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Live-ish trip report: Salzburg and Kitzbuhler Alpen SuperSkiCard, 5th Jan to 24th Mar 2024

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Time for my lengthy winter ramblings - this time we've got 11 weeks and a Superskicard season pass to play with. The pass covers 87 resorts, and we won't be skiing every day, so no way can we cover everything! But at £826 each I suspect we're going to get some very decent value out of it anyway, and I love skiing in Austria particularly so the chance to do it for weeks is so exciting!

As usual we're attempting to use public transport as much as possible; Austria is great for this so I'm looking forward to seeing how all the connections work.

We have digs in four different places, all airbnb:
Aurach for Kitzbuhel (circa 10 mins on the bus to Hahnennkammbahn)
St Johan im Pongau for Alpendorf/Snowspace Salzburg (5 mins on the bus)
Bad Hofgastein for the Gasteins (5 mins on the bus)
Hochfilzen for the Ski Circus (10 mins on the bus to Fieberbrunn or Leogang)

Or course there are train and bus links to other places nearby, so we also hope to cover Ski-welt, Maria Alm, St Johan in Tirol, Zell am See, and anywhere else that looks doable and takes our fancy. Suggestions very welcome!

We also have tickets to the ski jumping at Biscofshofen, and the ski races in Kitz and Saalbach, plus a Depeche Mode concert in Munich, so it's going to be busy! Laughing

I did a ski goddess course in December to get my head into it early, so hopefully this year will be less about my wobbles and more about pistes, restaurants, bars and other fun things. NehNeh We both have new kit (me - Nordica speedmachine 115 boots, Santa Ana 88 skis, him - K2 boots and Stockli Laser SC skis because apparently they are amazing...) which is clearly going to make all the difference. wink

Anyway, we leave for Salzburg from Gatwick on Friday with lots of bags (thanks avios reward flights), and there's snow in the forecast! First weekend is ski jumping then we arrive in Kitz on Sunday. Can't wait! snowHead
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Looking at getting this for 7 days in January.

Staying in Ellmau but have hire car so like to do Fieberbrunn (+S/H) and Zell am Ziller...

SkiWelt/Kitz = €358, Superskicard = €432

https://www.superskicard.com/en/ski-areas.html
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@ElzP, from Hochfilzen you can also get to Waidring if that appeals for a day trip, on the 8302 bus which takes about 35 minutes. Waidring/Steinplatte is good for a day out, and has the added attraction of the ski area crossing the border into Germany. The scenery is pretty, and the runs are varied. One caveat though is that if Skiline matters to you as a record of your travels, Steinplatte is not included in their coverage.
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@ElzP, sounds great - looking forward to hearing how it goes.
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@buchanan101, Zell im Ziller is a bit of a trek from Ellmau, and to get there you have to pass Alpbach which is maybe a better place to visit. Or if you are going via Mittersill to Konigsleiten, you have to pass the Wildkogel area which is maybe also worth a day out.
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@ousekjarr, brilliant tip, thanks so much! That's a really easy trip.
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@ousekjarr, Maybe Waidring instead then, or Alpbach as you suggest (though that seems a bit small?). There's no skiing from Auffach to Alpbach is there (just a gondola down?)

Was also thinking of driving to Pass Thurn to work Kitz's best snow from the far end, rather than try to ski there from Ellmau

I have a late flight back ... maybe I could do ZamZ on the way to Innsbruck...
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@buchanan101, maybe worth a separate thread on these queries rather than cluttering up ElzP's report wink There is no direct link between Auffach and Alpbach, but there is a bus link between the lifts so the whole area can easily be covered in a day. The overall size is good, at 109Km, and the pistes below the Horn Alm on the Wiedersberger Horn are recommended.

Waidring from Ellmau is easy in a car.

Zell am Ziller on the way to Innsbruck makes sense, especially if you start at Zell and do the run out to Konigsleiten and back to leave the shortest drive at the end of the day.
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@buchanan101, there's a day of fun to be had skiing across to Kitz from Ellmau, but for Pass Thurn I'd drive just to get there early. Very Happy Our bus is under 15 mins to Jochberg so we can mix our start points.

@ousekjarr, mentioned the Wildkogel area... think that's two buses for us (or ski over to the road then bus potentially...will investigate) but looks just round the corner from Pass Thurn for you if driving - something different?

That's the real joy of these passes, days in places you otherwise wouldn't go if you were in one place for a week! snowHead
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@ElzP, Exactly my plan - drive to get there early. (I'm on the first 8am Hartkaiser gondola usually as stay at the Tirol Lodge!). Won't bother with further than Westendorf from Ellmau

@ousekjarr, The map seems to have a two stage gondola from the top of Auffach down to the bottom of the Alpbach mountain...but no skiing?

I quite like the idea of skiing out the back of ZamZ - especially now they've put a better lift in to get back
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@buchanan101, according to https://map.skijuwel.com/ red 13 runs down to the midstation, then you have to download as despite the way they've laid out the map (in reality it is south up), the lift actually turns from NW to SW at the midstation so the snow quickly melts on that slope in the full sun and there's no point in trying to create a piste down it. At the bottom, I think you can join a piste to get to the next lift, which is not very far away, but it has been a couple of years since I was there for a day, so my memory is a little hazy.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@ousekjarr, Google maps indeed shows a 90° bend to turn it SSW. Most ski runs are shown on GoogleMaps which is very interesting. Auffach is 45mins from Ellmau though - not much closer (timewise) than ZamZ. May give it a go though
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Auffach is a nice wee area. Skied there a few time when at Niederau one week
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You know it makes sense.
@buchanan101, I'd recommend a day in Alpbach if you can. We did similar last January. Flew in to Innsbruck, skied Alpbach on the way to Saalbach. Stayed in Saalbach a week but with trips to Maria Alm and Wagrain, then on the way back we stayed a Saturday night in Innsbruck, skiing Zell am Ziller on the way, then flew home Sunday.

All using the superski pass.
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@ElzP, will you get chance to see DJ Otzi this year?
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@ste_B, Evil or Very Mad his gipfeltour dates don't match our movements. One day...!
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@ElzP, bad luck. Maybe next year.
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Got a bit of a wait for our train to Kitzbuhel having been over organised, so a little catch up...

We flew into Salzburg on the 16.55 from Gatwick, dead easy through the airport as it was pretty quiet plus we're on club so only 5 minutes through the almost empty fast track security. The BA lounge at Gatwick is quite nice - there's a very well set up kids room with a PS5 for those who travel with ankle biters. Very Happy The flight was half empty, left on time, and landed 20 minutes early; if only every journey was as decent! We took a slightly pricey cab into town where we had 2 nights in the Wyndham near the train station - adequate but then it was the cheaper option so actually felt like decent value; we booked it a while ago. A note on travelling on Epiphany weekend, not much is open - the Eurospar in the train station however seems to never close, useful!

Saturday was ski jumping day! We got the train to and from Biscofshofen, and spent the day boozing and having a dance to the live music in town, and watching the crazyness of the jumpers whilst being snowed and sleeted on. A win for Austria meant the crowd was also jumping! Such a great day out, if less of a party than last time we went which was in Zakopane (but no one beats the Polish for a party Twisted Evil )



A kebab and a litre of water before bed means no fuzzy heads today as we move on to Kitzbuhel where we'll be for 4 weeks. Dragging our luggage around is a bit of a PITA but no real problem, and Austian trains usually have good luggage space, so we're expecting an easy if long journey. 2.5 hours will fly by staring at the gorgeous snowy landscape!

As I write it's sleety in Salzburg and the roofs have a covering. Webcams for Kitz look like it's been dumping yesterday and continuing today - can't wait to get skiing tomorrow!
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Sounds and looks fantastic @ElzP, have a lovely time skiing tomorrow Very Happy
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What a difference a day makes... 24 little hours...

We took Monday off to get our ski bearings and as so often in life, our best laid plans went awry because we couldn't see. Laughing Visibility worsened as the day progressed which coupled with a fair bit if fresh snow made things interesting; however, it wasn't all bad!

We started the day from the Hahnennkammbahn - we've paid for a locker in the intersport at the lift (60E for a week, fits two lots of kit/skis and has boot warmers) as I have friends staying in Kitzbuhel later this week and I'll meet them there. Kept a look out for Dave Ryding's gondola but not this time! Vis was ok-ish in the morning, and we messed around lifts C1 and B5 before heading to the runs under the Penglestein lifts.



An early lunch in Gauxerstadl (toastie with a really good salad garnish was 8.50E, nice choco-rum - recommend, we'll return!) and some fun top to bottoms in that area done, we thought we'd see what was going on elsewhere... nope! Really bad vis up top, and by this time we were a bit tired - took us what felt like forever to get back over to the Hahnennkammbahn through pea-soup and by this time bumpy chopped up pistes. Only got lost twice... Laughing The piste marking is ok but it's sometimes not totally obvious where to go... and the short looking runs on the map are much longer!

Anyway, low vis makes me back seat even more than usual so my thighs were glad to download and head to the Pavilion for some beers. We moved on to the Londoner which was empty (quiet January Monday!) and had very sticky floors Laughing Then we had a a Chinese meal at Shang Hai which was delicious, the hot and sour soup and crispy duck with garlic sauce... yum! Prices are ok in here, about 55E for 2 including starters, mains and a couple of beers.

This morning was a complete contrast on the mountain; glorious blue skies, pistes all corduroy, and not a lot of people though the 8.30 lifts were quite busy. Possibly with people working on the Streif race track which is a busy place right now with helicopters flying materials in and loads of work going on. I got some nice blue cruising in before heading down to get my boots looked at rolling eyes while husband headed for the blacks off C1 and did the Streif Familienabfart (run 21) (he reported back that the blacks were great but 21 was more difficult.

Looking forward to getting out again tomorrow, before skiing with friends for the rest of the week and venturing further afield.

The heli working on the Streif



Blue skies and corduroy...




In miscellaneous info, the bus is very efficient but they charge if you're not carrying skis - 1.30E - and the Superski pass isn't accepted (only the local area ski pass we were told). We're in Langau on the main road and it's dead easy to get into town/to the lift.

The town itself is very lovely and crammed with posh shops, but doesn't feel swanky-wanky; it's pricey though in the bars and restaurants (isn't everywhere!) For self caterers the billa in town isn't horrific, and the Eurospar on the edge of town quite well stocked.


Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 9-01-24 18:22; edited 1 time in total
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@denfinella, cheers! snowHead Where are you heading this season (or are you still researching..)?
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@ElzP, Looks great, you've timed your arrrival perfectly!
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@swskier, couldn't be better! Hope you're getting out in the gorgeous conditions this week. Very Happy
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@ElzP, Mrs Swskier went out with a friend this morning while I stared at the mountains from the office! Crying or Very sad But I did manage an hour at the end of the day.

Planning on a few hours Friday too snowHead
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@ElzP, watch this space! I'll start a trip report next week wink
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Had a fantastic full day of skiing yesterday, thanks both to the brilliant @jafa who kindly agreed to meet up and ski with us, and to the arrival of two friends who I'd met on the ski goddess course who have come out for a long weekend. Chris and I met Jafa off first lifts, then I went off to gather my girls while the boys got a faster and steeper mission in - great for my other half who is far faster and braver than me!

As a group we all skied around the Kitzbuhel side until a lovely long coffee stop on the up side of the Oschalm lift, then Chris went off to do some work and the rest of us were guided by Jafa around the Kirchberg blues - it was so great to be following someone who knows their way around and was willing to go at a nice easy pace. Snow was fantastic, only forming a few easy bumps on the steeper sections by the end of the day, and the sky was blue - what a day! We all had a tasty lunch at the restaurant just down from the Oschalm chair, then skied down to apres which was very Austrian and fun. Then down at sunset for the bus... which didn't turn up. Laughing A re-route to the train station in Kirchberg eventually got us back to the bottom of the Hahnennkammbahn where our lockers were closed for the night - luckily the ladies have a hotel very near so we dumped our stuff there.



More drinks, a Maccies (oops!) and it was bed time for me by 9pm. Knackered, happy, made a new friend in Jafa who will hopefully ski with us again. Yesterday was one of those days where you remember why this crazy past time can be the best thing ever. snowHead

Hopefully another great day to come today - but probably a little slower than yesterday! Very Happy
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@ElzP, wow, that sounds like some day.
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@ElzP, I’d be very interested to hear about the Gasteins when you go as we’re off to Bad Gastein later this year.
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@Layne, it really was, we were knackered today and took a lot of coffee stops. Still worth getting the tired legs out for the views though...



@ster, will do. Didn't love Bad Gastein the one day we were there before but I did have a hangover so reserving judgement. Loved Dorfgastein though. Will update when we're there.

A couple of observations and filling in gaps...

The lovely restaurant just next to the Oschalm lift is I think called the Oschalm. The daft apres bar further down run 26 is the oberkaser. Our coffee stop this morning (see pic above for the view) is Usterwies, been recommended for lunch as well which we'll try another day.

Piste colours in Kitz are a bit weird - I think I've worked it out as - the blues still have steep bits but the steeps are fairly short. The reds aren't much steeper, but are steeper for longer. The blacks are steeper, but mainly a bit dark and husband says icey in the afternoon. While the piste map is blue heavy, I wouldn't call it perfect for beginners - loads of fun for competent intermediates, good long runs to get the blood pumping. Snow is great at the moment on piste, bit bumpy in the afternoon but doable even for me and I tend to freeze up on bumps.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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We've had a cracking weekend of skiing and fun, so I'm pretty pleased that today the visibility is poor, it's snowing, and it's a rest day! Laughing

Friday was a more relaxed day, just me and my two friends skiing and we stuck to the Kirchberg blues with an accidental foray onto red 32 (which we popped down, said to each other 'that felt a bit steep', and cracked on - quite impressive for three skiers who met on a course to conquer our nerves!). We were pretty tired after our long day on Thursday so it was gondola down at 3.30ish for a 'nana nap' and out for a quiet dinner - we went back for a Chinese again!

Saturday we met with jafa again (the man's a saint Laughing ) and went over to the Pass Turn side via the 3S gondola which is very impressive. It's wonderful over there, very different from the Kitzbuhel side with a mixture of pistes through the trees and across a higher ridge. Jafa showed us a gem of a spot, runs 63 and 64 (black and blue respectively) which cross under lift F5 at Barenbadkogel. The blue is perfect for practicing, and the black is fairly gentle so a good introduction for nervous nellies, and not many people on them - ideal!



The morning coffee stop was the Bruggeralm, delicious apple strudel with custard, and the afternoon was spent making our way over to Resterhohe (you basically zig zag over on reds and blues, some with steep sections - I think it was the top of 70 where I had to follow jafa over a lip which gave me pause). The area has super views on a clear day.



We stopped for lunch at Moseralm which was high quality self service, I had a fab burger but got food envy over my friend's chicken salad! After lunch, red 70 down to the bus in Resterhohe was a bit of a challenge...

The bus back to Kitzbuhel was a lovely journey, and we headed for the Pavilion bar for 'a couple of drinks'... a few hours later, after some dancing and minus a glove rolling eyes we eventually headed for our beds. Or in my case the sofa where I woke up at 3am.

As you can imagine, Sunday was a slower day, none of us exactly feeling our oats, but a bit of sunshine and snow cures most ills and we covered the same route across Pass Turn except this time we took the Panorama gondola down to the bus. My friend's husband (who arrived Saturday night and may be to blame for our Sunday hangovers...) reported that red 77 to the bottom was a bit icey and not enormously enjoyable.

A few drinks and good byes to one friend who was leaving in the morning topped of a really glorious long weekend. We pretty much covered the whole area thanks to jafa, and I certainly challenged myself more than I might otherwise have done. My friends loved it - unsurprisingly as they struck lucky with both sun and perfect pistes!

Runs of the week - afore-mentioned 63 and 64; blues 27 and 30 under Penglestein lifts, and red 19 in the morning which I intend to use as my 'ski properly when it's steeper' training piste from now on (it's lumpy in the afternoon!).

It's not been over-busy this weekend - definitely a difference between Thursday when it was quiet, and the Fri/Sat/Sun day trippers and weekenders. Max lift queue at the Hahnennkammbahn in the morning has been 5 minutes, and less for other lifts, excellent for a sunny weekend really.

As above it's snowing today and looking like more than the 1cm Bergfex was showing - should refresh the pistes nicely. We'll be out tomorrow morning to see! snowHead
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Sounds like perfect conditions to be shown around - @jafa's tour for me had very heavy snow, down to 20ft visibility, and a hilarious 5 minutes watching him trying to get up from the inside of a hairpin bend which he'd cut too early in the murk, resulting in going off the side of the piste (roadway) into neck-deep snow... Laughing

I must try again - didn't manage it in December due to other commitments, unfortunately.
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@ousekjarr, Laughing only 5 minutes of laughing? Don't believe that. Laughing

Definitely try again, it looks rather nice in the sun. snowHead
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@ElzP, looks like you had as enjoyable weekend as we did here in the Zillertal Very Happy
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It's been a while! We did indeed get out on Tuesday 16th, there was new snow plus piles of man made including one which I face-planted into (ah, the overconfidence of fresh snow snowHead )... a fun morning but by the end of that day I was grumpy and shivery and the next few days were taken up with a full blown cold. That plus race weekend/husbands birthday and then a trip back to the uk for work means yesterday was the first time back on skis for me, though my other half has been out in the very varied conditions we've had.

Race weekend was a bit of a party (obviously the best thing to do when you feel badger rough is get hammered all weekend) and very entertaining. We had normal tickets for Fri and Sat downhills and stayed piste side near the finish/last blast. Fri was more chilled in terms of numbers of spectators and had a nice atmosphere. We started our day at Legends cafe at the gondola base, where the DJ was blasting out apres favourites at 10am so we had to have a drink... we then met a group of Austian lads (a Krampus group, interesting!) who supplied free beers from the crates they'd bought. So you can see how the day went... lots of cheering at the sidelines, more beer, and we ended up in the Londoner. Saturday - we didn't drink. Laughing



Sunday for slalom and my husband's birthday, we had Zone tickets - not grandstand, but slightly up the side and standing. There was a difference of at least 150 quid for zone vs grandstand and we're not made of money... You get free drinks and sausages with this ticket, plus a Hahnennkamm branded hat! We bought a flag at the stall coming in to show willing, and quickly found a little group of other brits. It was brilliant, it's a much better spectator sport than downhill as you can see pretty much the whole course, and you feel really close in the zone bit. Perfect for cheering on the three brit racers. Also cool to watch them doing course inspection and their visualisations close up. Very Happy



Unfortunately we then went to the Londoner for the aftermath, there was much dancing, and the inevitable result was a horrific Monday hangover. Oh well, it was all good times and no regrets!

Random observations from the weekend...

We bought normal tickets as soon as released, but for the zone tickets I emailed the organisers in early September, and they got back to confirm and ask for details/payment, then sent the tickets. Saturday tickets sold out so worth getting on it early for those, but there were still some Fri and Sun tickets available on the day.

Saturday was MUCH busier, and we couldn't get on the bus so walked in. For the whole weekend the buses had alternative routes due to road closures so most went to the main train station, from where you can just get a train one stop over to the Hahnennkammbahn.

Taxis ramp their prices up enormously, avoid.

We had a great burger (for breakfast but never mind!) at Simple Food - run by a very friendly Aussie, tasty food, no loos but there at loos at the bus stop next door. Recommended! He also has proper tea. Twisted Evil

Most people were super friendly and the atmosphere was good, we didn't see any trouble, always nice at a big sporting event. Not sure I'd take kids to any of the apres bars post-race though!

Standing around in the snow is cold - either drink through it or wear extra layers! We also found having some spikes with us helped with grip as access up to good view points is up snowy/icey hills.

Will update later with our mission to the SkiWelt from yesterday. snowHead
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@ElzP, sorry to hear about your cold but the racing looks and sounds fab! Hope you got on well in the SkiWelt Toofy Grin
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@ElzP, SkiWelt yesterday was a mixture of sugar and hard pistes depending on aspect. I stopped at midday (flight later) but was full of Munich daytrippers and significant queues in places. Still some reasonable conditions to be found. Both parts of 66 were good even though south facing - only a small amount of sugar as surprisingly always quiet (could see large queue at red 71 just metres away). Red 7 was reasonable and the various red 2s were holding quite well. All the runs on the south facing slopes towards Brixen weren’t very enjoyable. Didn’t ski Soll yesterday but that may have been better due to aspect.

One of best runs was the wide short area under that double 4man. However the lift is so slow it’s painful. That must be on the list to become a fast 8.

Most hated run - 99 - especially the blue option. Essential for Ellmau to Scheffau (I think). I now manage to avoid it on the way back.
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@denfinella, it was bloody great! snowHead

@buchanan101, me and thee are opposites, I was far keener on the slushy bits. Laughing I do agree that 66 was good!
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Ive just been reading my trip report from Westendorf from 2018, and I seem to have loved the SkiWelt. Yesterday confirmed that I still love it. Very Happy

Having taken a day off everything on Saturday (knackered from cold/partying/travelling - sometimes you just need a rest, as I was once told by @Origen, best advice ever) I was perky and ready for skiing on Sunday. Bright blue skies beckoned, and we hopped on a bus to the train station to get the 9.02 round to Hofgarten as our entry point to the SkiWelt. We chose Hofgarten rather than Brixen which is nearer, as the station in Hofgarten is a couple of minutes walk to the lift, getting rid of any bus faff that end.

All worked well and we were up the hill by 10, just in time for the south/east facing pistes to start to soften. I needed an easy opener so we headed for the blues under chair 25 - still quite firm and pretty busy but a relatively gentle place to remind myself that I can ski. NehNeh We'd been expecting worse conditions underfoot after the rain of last week so were pleasantly surprised.

We then took red 2, which is lovely - part sun, part shade, nicely challenging for me without any particularly steep bits - over to a short drag towards Hochbrixen and the telemix up to the centre of the area. No queue for the gondola, biggish queue for the chair - though we lapped blues 2a and 3 and didn't wait more than a couple of minutes for the chair! These blues are clearly ski school territory and rightly so, very nice and wide, but in full sun already getting a little chopped up before midday.

Reds 72/71 down to chair 71 were less pleasant for me, hard and slidey overlaid with thin sugar - but doable (my husband said he was impressed that I just got on with it as usually I'd be very defensive on that kind of piste). It was also rather busy. After a stop for a very good apple strudel and custard at Aualm, we took the chair back up as the blue cut through to lift 66 was shut. Instead we took blue 65a, a flat path, and red 67 to get over towards chair 64. A couple of laps of easy blue 64 then back towards the reds under chair 66 which were super and not busy at all. They were softening fast, and were super cruisey fun. Even I got a bit of speed up I was enjoying them so much! Laughing

Looking out over the start of blue 64



We stayed over here for a while, then took the call to head back towards Brixen before the south facing slopes were complete carnage. Very easy over blue 64, the slow double chair, red 70 which is super short, up chair 70 and back down blue 2a. We stopped just before 2pm for a late lunch of tiroler grostl and beers at Brantlalm (around 15 euro for a tasty main), on their sunny terrace safe in the knowledge that all we had to navigate was a little bit of slush to the top of the gondola. Cool

Lunchtime view...



It definitely was slushy on the south facing runs by 1ish, enough to have to pick your way round beginners - but not enough to be truly bumpy or uncomfortable. I actually enjoyed it! snowHead However, I was glad to take the gondola down to Brixen instead of skiing the white streak of home run through the green pastures. I also rather liked watching the havoc on the bottom of that run from the Brixner Stadl with a nice cold beer - people were arriving in the pub sweating buckets after navigating heavy slushy bumps and very warm sunshine. Toofy Grin



Bus back to Kitzbuhel at 16.30 was mostly empty and linked up well with our bus to home. All in all an excellent day out. snowHead


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Mon 29-01-24 17:55; edited 1 time in total
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@ElzP, we agree on the various 2s and 66. The 66s on a busy day are not-really-hidden gems. Quite why they are always quiet…

You have a bit more tolerance for sugar than I do.
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Wow, I'm amazed that there is anything left on the Brixen talahbfart when the rest is so bare, and even more amazed that it remains open with that level of cover. It has always been a very challenging run in anything less than perfect cover, and of course at the top while you can still bail out it seems really good and then when it becomes obvious that you're on a narrow band of icy moguls covered in slush there's no option but to keep going. I did it in December with full cover and fresh snow, and it was as good as it gets.

That run is also where I met an Irish group at 5pm on a January evening helping one of their number who had fallen and twisted her ankle, who asked me how much further it was to get back to Soll... Shocked I had to tell them they were on the wrong side of the mountain, that their friend was not going to be able to be carried down easily, and that their best bet was to phone for a taxi to meet them at the umbrella bar halfway down (about 100m further from where they were) to take her the rest of the way to the bottom for a bus ride or taxi back to Soll at considerable expense.
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