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TR - Wagrain 16/03 to 23/03
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

Resort: Wagrain

Country: Austria

Domain: Ski Amade

Author: Jimmybog

Date: Mar 16 - Mar 23 2013

Our holiday: 3 Adults (2 skiers early intermediate & 1 experienced snowboarder) and 2 children ( 1 beginner snowboarder and 1 early intermediate skier)

Website : http://www.bergbahnen-wagrain.at/en/winter

Basics : 45 minutes drive South of Salzburg. Travelled with BA from London Gatwick to Salzburg airport. Transfer with http://www.city-airport-taxis.com/ at a cost of 236 Euros return for five of us. Driver was waiting at the airport and picked us up for return journey on time

Lift system : Two gondolas out of Wagrain near the centre to access the Grafenberg side from where you can ski across to Alpendorf. Another gondola from Kirchboden which is above Wagrain to access the GRIESSENKARECK mountain from where you can ski down to Flachau. Another main gondola from the nearby village of Moadorfl just up from Wagrain can be used to access the GRIESSENKARECK side. Nearly all the lifts are gondolas and chairs. Don’t even recall seeing one T bar though I saw a few tow ropes in the learner areas. New gondola link is currently under construction which will link the two mountains at the mid station levels.

The terrain : Most runs were red and I would say that most of the ones I skied on or saw are genuine reds. Lot of the runs seemed to have quite steep sections. Even the initial blue up on the Grafenberg side ended up in a steep bowl towards the first lift back up. Never seen so many learners in ski school falling over before as I did the ones trying to ski this bowl. However I will say that a lot of the pistes were wide.

The snow : Snow on the first three days was excellent. Best snow I have ever skied on. Then it snowed heavily on the third, fifth and sixth nights. The mornings after the third and fifth nights were an absolute nightmare at the top of the mountains. Visibility was really poor with snow still falling and blowing in the strong wind. We were basically skiing on about 5 to 6 inches of fresh soft snow on the pistes which I found quite difficult especially as I could hardly see what I was doing. Anyone going skiing over Easter is very likely to have great snow conditions if the weather clears up.

Off-piste : I don’t do off piste so can’t comment but I suspect the conditions must have been excellent from Tuesday onwards

The resort : Wagrain itself is quite a nice village with a decent centre. Traffic is not too busy in the centre. It has several bars, shops and plenty of places to eat. We stayed above the village in Kirchboden and thus had a 10 to 15 minute walk downhill to the centre. Taxis back cost 7 Euros. Kirchboden is quite spread out and extends from above Wagrain village up to the Flying Mozart gondola. Not many places for after dinner drinks apart from the hotels or the ex Haar Trog Alm (can’t remember the new name) near the flying mozart gondola. Busses connect the gondolas and the centre of Wagrain and are free

Food : Food in all the mountain hut/restaurants I went to was excellent. Service was also excellent and prices were very reasonable. Large beer was usually between Euro 3.6 to 3.8. I think a Schnitzel and fries in one place was about 7 Euros. Ghoulash Soup around 4.50; Spaghetti around 6.50.

Accommodation : Hotel Alpina in Kirchboden. About a 5 to 10 minute walk from Flying Mozart lift. Ski bus stop (unfortunately) was up the hill behind the hotel which was a bit of a slog in ski boots. Rooms were very nice, pool was good, cleanliness was excellent and staff were friendly.

Resort Staff: All staff we encountered in resort bars, restaurants, shops etc were very friendly. True Austrian hospitality

Resort guests: Most of the guests we encountered seemed to be from Germany, Austria and Holland. Other nationalities were from Denmark, Norway, Italy and a few Russians. We saw or heard very few British voices

Apres Ski: Well this was my downfall for the week. Every day we started at 3pm or 4pm. We only made our hotel meal on three days out of seven. We always started in the Kuhstall bar next to the Flying Mozart gondola and sat outside on the terrace. When the sun went down we moved inside by the fire. We mostly stayed till the end (7.30pm to 8pm) and either went back to the hotel or carried on across the road in the other après bar which used to be called Haar Trog Alm. Then on some nights we carried on later downtown in the riverside pub and ended up in the Pfiff bar with the locals. The Kuhstall was excellent and had a great atmosphere. We made lots of friends in there and people were just coming up to us and joining us in drinking and dancing. This bar really made my holiday and made up for the lack of skiing I done even though it was mostly the cause of it!!!

Costs: We had a seven night package which included half board, afternoon snack and 6 day ski pass for 784 Euros for an Adult which I thought was a very good price. Ski hire was about 70Euros for 6 days. Flight was £106 return. Other costs are reported above


Conclusion: Certainly a resort I will visit again in the future when I have more skiing experience. I thought the slopes were a bit tough for me although they would be ideal for many people. Otherwise it has so much going for it and I am surprised that more Brits have not discovered it yet. It’s so convenient to Salzburg, costs are very reasonable, food is great, après is great and the lifts are excellent. Anything I have missed, let me know.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

Quote:

res Ski: Well this was my downfall for the week. Every day we started at 3pm or 4pm. We only made our hotel meal on three days out of seven.
Quality effort

Laughing Laughing
Have a few lessons and you will get to crave for the mornings where there is fresh snow on top of a bashed piste. The run from the top of Grafenberg to the mid station is especially good for skiing fresh snow in poor viz. The perfect pitch down by the tree line edges.

Great trip report, cheers.
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