 Poster: A snowHead
|
Taking our annual snow holiday 16.02.2013 to 23.02.2013 at Bad Gastein, Austria.
General review
We have a kind of time share (points), where this resort is covered. This was the first time we've visited Bad Gastein. The journey (from Basel, Switzerland), was, as usual horrendous. The GPS is so optimistic - leaving at 8am, we should arrive at 3pm. However, knowing how the traffic is, I wasn't surprised that it took us 10 hours. The main problem was the München->Innsbruck traffic. Once past that junction, it was ok.
We were staying at the Mondi Bellevue hotel. A very nice hotel, with a reasonable spa with (nude) sauna and steam room. Good for getting the post-ski aches out. Wifi is available in the room at €25. My employer pays for this, but it's still crazy, in my view. Wifi should be provided free. The €49 a night hotel down the road manages it, so the €200 a night hotel should be able to. Decent rooms though, and a spacious ski room. Car parking is free, reasonably secure, and not too far away.
Sunday, we trudged up the hill with our stuff and skied from about 11-3. We got to the ticket queue at about 9:45. I bought a 5/7, then we had a student 6, a youth 5/7 and a child 6 day card. My wife skied on day cards. It was a sunny day and the pistes were very crowded. Icy patches on most slopes. After skiing, we bought 5 days snowboard instruction for my youngest daughter, and hired a snowboard and boots for her. Getting to the valley lift was a pain, so after this, we would bring the car to the entrance of the skiroom, load up, and park in the (free) ski lift car park. We're early skiers, so getting there for 8:30 there were plenty of spaces available.
The best run is the H1/H2 from Schlossalm. Apparently the longest run in the Eastern Alps, somewhat over 10km. Unfortunately, the lift to the summit was closed when we were there, due to high winds. But we still did the H2, and that was the best skiing of the week. Tuesday night there were heavy falls of snow, which left some great powder - though Wednesday was very foggy at the top.
However, despite the new snow, the slopes were not well groomed - even early in the morning there were many icy patchs, and the valley run remained closed all week. At no time in the week did we see a snow-cat repairing the slopes during the day.
It all goes horribly wrong
Thursday I was sick, and foolishly and against the T&C suggested my wife take my pass - on which two days still remained. Hidden in http://www.skigastein.com/ you can find in the T&Cs that
a) passes are not transferrable (not uncommon, not a surprise - but hey, it wasn't as though the day would have otherwise been used. And those of us with kids know that husband/wife lift pass swapping goes on a lot)
b) misuse results in a fine of €50-€200, requires purchase of a new card, and the old card will be confiscated, and the bearer barred from the facilities.
c) photographs are taken at some ski lifts, linking jacket/helmet/scarf to a card.
And yes, my wife being somewhat smaller than me got caught by point c), as she was compared with a photo of me at the same place the day before.
Now, I hasten to add, that this was entirely culpable on our part. We done wrong. Mea culpa. Cough up the fine, lose the card etc. But a few thoughts:
* When the kids were younger, my wife was custodian of the lift passes. She took them in each day, and dished them out. It would have been entirely possible for our passes to be switched - me sking on hers and she on mine.
* My son and other daughter, being roughly the same size, often swap helmets and skis - would they be picked up for using the wrong ticket.
* The penalty for sharing seems to me disproportionate to the offence. I would have thought that the purpose of the penalty would be to make sure that people don't do it again - not to make sure they never come back to the resort again.
* There is no mention outside of the T&C that photographic surveillance is used to identify lift pass abusers
* As an exercise, try to find the T&C in http://www.skigastein.com Double credit if you can find them in English. I found both, but subsequently can't find them again! Of course, you could ask at the ticket office, when there's a queue of a hundred people behind you...
* If you want to share, be of similar build, wear similar clothes, and keep your face covered
It gets worse
Friday, my wife didn't want to ski, and I really couldn't be bothered to shell out for day card, considering the state of the slopes. Our two skiing kids were going to go in the afternoon and ski around their little sister having her last snowboard lessons. So we walked her up, she spotted one of her class, and we walked back to our hotel. Half way back, we got an SMS - no instructor. So we went back. I went to the offices of "Ski- und Snowboardschule Kinderskischule Bad Gastein", to be told that they didn't have an instructor, that as 4 days instruction costs the same as 5, that was it. No refund. Tough. My daughter was in tears, as she was really looking forward to learning some new stuff, having got to the point where she could safely get down a red, with turns. (I check the T&C, and they say that they can cut short instruction if there are not enough students. Compare and contrast with Steibis, were after four days instruction, the instructor said we could have a fifth day with him if we wanted, as he got paid the same regardless, and he enjoyed being with us).
After a quick family discussion, we decided that we no longer wished to be in Bad Gastein, and for the first time in twenty years, we cut short our holiday, and went home a day early. At least the return journey only took 8 hours (bad Friday traffic around Zürich).
We were initially happy to have found a place we could come back to in the coming years, and maybe bring friends. That's not going to happen now. Sure, some of the bad experience is my own fault - I accept that. But the draconian policies, and the attitude of the staff - my advice is: give it a miss.
Summary
1. Some interesting, good runs, but in general the slopes not very well maintained
2. No interest in customer service from the schools or the people running the resort
3. Un-publicised big brother surveillance
4. A big resort attempting to gouge as much money out of the tourists as possible.
Avoid.
Edit:addendum. The slopes were at times horrendously crowded. My son says he's never seen so many falls; these he attributes to the crowding. The cause is too much lift capacity in relation to the slope area. Further evidence of the drive to get as much cash out of people as possible to the detriment of customers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Lots of interesting discussion points, some may require popcorn.
Lets start with -Is it a good or bad thing that the resort doesn't send out snow cats onto the piste during a peak week?
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Frosty the Snowman, Or why can't we use one ski pass for 2 people?  Pass the popcorn!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
That's not the full terms and conditions. Search harder! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Salted or sugared? I prefer salted, but then you have to buy more coke to go with it.
| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
Lots of interesting discussion points, some may require popcorn.
Lets start with -Is it a good or bad thing that the resort doesn't send out snow cats onto the piste during a peak week? |
A balance. I wouldn't have expected them all over the place, but during the less busy times, yes. I generally ski peak season, and at other resorts (Les arcs, Engelberg, Leysin, Leukerbad and the Porte de Soleil), I've seen cats out and about when the piste is in bad condition. Part of the problem is that even overnight, the preparation was slipshod - just the top two inches, no real churning, no breaking up the ice layer caused by day melt.
| Samerberg Sue wrote: |
| Frosty the Snowman, Or why can't we use one ski pass for 2 people? Pass the popcorn! |
You can at some resorts. I had a 5/7. At Engelberg, this is transferable between two people, but only one person per day. Obviously in future I'll read the terms and conditions. Thankfully my German and French is good, so I'll be able to pick up on any nuances that monoglots will miss. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NotAllThere, For a trilinguist, your knowledge as well as your manners leave lots to be desired.
Fast jede hier weißt dass man hat gar keinen Rechte, weil die Bergbahnen halten alle Rechte für sich bei. Es steht klip und klar nicht nür im die AGs aber auch auf die Pistepläne. Vielleicht haben Sie es übersehen in ihren Eile auf die Pisten zu sein?
Wäre es nicht besser wenn man die Kleingedrucke lesen möchten, dass man die Lesebrille aufsetzen lassen!
You should not make assumptions ever in this life, especially when you obviously have no real idea. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Sue, thank-you so much for your kind words of welcome. It's nice to be greeted by such friendly locals, especially with a lecture on manners! Would it help if I labelled certain portions as "irony" or "sarcasm"?
Here's a rough translation for the rest: Everyone hear knows that the customer has barely any rights, because the resort operators hold all the rights to themselves. It is clearly stated everywhere and on the piste maps. Perhaps you missed it in your haste to get on the slopes? Wouldn't it be better to put on your reading glasses if you want to read the fine print? Btw, it's Kleingedruckte... but I assume that was a typo.
| Quote: |
You should not make assumptions ever in this life, especially when you obviously have no real idea
|
Mmm. Yes. You really shouldn't. <--- sarcasm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why, thank-you Piccadilly. It's probably just a little Austrian/Swiss rivalry  I'm a member of many forums, and even moderate a couple, so I know it takes all sorts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
What's trilingualism go to do with knowledge or manners?
NotAllThere, I did try harder and still can't find it - you win!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Prices and Times->Skipass calculator->choose any ticket price and click on "calculate prices"->click on Terms and Conditions. Now there is a page with two links at the bottom. One of which gives you the full terms and conditions. The difference to the page you saw earlier, is that these are on the skiamade.com domain http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter/skiresorts/fee-season_dates/conditions. The T&Cs on skigastein.com are almost identical, but without a link to the full text.
This is the only route I've found. There may be others. It does show - they've not made it easy to find. I must say though I suspect incompetence rather than conspiracy is causing this!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
| Kersh wrote: |
...Has to be said, I've shared a lift pass with my wife over the last few years since we started a family as it was impossible to ski together. I'm out there in a couple of weeks and we'll be buying a pass each on this evidence  .. |
I'm very glad that my experience has prevented someone else having a nasty shock.
Beware of the snowboard/ski-school.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| Quote: |
photographs are taken at some ski lifts, linking jacket/helmet/scarf to a card
|
This is a bit worrying. I have more than one jacket as do a lot of people. I wear a helmet but lots of people don't. What if i go out on a cold day in a heavy jacket, scarf, goggles and beanie, and the next day, being warmer, in a light jacket, sunglasses and no hat? Is it up to me to prove I am the same person?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
I was also in BG last week, staying at the same hotel. I had a slightly different experience...
I also coughed up the €25 for internet, but even then its not wifi. I'd read on tripadvisor that a network cable was needed so took one and then managed to set up a wifi access point on my mac so the kids could use it for their wifi stuff.
I did see the signs at the main lifts listing the penalties for lift pass swapping, but thought it was a little hollow as I couldn't see how they'd catch you - no name or photo on the pass. Surprised to find they're comparing photos!
Didn't use the school.
I didn't venture up the mountain until the Tuesday as I was learning to snowboard on the run at the bottom to the left of the main lift. This run was shockingly hard in the morning for a raw snowboarders butt to fall on. I don't see why so many good skiiers feel the need to go up what is obviously the nursery slope and bomb down it first thing in the morning. We took Wednesday off as the visibility up top looked awful and I was losing the will to live (falling so much on my butt).
Thursday and Friday were fantastic, we travelled all over the mountain - down to Bad Hofgastein and the H1, H2 runs. I couldn't believe how quiet it was for half term. Had no problems on piste, or getting a table at a restaurant which is fantastic.
I really liked BG. Granted I may find the skiing a bit limited but as I was snowboarding it wasn't an issue. Hotel was excellent and the town was jumping especially on Friday as the as the Red Bull Playstreets heats were on.
Oh, and when I checked out they didn't charge for the internet 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
The two rooms I had booked both had WiFi. Though I only paid for it once - personal access, not shared . The bandwidth was sufficient for my requirements. I had a long 0800 call, and noted that this wasn't charged to my bill (some hotels do this, so you have to be careful).
Wednesday the visibility was terrible, so you didn't miss much there - though the fresh powder was wonderful. The pistes, as noted, were not good. The best skiing was on H2 - I did that Tuesday. H1 was closed because the wind was up to 30km/h. I'll admit around that area there weren't so many skiers. As ever, the further away from anything with a blue, the better. (That's why I like Leukerbad - it has a valley run marked black; it isn't so difficult, but it does keep people off it, so it remains in good condition all day).
In Bad Gastein's favour I've received a reply to my complaint to them. Not that it addresses any of my concerns, but it's better than silence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
Shame you had a bad experience. I found it good compared to a lot of places, but I've always been a bit unlucky with family trips. Last year we went to Verbier but were snowed in at the Thyon end of the resort with only a couple of runs open for the whole week. I shoud have learned to snowboard then. I've had so many bad experiences with various ski schools I've given up on them. My kids can all ski well enough to take on most things and I don't think they've learned very much from standing around freezing waiting for pant wetters and cry babies to be dealt with.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
. He made a mistake which he has acknowledged, and his child missed out on a day's instruction which they had paid for which upset her.
) Also, all the people who stay at our apartment always say they can't believe how quiet the pistes are compared to other resorts they've visited (albeit I don't know where they've been before). Mid Feb is 