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

lets hope so, it's looking like high pressure for the next week, and far to mild and sunny for low runs. Not even our friendly snow canons can help at 800m ant 5C + :-( :-(

Shock horror? Hardly 'cos the ski lifts in Niederau were NEVER supposed to be open before the 21st......regardless of whatever the snow is doing!!!

Forecast is looking better from the 26th depending on which weather reports you trust. I find WeatherPro very very reliable and they have it starting next Wednesday (25th) and some decent looking snow on 26th.

But that is still 7 days away, so we shall see.

At this time of year, no sun gets on the north facing slopes, so I am pretty sure the snow cannons will be able to work. On the runs, between the trees, I bet the piste temp does not rise above freezing during the day, and it certainly doesn't at night ~ which is when they are likely to switch the machines on.

Also, by now, there will be "whales" of snow located around the mountain, ready to be moved by the piste machines.

A number of my Niederau friends have been skiing up at Auffach this week.

Great new for those in ski School in niederau ! Plenty of sun down there,lets hope those whales r big uns. Hope MJ's weather report for snow from the 26th is accurate. I've seen forceasts 7-10 days ahead for massive dumps and nothing turns up. Thank god i had a cheeky long weekend in Val d'isere the week before the FIS lot turned up.

I was skiing in Auffach and all across SkiWelt last weekend. It's OK for now if you like being on the piste.

paulschlote wrote:We've been in Dorfgastein 4 of the last 5 years and only come across British skiers on a couple of occasions.

Hey Paul, I am heading out to Bad Gastein mid January, I dont know anyone who has skied the area before, and I am well aware its fairly off the radar for British skiers which I am more than pleased about.

What can you tell me about the skiing up the Gastein valley?

Definately get a bus up to Dorfgastein.You'll get a good days skiing when you combine it with Grossarl.Plenty of reds with all the runs apart from a few going into grossarl are tree lined. All the lifts are fairly fast apart from the chair in Dorfgastein which runs from the base station. They only run this when there are big queues at the bottom, which only coincide with the ski schools,so avoid going up between 9.45 10.15 approx. The ski amade area and website area is great, have a look
at the following link

http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter/skiresorts/grossarltal-dorfgastein

I've not got the lift from Bad G, but iv'e gone up from Bad Hofgastein. There's a funnicular that takes you up most of the way, then get the cable car, DON'T get the chair next to the funnicular as it's probably the slowest one ever ! A great 15km red run from the top in Bad Hofgasatein from the Schlossalm down to the bottom which should keep any intermediate/advanced skier happy. I think this is one of the longest runs in Eastern Alps.Pop in the Schlossalm for lunch, i sat outside and enjoyed a sauasge ! and beer with great views. I'm sure you'll enjoy the Gastein Valley,it's not a place for big groups of loud apres skiers, but
a place where you can ski some great runs in great scenery. One other thing friends of mine have commented on Austrian pistes not being smoothed out like they do in France, my reply is Austrians are better skiers !

Smooth pistes? Pah. That's only first thing in he morning.
Thanks for the tips, Schlossalm was on our agenda, and we selected the area mainly because it ticks all the boxes in terms of mileage, scenery, snow record, and it's a little bit outside the usual box which we like. Looking forward to it, thanks again.