Our fourth consecutive trip to the Arlberg once again delivered the goods. We drove from Leeds, leaving 5:30am on Friday 5th, arriving in Walldorf about 6pm for a beer and some food, before the four hour final drive to Stuben the next day.
We once again stayed at the excellent Hubertushof hotel in Stuben.
The first day everywhere was in cloud, so after checking the webcams we headed over to Lech, to try and ski below the cloud.
This only partly worked, the weather was cold, the pistes very hard and we were skiing 50% in cloud at the top, and 50% out on the way down.
After lunch we headed with the kids to the small nursery slopes in Lech, which were very quite, so we mucked around with the kids, some one legged skiing, skied the boarder cross, and the jumps in the trees before heading home. It was a very cold day for April!
The second day was a little warmer and a lot brighter, so we headed over to Sonnenkopf, an area we had not skied before. The pistes were firm above the top gondola station, softening as you came lower down. The kids really enjoyed the blue route down through the trees, with plenty of little jumps and areas to explore.
The adults also used the easier slopes for one legged skiing and worked on our carving, before eating a quick sandwich at the bottom, then changing my oldest girls boots over for a smaller pair. The cloud was coming in during the afternoon as we headed to the top to ski the reds. These were pretty steep in places, and my oldest wasn't getting on with the tighter boots and the now cold and snowy weather.
One final run down and I think my eldest had adjusted to the tighter boots and wasn't complaining about them anymore.
The third day we had booked a guide, so the kids were off to ski school. The morning was beautiful, about 5-10cm of fresh snow with sun and blue skies. After a few warm up runs the kids were assessed and put into their relevant groups.
Off Piste was very mixed, hard and icy in places, with some nice soft snow in other places and everything in between. Higher up we were skiing on the solid surface left over from the cold temps, lower down it was softer and more forgiving.
After two runs around Stuben we were heading over to Grampen for lunch, but the clouds were rolling in fast, so we skipped lunch to get straight up to the top of Valluga in a race against the clouds. The clouds sadly won, so whilst the snow was deep at the top, the visibility wasn't so good. We still had an enjoyable ski in lovely deep snow down to Zurs, where we grabbed a hot drink.
With the snow coming down again, we headed up and worked our way down to just after the tunnel before Lech. The guide was concerned about the lower slopes being too soft as it was also warming up, however the snow was better than expected. We hiked out to the road and caught the bus back to Alpe Rauz. I was keen for one last off piste run, but the others weren't so we skied back to Stuben.
We were also going to take a guide on day four, but an eldest who hadn't enjoyed ski school, and friends with similar kiddie commitments meant we had to forgo the guiding. My eldest was put in the top group of the children's ski lesson with two other Belgium boys who she recognised from previous years. I had a chat with the instructor and explained she was skiing very straight legged so if he could work on some flexion, that would be great. He said leave it with him. That evening my eldest said they had just skied around really fast, with zero instruction. My wife then recalled that he was the same instructor as last year, who we had complained about for not speaking any English to my daughter, nor actually doing any instructing!
We ended up having an enjoyable day skiing with some friends and their kids over to St Anton, ticking off the blacks in the area down to Nasserein. Our friends kindly skied our kids home so my wife and I could do the bumps down Osthang (ski route 3), and then take the agreed route back. We managed to catch them up at the bottom of Valfagehr, where the kids and my wife headed home, whilst myself and two other guys headed back for some apres ski.
Myself and a few mates had sorted out a 6pm pick up from one of ladies in our group, so we headed to the Moosewirt, just as the sun came out and the temps picked up. A great few hours were spent on the terrace in the evening sun, before the wobbly ski down and a hilarious drive back to Stuben with one sober wife driving and three drunken 40+ year olds trying to pretend we were not that drunk.
Day 5 and it was warm and raining, but a huge group of adults and kids set off to do the Weiss ring, which we completed. The kids were great, and didn't complain at all, despite having to ski in the rain and blizzards, leading to thick fresh snow at the top and pretty horrible wet cement elsewhere. Once again the afternoon weather improved, so once the ring was completed the kids and my wife headed home, after dropping me and a friend off at Alpe Rauz. We headed straight for the the Valluga lift, but it was shut, so we now had a race against the clock in pretty horrid snow to try and get to the Schindlergratbahn before it shut at 4pm. We poled into the station at 3:59 with the lifties shouting vamoose at us! On arrival at the top it was clear from the solitary track leaving the Vallugalift that the whole area had been shut all day.
It was very warm by now, with natural avalanches appearing everywhere. The piste company were hard at work with a lot of bombs going off. Despite hanging around and hearing some huge bangs close by we totally failed to see any slides go! We got a shift on back down to Stuben in some surpassingly nice snow. Once again the sun emerged as we hit the bottom, so we headed to the Hotel Post for a quick beer and watched a pair of mountain goats in the distance.
The final day was once again raining at the bottom, with the snow line a lot lower than the day before. It was kids ski school race day, so after watching the kids race, we headed back to Lech to ski the higher runs there before the 3pm presentation. Once again my eldest ski instructor showed his star quality by saying he had to dash, couldn't make the 3pm presentation and quickly handed out a few trophies, giving my eldest 3rd (and last) place.
We had a good ski in Lech, with the snow being so much better than the previous day. The kids had some fun, doing some fun double pole swings, the speed run and every jump, path and little bump that could be found.
We headed back for the presentation to be told my eldest had actually come second so she was chuffed not to be last! My youngest was in a class with her best friend from school and they were delighted to be awarded joint first in the race, so a perfect end to another great week in the Arlberg!
Finally I've been very impressed with my Head Titans, they have skied everything well this season, from lovely winter snow and deep off piste in December, to ice, slush, bumps and heavy powder this spring.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:
my eldest said they had just skied around really fast, with zero instruction. My wife then recalled that he was the same instructor as last year, who we had complained about for not speaking any English to my daughter, nor actually doing any instructing!
poor kid, no wonder she was not impressed with ski school. Did you complain again? Glad other aspects of the trip were better - though you could reasonably have hoped for better weather.
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?
kitenski, I've never seen so much snow at Stuben!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (this late in the season!!)
I was over in Warth, but came into Lech on Thursday..................... Strolz's Sale!! Drove by Stuben, had lunch at the Hospitz Alm, St Christoph.
Steve, (my pal from OTLEY!!!) had the new snow this weekend and skinned up for the trek into Lech from Warth. *winces*
kitenski, great TR, thanks for posting. Shame about your eldest with the duff instructor, but glad it all worked out and it sounds like a great group trip
Not sure if the same works for Stuben but in recent years a few Ski Instructors have broken away from the main ski schools. They live from repeat business given to happy customers.
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Poster: A snowHead
