 Poster: A snowHead
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Thought it might be a good idea for anyone going abroad on a ski holiday to share their experiences of resorts they've been to and possibly get opinions of resorts they have not been to.
Having been to Saalbach in Austria last year (and I can thoroughly recommend it.......non stop party town! Dont be put off by reported high prices, it wasn't that bad) we are again going back to Austria, to St Anton. I know it get's to be in the "top resorts" category, I am slightly concerned about reports of long cues. Maybe these are just at access points and bottlenecks, but it would be good to hear the truth!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 9-02-04 16:55; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oop's............Alps!!
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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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Just came back from Saalbach about 2 weeks ago. Skiing was superb. Preferred the skiing at the Hinterglemm end of the valley, but the partying was better in Saalbach itself. Try Castillo about 4.30 onwards if your there.
The mountain restaurants were of great variety, generally excellent food and reasonably priced - 2 lunches and a couple of drinks for between 15 and 20 Euros.
Went on a deal with Panorama holidays - stayed at the Hotel Austria. Food great, cheap bar (2 Euros per large beer!) and friendly but excentric hotel proprietor - Basil Fawlty in drag.
I would recommend the resort to anybody except complete beginners.
Hopefully off again in late March, but will be going higher next time - too late in the season to risk a resort at 1000m.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yeah Peter B, did you try Bobby's Bar in Saalbach?......the owner, Bobby, is nutz!.....never saw him sober the whole time!! We stayed in the Bergersport Hotel. Food was out of this world.
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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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Bobby's was really good. Enjoyed the resort so much will be going again next Jan provided the snow looks good enough a week or so before.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yep, never book too early, you might get a very unpleasant surprise when you arrive at your resort to find no snow........perish the thought!
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Took a gamble this year. Separated from wife last year, so missed my skiing. Booked in June through Fast Track hols on a special singles offer. Trouble was that I then met "the other arf". Managed to get her booked in as well.
I was SO nervous in early December - no chuffin' snow!! finally it came.
Won't be taking that risk again. Will be booking my late March trip the week before at the earliest!!
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Fortunately "my arf" does'nt ski..............I usually book about 2 weeks prior. This year we have no worries, St Anton is reporting 410cm at the top right now!! cant see that dissappearing in 2 weeks.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Went to Tignes before Christmas which was interesting to say the least.
We got freezing rain, light snow, heavy snow, light wind, heavy wind, grass, rocks, powder and blue sky. 
Off to les Arcs in early April and hoping for some Scottish action too.
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3 days to go....yipee! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'll be in Bobby's bar on Saturday evening. will raise a glass or two to you both.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I'll be checking out Bobby's Bar 2 weeks on Saturday! Hope the snow continues, its a white out in Saalbach at the moment.
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Bad news - We had a warm spell here in Austria last week and a lot of low level snow got rained on.
Good News - it's snowed since with many areas seeing 30cm+ fresh snow.
St Anton is busy in Feb because of school holidays (mainly German & Austrian).
Was there a couple of weeks back and the cues were not that bad at all.
If you really want to see the full extent St Anton has to offer, learning to ski powder at the same time then ........
http://skimountaineering.com/index2.htm
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks for the info DB. Funny you should say that about learning to ski powder coz thats exactly what our intentions were! We will take a days tuition and take it from there. Glad to hear that the queues were'nt that bad. Sadly here in Scotland the wierd weather has killed off any snow we had. Barring a few blizzards, we aint gonna see much sport here at all this season..........Hope you have a ball in Saalbach Ken, make that glass a big one mate!.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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mugwump, er, isn't that what the "resorts" section does? 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Mugwump,
I can't recommend Graham at Piste to Powder / ski mountaineering enough. He's an English bloke from up north in Newcastle (probably a southerner to you  ) who has been in St Anton for 16 years. He knows where all the powder stashes are and organises everything well (e.g. while others are in a long que for food he will of organized a table at a nice restaurant so max time on/in the powder can be achieved. In poor visibility where we could hardly see more than 5 metres he led us to some fantastic off-piste routes where the visibility had cleared.) He's not just another BASI ski instructor but a qualified Mountain guide as well and is qualified to teach in France. I speak resonable German but prefer Grahams banter to "bend zee knees".
Many people go back to him every year (as I do), he takes group sizes up to 7 so best to book in advance via email. If you are beginning to learn powder skiing I would also recommend hiring some wide powder skis (e.g. Pocket Rockets, Rossi B3's etc)
Tell him the mad mancunian in Vienna sends his regards.
Have a great time there's 4.5m up on the top and it's snowing outside.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Mugwump, I'm sure I'll manage a large glass or two!!
Looking at the web cams and snow reports, I've hit the jackpot with my timing. Regretably however, it seems to be half term holiday across the whole of Europe. If I take my lap top I'll report back. If I don't and in my absence you all jump ship somewhere else again please tell me!!
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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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Marc......"resorts" section?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Ken, the weather looks fantastic with regular top ups next week. Have fun and report back as I'm off there in 2 weeks and 17 hours!!
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Well I fully intend to have fun DB.........the full 4.5m of it! I have already booked my own skis onto the flight so I will not hire the wider skis, I'll just see how it goes on my Rossi cobras. Am looking forward to it very much as is our friend Ken, hope you have a good one Ken! Thanks for the link DB, I am checking this out. If we do meet Graham, we will be sure to mention the Mad Mancunian in Vienna's regards!
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Thanks Marc...........though we're gettin some banter on this thread too!
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I learned to ski in Saalbach a few years back. Bobbys was a favourite hang out back then. Particularly when Anna (dark haired Swedish girl) was serving. Do they still do monster burgers & kebabs, and have the bowling alley?
Also got thrown out of Le Pub a few times.
I'm off to Austria again in 4 weeks. can't wait!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Bobbys was a hoot and yes they still sell the grub and have the bowling. We stayed in the Bergersport Hotel and the food was absolutely first class as was the waiter and waitress couple we got friendly with, Susan and George. Dont remember the dark haired Swedish girl Fox Hat, I'm sure I would've had she been there!! Some good live music too. Would definitely go back again but this year St Anton wins the competition!
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Mugwump, we went to St Anton last year and did a day's skiing with Graham. As DB says, highly recommended. Skied the Valluga and then some stuff off of Stuben (I think! I got confused) and ended the day by catching a train home from the middle of nowhere.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks Alan, you inspire such confidence in me!.............seriously though, my mate and I are planning to do a days instruction and by the sounds of it this company seem as good as any and it is always reassuring to get feedback from people who have had first hand experience and have no financial gain in what they say....Will check this out in more detail, though a rough guide to costs would be a help........ Thanks guys!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The catching of the train in the middle of nowhere was planned! We didn't get lost or anything - well, Graham didn't get lost, obviously I didn't have a clue where I was going. Go for it!
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Fully intend to mate! Just hope the fantastic snow conditions hold out, it's only 8 long days away!
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You know it makes sense.
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Mugwump,
Graham charges ca 80 Euro per person per day (small amount of extra cash is required for lunch and the odd taxi, if the group is large taxi's are normally dirt cheap ca 3 Euro each). I've done 9 days with him now and every day was excellent value, even when conditions aren't great he always seems to pull good quality powder runs out of the bag. It's great the way you drop down a powder filled valley and come out in the middle of nowhere on a small road, then a taxi or train turns up to take you away to the next point on the tour.
Most people start off saying I think my "all-mountain skis" should be fine but when the powder gets really deep (as it is now), width (at least surface area) is what you need especially if you are learning to powder ski. I've seen skilled racers hit the deep powder for the first time and it wasn't pretty 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Hey DB,
I'm also off to St Anton on 22nd (like Mugwump?), and I'd appreciate your feedback on the Valluga run. I also heard (on SCGB forum of old) about Graham's company and I would like to give it a go. I assume you went up the top cable car on Valluga and down to Zurs or Lech? Hard to do?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Tobes,
I was planning to do the Valluga for the first time two weeks ago, visibility, winds and avalanche danger prevented us from doing it for 6 days. The Valluga is not something you can just turn up to do like a day trip etc, the conditions and your skiing level have to be right (and you have to have a guide to take the lift up with your skis). Perhaps others here can give you their view of how hard the Valuga is. It's marked as a 'difficult' run, some call it extreme although from what I've heard (from others that have skied it) if you can deal with steep off-piste terrain it's not that hard its just that a fall on the first steep section would most probably be fatal. Spoke to one of the locals who did the Valluga on one of the days we were planning to do it, he said it wasn't very good - bad visibility and wind swept. We did a magnificent steep run with fresh powder off the top of Sonnenkopf / Glattingrat the same day.
Graham is very safety conscious, I doubt he would take anybody on the Valluga that he hadn't skied with before so you would probably need to ski with him at least two days. The Valluga is a "Trophy" run but there are so many other good runs in St Anton, you don't have to do Valluga on a bad day ....
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 15-02-04 17:06; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for that DB - don't like the sound of the exposure on the first section! I had the impression that there was a less dangerous route down to Lech or Zurs but perhaps I'm mistaken.
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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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The first stretch of the Valluga descent - which, from memory is less than 100 metres - is certainly steep. It's certainly not somewhere to fall.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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having looked off the top of Valluga the other week (just for the view) I have to say it would scare me to death. Its not particularly the steepness, but the fact you are on the top of this pointy mountain, and it looks like it goes on down for miles. I suspect after the first 100 yards it improves, but for me, with my IRRATIONAL FEAR OF HEIGHTS (BUT NO FEAR ON A STEEP WIDE SLOPE) BLOODY CAPS LOCK button. I would just feel I was falling all the way to certain death. I couldnt even look properly over the edge of the viewing platform.
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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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As I mentioned above I did the Valluga with Graham last year. I found the worst bit was the anticipation - I was terrified putting my skis on at the top. As David says it's only the first 100 yards that's particularly challenging and you wouldn't want to fall, but it's not narrow or anything too extreme. Pretty steep though.
We did a run or two with Graham first - I guess he was assessing our ability.
Tobes - Graham mentioned a MORE dangerous route but not an easier one!
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FAQ
