J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

bandit wrote:

The local church is very popular and well subscribed :D

Well, boarders must appreciate the cannons in the village church, they can do their stuff on the rails. I've always thought there are too many cannons in the Bishopric anyway.

What I want to know, Bandit, is why the Buvette has snow cannons aimed at it's terrace? And why is the snow cannon coverage so extensive, that it manages to cover the whole mountain? I think we should be told, people need to know.
After all, they could be taking advantage of dan-ski's advice. 8)

Tony_H wrote:

Dave Mac wrote:

Tony_H wrote:Amazing conditions in Val d'Annivers, just shows how localised the weather really can be.

Tony, I have been telling you this for the past 3 years!!!

We're talking about Switzerland here Dave, not N )

We are talking about ski weather/locations, anywhere. I have seen valley variations in Colorado and in Perisher, Australia.

Tony_H wrote:Amazing conditions in Val d'Annivers, just shows how localised the weather really can be.

Tony, I have been telling you this for the past 3 years!!!

No Tony, of course Niederau is not open at the end of April.

My point was that you dismissed my original suggestion that Obergurgl might be sticky, which turned out to be the way it was. I was fully aware of the resort height, but you cannot prevent nature doing it's work.

We did try to get accomodation in Obergurgl for late March, but a high % of the hotels were fully booked, and direct booking offers were over 1000 Euros per person.

In fact, the Inghams reps told us that there were rocks showing through at Obergurgl, and that Niederau was in better condition. We discussed this, because I didn't believe that to be the case. What was resolved was that in high resorts, in the majority of cases, the substrate is rock, while in Tyrol, the substrate is meadow. The piste machines deal better with a meadow base, rather than a rock base. Interesting thought.

I remeber having the same idealistic dream, until my OH asked ~ " Do you really want to live out of a sutcase for three weeks? She's a real passion-killer! But she was right. So we drove from Scotland through to Switzerland, skied at Klosters and Davos. Then moved on, one day at a small Swiss village, then on to Arrabba. The Dolomites are really pleasant skiing, with their own special landscape, ~ interesting for me, as a painter. Then we drove over the Brenner Pass, and into Tyrol, and stayed at Niederau.

I have done other trips of a similar ilk.

You will spend a lot of money on lift passes. Should you decide to stay in one area, say, as suggested aroind the Innsbruck area, or around the Kitzbuhel area, you will be able to buy a pass to cover a wide area. Cost more than a local pass, but much cheaper than a string of separate passes.

The gondola in Niederau allows access to the western mountain runs, and the draglifts on that side, so you can mix and match. You can access the eastern run fron the gondola, but it is a long run in back to the gondola, if you want to do repeats. The eastern run is also serviced by a chairlift.

Auffach has a main run down that you can access by gondela only.

Tony_H wrote:

Dave Mac wrote:

Tony_H wrote:Obergurgl

Yes, but probably a bit sticky at resort level, at the end of April. Nice village, though.

Dave, Obergurgl is a very high resort at 1930m, and I know people who ski there late April and often into May, and they have more fresh snow than in the height of winter.
I suggested it on the basis of knowing people who regularly go there year in year out very late in the season BECAUSE the snow is not a problem.

Mmmmmm:
Allie wrote on return from the April trip to Obergurgl:

By the afternoon, the runs back into the resort were very slushy - puddles everywhere at resort level.