 Poster: A snowHead
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Haven't seen much dedicated to Niederau on these pages, so here's a quick redown of how I found it last week.
Date of Trip: 16th March - 23rd march
Hotel: Alpenland
TO: Neilson
Travellers: Me + 1 (41 & 34 respectively)
After much deliberation I chose Niederau for our ski trip this year, hopefully ticking to boxes of good resort for beginners and inermediates, pretty Austrian and cheap. I had previously over looked this resort due to lack of KMs but since the link to Apbach was interduced this isn't so much of a problem. (You can also get across to Hopfgarten accessing the ski welt region if you need even more variety).
I was still worried that the resort itself wouldn't have enough skiing to renew interest for more than a day, but although there weren't many kms, the runs were long and varied, so I didn't mind going over them a number of times and I managed to add a bit off pisting in as well. We were also lucky that the conditions changed through the week, which added to the variety and it snowed several times, keeping conditions excellent despite the lack of height in the resort.
In fact I would probably class Niederau as better for strong intermediates than tentative ones. While beginners have a great ski school and numerous wide, gentle nursery slopes at village level, there is little by the way of easy reds or long blues to build confidence. The long runs down to village level all contain tough sections, which make them really enjoyable for better skiers but nerve racking for first weekers.
The huge benefit of this resort is the Skijewel lift pass which gives access to Auffach and Alpbach along the valley (15-20 minute scenic free bus journey). Both these areas have higher slopes and more varied runs, which actually make them better for beginers moving off nursery slopes. Don't be put off by the fact you have to travel. The bus journey is short and easy and well worth it. If you catch the 08.43 from the village you will be in Auffach for first gondola and can stay there until 4.30pm, so not missing out on any ski time. It only becomes a problem if you arrange to meet friends back in Niederau for lunch as buses don't go so often through the middle of the day. On a couple of occasions I had to ski like the wind to avoid missing the midday bus and waiting 80 minutes for the next one. On numerous times I heard beginners saying they might go across at the end of the week, as if this was the final aim, but really they should head there much earlier.
So, I would give a big thumbs up to the skiing in all 3 areas and this was my main worry before travelling. The new link to Alpbach works brilliantly and really makes this area. Otherwise, being Austria, there is nothing to worry about. Food and drink is affordable (UK prices in general), although we only found Tyroller Grostl served in one, which was disappointing and the scenery is stunning.
Our hotel was perfectly acceptable, with the benefit of opening out to the nursery slopes. Most hotels in the village are near to a lift of some kind and they all seemed comparatively well priced, but I will leave you to check out trip advisor for the merits of each. We had a good fondue in Hotel Austria and were able to watch the rugby in The Staffler (although wished I hadn't).
Neilson did a pretty good job. We had a hiddeously early flight from Gatwick but being Austria the transfer was short, even from Salzburg which is about double the distance than Innsbruck. The Reps were young and enthusiastic and had a decent range of activities lined up for the evenings. We just stuck to the obligatory bar crawl, which showed off a surprising number of lively bars for a village so small (Dorf Stubl probably our favourite). We stayed clear of the club 18-30s style games though.
To sum up, I would recommend this resort to beginners (with the suggestion of getting on the bus to Affach and taking the gondola to Alpbach as soon as you master the nursery slopes) and intermediates who don't mind a bit of picturesque travelling- for me this is all part of the experience. It's also a good location for non skiers, with numerous walking routes and an easy bus link to Worgl, for where a train can take you to various other resorts and cities.
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