Niederau I cannot believe it's over already

Hi Everyone
Well we arrived in Niederau on the 20th December 2014. It was very green no snow. CrystalSki did warn us that there was no snow in niederau but did say that Auffach had limited snow. It was described as the snow is a strip on the piste with green either side so I did not expect much. Well next day it had snowed overnight and those green bits on Auffach had gone. Crystal had been quite good they refunded some of the money for the ski passes because only 4 lifts had been open and they also gave me and my husband some money in cash for a morning lost skiing while it was sorted out. I only did a little skiing which was nice it has been 20 years. Unfortunately I have MS and I am just not strong enough for serious skiing especially as I am weak down one side. That said it proved useful to be free. My son would not stay in ski school he has Asperger's and there was not enough processing time so I went over the basics and his dad took him out in the afternoons. My daughter loved it she was like a duck to water she coped really well even the ice on the runs which was a bit of a shock on her second day now she is dying to return only problem was she never experienced the T bar none had been open and she feels a bit miffed that she missed out. Needless to say Niederau had a couple of days snow but too late for us. They expected to open on the Saturday. we left today that Saturday 27th December at 7.30 am. I really like Niederau it was nice. I understand the local workers were gutted on Boxing day as they usually ski from top to bottom in just their underwear and skis lol I would have loved to see that. Boxing day was also young mans day. A good old drinking session. One bar apparently had young gay man day so advised the family to go next door. It all seamed good fun very lively.
I stayed in Hotel Hannes loved it there good food, nice traditional wood carvings and Reggie the lady of the house is fantastic. The rooms are quite big with nice en-suite shower room not to formal and we really liked it there. My family had a nice time despite the lack of snow, but school holidays and financial year ends limit when we can go. I had 20 years of skiing 3 times a year and then stopped because of My MS.
Ok I could only ski a little bit but a real joy to do a bit and I was not too bad considering I have a walking stick and even crutches most of the time. For me the real joy was watching my daughter 14 years succeed and grow in a week and watching all those having fun like I used to do. :-o

So glad you enjoyed Niederau, Marie, it is my second home. I have spent over 200 weeks there.

Given your condition, and the snow conditions, Auffach was probably a good bet. In normal years, the two top runs above Niederau are great.

Regarding your son, have you thought about approaching Disability Snowsport? They are used to dealing with all types of medical conditions. Niederau is one of their main centres, and I am fortunate enough that my two January weeks coincide with theirs ~ the last two weeks in January.
I agree the Hannes is a good base, although it is many years since I stayed there.
Before anyone asks, no, I have never skied just in underwear in Niederau on the several Boxing Days I have been there....
However, I will be skiing in a kilt on 18th January....
Do come back to Niederau, Marie, the village is built on people with your kind of enthusiasm. And should your MS get worse, then DS can provide a solution.

marie131963 wrote:they usually ski from top to bottom in just their underwear and skis lol I would have loved to see that

So would I :twisted:

Really enjoyed reading your report Marie. Glad you enjoyed yourselves despite the lack of snow. I hope you and your family get to ski again.

Lovely report. All the best for 2015 Marie.

Thanks for that Marie - sounds like a good ski holiday, regardless of the conditions. So, where next?

Hello everyone

Thanks for your replies, Dave Mac, Acarr, Stevie999, and Admin. I wish you a wonderful 2015 I hope you have a fabulous New years eve, with lots of joy, good health, wealth and happiness plus exceptionally good skiing and good holidays in all 2015.

Thanks Dave Mac for the advice on Adam, I never thought of Disability Snowsport for him, I will look into this for the future. I will go back to Niederau at some point it was so nice and friendly.

We even went to church on Christmas day and enjoyed a lovely English carol service. Not sure when I will return kids holidays restrict us and Michael won't get next Christmas off. So more than likely looking at February 2016 school holidays. 2015 February and Easter school holiday has already booked by his colleagues so we will have to wait. :(


Hey Dave Mac I like the skiing in a kilt.

We skied in a place called Torgan I think its just into Switzerland for our honeymoon in February 1994 I had skied for years but my husband had never skied and he was very lucky to be taught to ski by a Scot in a Kilt. He was lovely, and was one of the instructors with a group of Christians called Oak Hall skiing based in Kent.

I went all over the place with them from when I was 18 years old and I was thin in those days unlike now lol. Of all the places I went that I loved, two stand out. The Sporthotel in Flattach near the Molltall Glacier it had wind only on one day and was closed so then we went to Bad Gastein and the other place I really liked was Feldburg in Germany. I always did 2 week or 10 day breaks. I worked for the NHS and got good holiday leave I like the quiet places and these really suited me. Plus being in a Christian group it never bothered me going on my own with them, my mates just could not bring themselves to try. So I did not want to miss out.

I did have one interesting experience. The very first time I went with Oak Hall I was supposed to go with a friend who chickened out and did a runner. She had a few dates so did not know my actual holiday dates, this was a coach journey we met in London I had telephoned Oak Hall explained what happened so they said come alone you will love it they gave me the dates. Well I turned up in Grosvenor road, London Sw1 and met others in a café called the well. Needless to say got on like a house on fire us scoucers are a little bit friendly. Then we all lined up for the coach. It was then I noticed I had a different colour bag label. Well they gave me the wrong date. Turned out one person cancelled because they had an epileptic fit so they took me anyway in the one and only available place. I had a fabulous time wherever I had gone. The weird bit was on the way back we travelled via Zeebruger. The week later I was standing at the bus stop I did not drive then. I was told about the Zeebruger Ferry disaster. If I had gone on the proper week I would have been on it. I would have been in Duty free buying the booze that wasn't allowed on the coach, for my dad, Most of Oak Hall where Teetotal I was a Christian but I liked a little drink so one bottle of rum for my dad no one would have known but I always got the duty-free as soon as the shop was open so I could relax and enjoy the ferry with my new found mates. They are still friends now although most have married and no longer ski we are all in our 50's now. If my actual trip was on the right day I would have been lost on that disaster, Talk about God moving in mysterious ways!

Coach was a cheap and effective way for me but these days flying is better, I even get the closer airport these days lol.

Thanks for everything have a great season of skiing / boarding and fun I will be with you in spirit. In the mean time I think the chill factor in Manchester will be a regular thing now my daughter has the bug.
Keep your reports going love them!

best wishes to everyone

Marie xx

Marie, it makes a lovely change to read a positive trip report for a holiday when there's not much snow about. Most trip reports I've read on other websites for the week you went were quite negative. I'm glad that you liked Niederau - it's on my list of places to ski (largely due to Dave Mac's enthusiasm for the place). Glad to hear that your daughter liked it - my daughter is also 14, and is now a dare-devil nutcase who can out-ski mum and dad by miles. She still has no idea where she's going, bless her. And I can still make T-bar lifts, erm, interesting for her. Tee hee. I usually post a report on my trips, so I'll make sure I do that after my trip to Norway in February (I'll have to take a bottle of rum or two or possibly three in my luggage - don't fancy paying Norwegian prices).

I'm glad you had a good time in spite of the lack of snow in Niederau :)