn, accessed through the Dorf tunnel. What else would you like to know?

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Blastfromthepast, have done both Lech and Ischgl in April and would say you definitely made the right choice. If its warm and sunny ski the Samnaun facing slopes in the morning and when they slush up a bit head back over to the Idalp facing side of the mountain.

Pretty much everything should be open at that time as they don't close till 1 May this year.

The only thing everyone points out about Ischgl is that the runs down to the town are a bit tough, personally I think they're some of the best runs on the mountain. Assuming you're both solid intermediates you'll have no problems, they can be bit busy at 4pm but which resort isn't. The only section that is definitely sketchy is the last 200m or so of each run, they're steep, crowded and into the main part of town at least, pretty narrow. Again as long as you're both solid intermediates and you watch out for the odd lunatic you'll be fine.

Ischgl is a great resort, you can easily miss the apres ski if you want but standing outside Trofana Alm in the sun at 4pm for a quick beer / coke would be fun for both of you, its amusing watching the German apres singing rather than bawdy or too drunken, that's reserved for the Schatzi.

Help!!

Early April, Ischgl, Lech or a better idea ?

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