Schladming

Judging by the webcams, Schladming seems to have been very quiet lately (a good thing). Is it generally like that or is it just an end of season run down? Was in Wildschonau in Jan and loved it there (nice and quiet!), but considering Schladming for next season. What are the ski schools like?-I'm still pretty much a beginner! Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I have skied in Schladming the last two seasons I would say that for absolute beginners Schladming is fine but once you have progressed beyond knowing how to get to the bottom of a slope it is absolutely useless as a beginner destination.
The reasons I say that are:
1. That the piste map shows quite a few blue runs but some should definitely be green and some others would easily qualify as a red in other resorts, unfortunately it isn't easy to tell until you are on them which category the particular blue you are on should be, those blues on Hauser Kaibling are generally the most difficult.
2. There are 4 mountains and only 2 are connected above the valley level so moving around involves a trip to the valley, however the blue runs are gernerally at the top of the mountain and change to red half way down so the only option is to come down via the lifts ( with the resort altitude and lack of snow at valley level this is not unknown anyhow ).
3. The village is great and they have their own brewery so the beer is good too.
4. The ski schools seemed to excellent, they use buses to get the pupils from lovely blues at the top of Planai back to town, an excellent choice as opposed to the alternative route for a beginner - via a stretcher behind a ski patroller.
5. Schladming is busy at weekends and very quiet midweek.

Thanks for the reply. May have to reconsider...then again, the beer! Long time to decide though, more's the pity!

I have been looking at Schladming, and reading up about it. It certainly seems to have an interesting ski area, and a resonably extensive one too for a week. WTSS give it 4 stars for snow - can anyone confirm what the snow is usually like, as the resort is almost as low as Mayrhofen, excpet the runs all come back into resort, and the top slopes are not especially high? It looks like a cruising paradise though.

Been there in January for the past 4 years and going again in the New Year. Even in 2007 which was the mildest Winter there for 40 years the pistes were in good nick due to the 600+ snow cannons they have, and the directional facing of the slopes helps preserve what snow they get.
As we keep going it must have something going for it!! Yes you can ski to Town, maybe not as a beginner though.
Lovley town. If your a black run adrenalin junkie or a night clubber and looking for a load of Brits in their 20s then it may not be your resort.
We go as a group and are late 30's to late 40's very good intermediate to advanced skiiers and it keeps us entertained. They opened up one of the those huge 3 storey apres ski taverns at the bottom of the Planai last season and as a result alot of the smaller town apres bars suffered. We intend to try and help the small places out again this January.

We have stayed in Schladming twice both times over Christmas and would go back again as we love the place. Short transfer from Salzburg. Would agree with previous comments on grading of runs however as one or two of the blues could really scare a beginner moving off the nursery slopes. There is a long toboggan run over at Rohrmoos which is great fun especially at night. Great mountain restaurants especially Onkel Willi's. Good range of shops, bars, etc in the town and you can go on horse drawn rides! Lockers at the bottom of Planai gondola mean you can leave your skis overnight. Ski buses go from there also.