1st Austria trip advice.

A friend went to Mayerhofen last year and really enjoyed it ... a large linked area (620km)but you might have to travel a bit ...and not too expensive

I've done Mayrhofen and St Anton several times. Mayrhofen can seem longer to get to the slopes as the gondola up and down gets busy but theres lots of good skiing up there.
St Anton is a fantastic area but more for confident intermediates and it also gets crowded - better skiing round at Lech and Zurs but expensive.

I'd take a look at Bad Gastein - its somewhere I keep looking at and when I tried to book the place I wanted this season it was full unfortunately.

Schladming also looks good but more limited in terms of miles, as is Solden and Obergurgl but everyone I know whos been to both said it was great.

Skiwelt and Skiamade regions offer tons of skiing but often with low lying resorts which could be a problem.

Thanks again folks for the advice. Would it be too risky, having booked my leave for January, to wait till the last minute, to check out where the snow is a different book accordingly.

Cheers,
Mark.

January is low season, I doubt the accom will be difficult to find,flights may be a problem particurly from regional airports as they book out quick and tend to go up in price.
It is possible to get a real bargain if you wait, it is also possible to end up with extremely limited choice and a cock o clock flight time from an airport further from home than ideal.
If your going DIY I would be tempted to book flights now then narrow down resort from weather conditions later on.

andyoneil wrote: it was "race prepped" and thus a little quick for us mortals

What does that actually mean? How can they make the snow quicker? (apart from turning it to actual ice)

NellyPS wrote:

andyoneil wrote: it was "race prepped" and thus a little quick for us mortals

What does that actually mean? How can they make the snow quicker? (apart from turning it to actual ice)

That'sexactly what they do. The old method was to water te course and get the Austrian Army wallahs to side slip down the course. Now they use chemicals.

Dave Mac wrote:

NellyPS wrote:

andyoneil wrote: it was "race prepped" and thus a little quick for us mortals

What does that actually mean? How can they make the snow quicker? (apart from turning it to actual ice)

That'sexactly what they do. The old method was to water te course and get the Austrian Army wallahs to side slip down the course. Now they use chemicals.

Also they sculpt the snow so that you pretty much have to follow the racing line which puts you on course for hitting all the jumps etc

Ski instructor we had warned us to keep away

Rocksy - I posted something similar back in August and was advised to go to Hinterglemm (suppose mainly for fact that girlfriend can be on nursery slopes outside hotel so no long haul trips with skis etc) but enough blue and reds to keep me amused. Learnt to ski in Chatel myself so hoping similar runs and options. Ski circus looks the ticket. Going 2nd Feb