 Poster: A snowHead
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doing a sunday to friday trip from nxt sun to research our group trip for 2014. ya I know its tuff work but someone has to do it :-D
looking at 3 resorts mentioned. flying into memmingen but not sure where to start ie east or west. our group like the small pretty austrian type resort with half decent sking. decent altitude for good jan snow and 100km is prob just enough for us. is their any of the 3 resorts any snowheads would rule out! dont have alot of time and we are prob going to regret too much traveling around and not enough sking. cheap resort prices is also important for our group as we are all a bit tight these days to put it mildly. if you were to pick just 1 or 2 of the 3 which would you go for?
all opinions appreciated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Resort prices in Ski Amade region of which Kleinarl is part of are supposed to be very reasonable. If you want around 100km or so of slopes then you may want to stay in nearby Flachau or Wagrain from where it will be a bit easier to access the slopes on both the Wagrain and Flachau mountains. You can also easily access slopes at ALpendorf, Zauchensee, Kleinarl and Flachauwinkl.
I think prices in Alpbach are also supposed to be quite reasonable and you can now connect to nearby Niederau ski area.
Montafon prices maybe a bit higher than the other two resorts though I'm only basing this on hotel prices. Gaschurn is a small village though its supposed to be quite nice
However all said and done, the MOntafon region will be the easiest place to get to from Memmingen.
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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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garc, Alpbach fits your criteria... I've no idea about the other two places you mention, I haven't been to either of them.
Sorry I can't be more help!
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jimmybog, SaraJ, thank you. had looked at Wagrain but was worried that it is very low. Alpbach and Kleinarl are both about 1000m. I know its only approx 200m of a difference but every little bit helps. looks like we are going to try to have a trip to all three as we just cant make up our minds.
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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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garc, Forget the heights for goodness sakes, it is only relevant in resorts that are influenced by maritime weather systems. I've been skiing Wagrain for well over 20 years and never had a problem, even in some of the most disastrous snow years elsewhere! As you are looking at going in January, any doubts about height are largely irrelevant.
Kleinarl is very quiet and unspoilt, it is powder heaven in the right weather. It is also difficult in bad weather as the tree runs are lower down and the higher link over to Flachauwinkel can be difficult to negotiate in bad vis. Wagrain has a huge amount of treeline skiing all the way over to St Johann-Alpendorf in one direction and easily to Zauchensee in the other. It is the home village of the greatest female skier of all time, Annemarie Moser-Pröll and coffe/tea and cake at Cafe Annemarie is obligatory. The cakes are lovely and the medals, crystal globes and memorabilia of her racing career in the 1970s and 1980s is well worth a visit.
Gaschurns is by far the easiest to get to from Memmingen. Take a look at the Silvetta Nova/Montafon area of which Gaschurns is one part. Nice villages, plenty of skiing for all abilities and really modern infrastructure. It has a really good snow record as well.
Alpbach is beautiful, no two ways about it. It wins the prettiest village in Austria/Tirol on a regular basis. However to benefit most from the skiing you will need to stay in Inneralpbach rather than Alpbach village. The new link over to Auffach will be completed this summer, allowing you to ski all the way down from Schatzberg to Inneralpbach. At the moment you can only ski halfway down and then download to the Inneralpbach slopes.
There you are! I have skied all these areas and each has its own charm and foibles. I like all of them and will continue to ski them for as long as I can.
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Sue. thank you very much for the great info. not your first time giving me some great austria tips. I always read your posts with great interest as we are major Austria fans and have been holidaying there for abt 15 years, 20+ trips. you should consider writing an Austria holiday guide!
We usually go for the small satellite villages with ski links to the bigger resorts, ie Lanersbach for Mayrhofen, Kappl for Ischgl, both fantastic resorts with great sking and nice atmosphere and also really cheap. as long as there are 2-3 half decent bars/ retaurants we are happy. we are a bit lazy as well and try to do ski in ski out accom. I read somewhere you have to get a bus to the slopes in Wagrain .is this correct? cant get any info re Kleinarl night life and you say its v quite. dose this mean its totally dead? ie nothing open after 11! re alpbach is it as snow sure as the ski amade region. finally in thanks I would like to buy you a few drinks so if you are in any of the above resorts nxt week pls let me know. if not and you have a regular local anywhere I can put a few quid behind the bar for the next time you are around
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dose this mean its totally dead? ie nothing open after 11!
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"totally dead" surely means nothing open even before 11. 
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garc, to be honest, I think you will be hard-pressed to find anything open after 9pm in Kleinarl, maybe a couple of the hotel bars but that is about it. That is what is so delightful about the place, it is completely unspoilt and somewhat left behind from the rest of the world, so the pace of life is more 19th than 21st century. There are buses to and from the Graffenberg lifts up to Kleinarl during the day, but it really helps to have your own transport. It is the type of place I go to when I really want a rest as it is a really trannquil little village that also just "happens" to be connected to a buzzing ski area, but they do not let the "buzz" interfere with their way of life. I often go there in summer as well as it has outstanding walking trails and is so quiet.
If you want a wee bit of evening life, then I would advise you to look at staying in Wagrain itself or one of its dormitory areas. Moadörfl for example has 2 excellent bars for early Apres but not a lot else I'm afraid. Wagrain has several good bars and restaurants but does not go overboard in the way that some places do. The apres is concentrated around the base stations of the two big lift system (Flying Mozart and Graffenberg lifts) and there is good craic especially when the Scandinavians are in town.
All of these resorts are more than snow-sure due to the investment in quality snow-making systems which are expertly used in the pre-season and whenever it is suitable during the season to build and then maintain a quality base on the pistes. I was skiing in Flachauwinkel yesterday in 15°C or even warmer temperatures. Yes it was wet and heavy (not my favourite conditions at all with two totally fooked knees) but it was fun, there was no sign of the base breaking down even at the lowest levels and it will have been groomed to perfection and frozen again overnight! Times when the first sunny days before Easter spelt the end of skiing for a resort are pretty well over as far as Austria is concerned. They have invested money in the infrastructure to ensure the season lasts to Easter if not beyond even in the worst snow-drought years.
If you do end up in an area near me and I'm not working, for sure we can meet up and have a beer. I will also show you around as it is not illegal over here!
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