Rauris Austria

has anyone ever skied Rauris,I am considering booking my next ski trip here so any information I would be greatful

It hosted the Army Telemark Championship between the 3rd and 15th of January this year.

Hi
Skied Rauris a couple of years ago. Seemed quite a sleepy little place, stayed at the Alpenrose in mid Feb and accom was reasonable as we got lastminute for good price. Was central and about ten minute walk to slopes. Skiing was ok but limited slopes, poss not good for beginners in our opinion, but all very wide and there was some nice trail runs.

Hope this helps

I was there in 06 I agree with Ntip ..limited runs would suit early intermediate but if you have a car a good centre to be in The Gastein valley is not far and it isn't too far from Zell am Zee..
stopped at the Gasthof Brau which I can really recommend

We went to Rauris in Jan 07. It was our first time on skis in our whole lives. We stayed in the hotel St Hubertus, whose primary advantages are that it's beside the gondola station, next to the nursery slopes, and has a ski hire shop next door. It's a short walk from the village, which is quite small. We went with Neilson. A few points about our experience:

1. When we arrived, there was hardly any snow. The nursery slope was packed ice. However, that was a bad year for snow everywhere. It did snow during our week there, which considerably improved conditions on the nursery slope. I understand from speaking to other people that there was plenty of snow further up the mountain, accessed by the gondola.
2. There is one 6-seat gondola and, I believe, other lifts around the place, although we didn't see them. The nursery slope has a drag-lift which you pay for. We were very naive and purchased lift passes in advance from Neilson, but given that we never got off the nursery slope, this was a waste of money. We should have investigated whether there were points cards available locally.
3. I don't know how the slopes would be classified by a real skier (they all looked scary to us!) but my ski guide book classifies them as intermediate.
4. Rauris village is small and charming, with one supermarket, a few other local shops, some restaurants and pubs and hotels (mainly 3-star). Everyone is friendly and I met loads of lovely people on the slopes (including an elderly local gentleman on the nursery slope who told me not to be so afraid!)
5. There are 2 ski schools. I can't remember which one we were with. My 6-year-old daughter made good progress, although in the beginning she found the instructors a bit intimidating. She settled down once she got to know them. We had all pre-booked ski school with Neilson. I do have a criticism of our adult lessons, and I don't know whether this was Neilson's fault or the ski school's, but we had clearly stated that we were complete beginners and were put into a group with six other people who had all skied before. This meant that my husband and I were the only ones who kept falling over and after about a day of this, (clearly the group and instructor were getting frustrated that we were holding them back), it was politely suggested to us that perhaps private lessons would be more suitable for our level. We were able to swap the remaining group lessons for private ones, but also had to pay an additional amount, as private lessons are more expensive. We felt a bit bad about our lack of progress on the slopes, but did progress further during the private lessons (ironically with the same instructor!)
6. The hotel St Hubertus provided adequate, rather than luxurious, accommodation and the food was hearty. My husband is a vegetarian, but eats fish, and he was not well catered for.

I liked Rauris, it's good for families as it is small, friendly and quiet. Piste bashers might find it a bit limited. There is one particular pub (Shakesbeers) that is supposed to be where the apres-ski action is, but we were too knackered to investigate!

Interesting insight from a first timer.
From my own personal experience, dont make any judgements on anywhere or anything based on your first ever trip, as you spend so much time trying to learn to ski that I dont believe you get the chance to take in the real beauty of a place, appreciate what the slopes have to offer, or simply be able to relax and enjoy yourself.

Sorry to hear about your ski school experience. However, once you have managed to progress and are able to parallel turn and cope on blue slopes, its a case of experience taking over and trying new things out. Many would suggest keeping up lessons. Personally, I didnt, I progressed by skiing with people who were better than me, and taking on board lots of advice and tips, and by learning the hard way, which usually meant doing a lot of falling over or getting out of my depth!

As for Rauris, WTSS says its a small village in a dead end valley, worth a day trip from Zell, with only 30km of slopes to go at. Good place for beginners by the sounds of it, but not much for piste hungry intermediates to go at for longer than a day out or two.

hi.went to rauris last year as we got an all inclusive bargain with crystal.was a lovely little resort which my 2 children found great for learning to ski for the first time.i found it a friendly,quiet resort.had limited skiing really that you could cover in a day really.we had a great holiday there though.now crystal have stopped the all inclusive package there i think i would go for somewhere with a little more skiing to offer.this is only my opinion and if the price was right i would not have to think twice about going back.if you type in rauris ski gang,they have there own website.they go every year and you will find lots of information on there to help.

sorry one more point about the ski school.my 2 were with the karl maier ski school.they were excellent.they had groups for complete beginners up to experts and anyone who said they had never skied before were put in their own group.i think neilson used a ski school called adventure,or something like that.cheers