Niederau New Year Week-Experienced skiers staying in Niederau who want to ski other areas.

Is that Run 19 bit you refer to the fenced off left hand side, just before you join the 24? Now has orange plastic fencing etc.

and apres-ski in Niederau is pants. I wish it wasn't......but it's pants. Dutch bar at the bottom of the lift can be OK from 4 till 7, but its either dead or rammed, and because it's small the difference between dead and rammed is about 25 people. Everywhere is invariably grim in the evening. I love Guinness and irish bars but never had a single drink in the Irish bar in Niederau last winter.

If I have mates in town we get cabs elsewhere.....unless we want a very quiet evening. The Cave bar is open late but pretty much a desperate stagnight for losers.

Thanks Dave sorry to hear about your mate. I guess it's the mix of mix of danger and adrenaline that makes skiing (or boarding for some !!!) the sport that we love. I do however struggle with the concept of 44 years
of Niederau, you must either have a holiday place there or friends that you visit. I've only been on the piste for 25 years but have only been back to the same resort 4 times maximum( Dorfgastein- ski amade & Les Arcs/La Plagne). I take it you use Niederau as a base and only ski it one day in a weeks break, then venture further afield. I can see why people go there for there first ski holiday, but once your happy on red runs it really doesn't have enough to offer. Anyway don't want to put the charming little place down as it's a pretty little village compared to the likes of solden or mayrhofen. We all have different agendas on a ski holiday and every place has it's pros and cons (some more than others). Please don't take this as an invite for the Niederau "Ski Police" to start shouting, it's just my observation.

Thanks for your kindness, Paul.

No, I rate the skiing in Niederau quite highly. I have skied all over Europe, USA, Canada, Australia. I go back to Niederau primarily for the skiing. No, I decided a long time ago not to buy any place abroad. I always pay my rent, (of course I get a good deal!), but I have always chosen to stay where the owners speak little English, so I am forced to learn more Deutsch each year, and that is normal life enhancement. It is true that I have a lot of long term friends there, and every year adds to the number. Most days, if I am feeling strong, I will not stop for lunch until I have skied a minimum of 10 runs, on/off piste,it makes little difference. It is a bad day if I do not ski a minimum of 20 runs. This isn't run counting, for it's own sake, just a median measure. I just love skiing. For me, it is pure poetry, and every turn is a little adventure.
I held the day run record for 10 years, so I guess that is special, for me, anyway. The local history is interesting. This thought would apply to any place, but how many take an interest?

I suppose it depends on the kind of person you are. At the end of one visit to St Anton, one local told me that I knew more people in St Anton than his brother did!

Few people know that a section of Tennladen has been shaped to model a part of the Hahnemkamm, fewer still know that the whole Tennladen is steeper than the Hannenkamm. A few weeks ago, I received a message from one of the UK's best downhill skiers, recalling his FIS Downhill run in Niederau, and wishing me to pass on his greetings to certain locals

It is fair to say that I do not see ski resorts in the conventional 120km of skiing way. When I first skied in the village, there were no piste machines, no on/off piste. There were 17 named mountain runs, all just natural skiing.

So although my plans for the winter are not complete, I will ski Niederau in Jan, Feb, and March. I will also be in the Dolomites, Glenshee and Cairngorm, plus another, not yet decided. When in Niederau, I may take a day or two in Alpbachtal, and another couple of day in Auffach. I will certainly drive to other valleys, Kitz, Skiwelt, plus others.

But mostly I will choose to ski in Niederau.

I think you should put your name forward for Burgomeister of Niederau. I must admit of all the resorts i've been to Niederau has the highest number of Brits staying there so fairly easy not to use your Deutsch sprechende.My daughters happy to be going there this new year as half the kids in ski school will be Brits. We've been in Dorfgastein 4 of the last 5 years and only come across British skiers on a couple of occasions. I guess that's the beauty of booking things independently instead of package tours with the masses. I sometimes wonder if many people research ski hoilidays before they head out. This site alone has so many places listed, but the tour operators like to deliver everyone to the resorts they've been established in for years. The ski amade region is a real gem http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter/skiresorts
Admittedly we always drive to the alps, so have the benefit of visiting different resorts on an almost daily basis. We don't only ski a run once just so we can say "done that one". I recall last year in Zauchensee doing the same run 6 or 7 times in a row as it was so varied it had a little bit for everyone (apart from a begginers). I think however in niederau i must have been down 19 & 24 20+ times in one day as the black no.15
had virtually no snow on it for the last 200 metres. I think the new link between Auffach & Alpbach will be great for the valley, but i recall Munich J mentioning big queues in Auffach. I assume it's the same as any other resort and if you turn up between 9.30-10.15 the masses & ski schools are all heading up.

If your around over new year Dave our paths may cross. Enjoy this winter, i'm sure you will :-)

Skiwelt has 91 lifts and cablecars with 84 ski huts and 279km of official slopes.

Niederau has 1 gondola, 1 chairlift and 3 drag lifts. A few kms of slopes but way less than 20km for sure.

Auffach does indeed wind me up with dire parking facilities and lift queues. I use it on the obviously non-busy days, but around Xmas and New Year it is frustrating, and of course now worse with the new link to Alpbach. I instinctively now simply head to Westendorf as there is ALWAYS easy parking and better runs.

Must admit that unless a run is especially epic (with new snow etc) then I generally resent going down the same run more than twice in a day.

I think Niederau is probably great for your 1st week of skiing. I also don't like that of course the slopes are in shadow for much of the day - it's good for preserving the snow, but I love skiing in sunshine (Auffach faces the other direction).

Shock horror Niederau still isn't open and the snows thawing out fast,thank god i'm mobile that week and
won't have to ski on the mud and grass. Will have to head towards Westendorf as per Munich J !

I think Munich J may have some better news for you, snow wise.