J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by dgou

I am off to Adelboden on 21st Feb, nice proper alpine village, with good lift access - check out the website www.adelboden.ch to see the runs. Won't suit everyone but it sure keeps me out of mischief for a week, easy to get to via Berne (train from Zurich), train to Frutigen and then bus, which all connect beautifully. Another valley to try is Kandersteg where there is the International Scout Centre, and again if they have room, they will take you (I am at Our Chalet in Adelboden, the Guide equivalent) but cannot vouch for the skiing as it is in the next valley. I have posted more about Adelboden under the Switzerland section. It all depends on you, your budget, what you want out of your holiday, and how much effort you want to keep costs down! Switzerland can be as cheap or luxurious as you want - have been to Zermatt for a day visit and it definitely has the Oh WOW! factor - as well as being reminded of it everytime I see a Toblerone bar!

I have nice accommodation, breakfast and decent evening meal to work out to £32 a day.

It is not always the Brits - but we do do it well - we were in Saalbach Hinteglemm 3 years ago when it was Shrove Tuesday or Fasching over there. Everyone dresses up so I spent a lot of time on chairs with lots of people in fancy dress, a Bart Simpson (who lost his head part way down) people dressed as vikings, animals and bees, a whole load of German speaking men dressed as Austrian maidens, complete with plaits and dirndls, it was hilarious and certainly made drinks stops quite entertaining as to who was coming flying over the hill! 5 guys at our hotel had raided a fancy dress hire shop the day before, and so we had a chicken, a bear, a gorilla, a monkey and a tiger - and after a day's boarding, they went out to party like that at night!
A lot of people nowadays seem to get dressed up to go to sporting events like Rugby, Football and Cricket - so why not skiing??

The only place in many years of skiing that I have come across where the nursery slopes are for ski school (and others have to pay to use them) is Adelboden in Switzerland - I thought your lift pass allowed you to use every slope - so for those who want to practice you have to use other higher slopes (but I have found a very nice slope high up that I play about on all day - called Tanzboden, which I understand translates as 'dancefloor' so I regularly waltz around here!)

HOWEVER in Niederau, everyone can use the nursery slopes at the bottom, both for ski school and practice, because this is sometimes just what everyone wants, or you just want to do some tweaking for a bit - or you are having a completely pants day and want to be within easy reach of the bar, cakeshop, the village or your hotel!! Higher up there is a lovely blue with a restaurant in the middle which I used to frequent (both slope and bar!) everytime we went to Niederau.

So the answer is - slopes are for everyone, and to be enjoyed as you have worked hard all year for it (well I know I have!!)

Lots of good resorts around Innsbruck, Neustift and the Stubai Glacier are both near Innsbruck, so if you get there you should be fine, as there are a variety of ski areas and also the glacier a 40 min bus ride away(although if it is -20 and blowing a hoolie, it will be cold!)- if it is a bright sunny day, you will experience the feelgood factor :D :D :D, we had an amazing day there on a day trip from Westendorf. Worth having a look to see where the resorts are in the brochure from Innsbruck so that at least you have an idea. Ifyouski and Igluski are good websites with resort reports. You can also get the Stubaitalbahn from that area into Innsbruck if the weather/visibility is too bad to ski - we did this one New Year's day (after going to bed at 4 am!!) and it was a lovely trip. I wouldn't worry too much - they have held past Winter Olympics there, so be encouraged and look forward to it!!

Just think, while you are out there, the rest of us are back here!!! :wink:

I have actually just given my piste maps and town details to a colleague who is going out there Feb 21st, otherwise would happily have posted them onto you. Big sorries!

As a previous poster has said, it is linked into 10 other resorts on the ski pass, and the Steinplatte is well worth the bus trip - high up via a gondola and like skiing in a big white bowl (part of it is also in Germany) and there are some easy runs although not always well marked. I too have stayed at Kirchdorf several times, and skied St Johann, I do remember one of the easy runs down to the village/gondola has 'black' bits in it, and is quite steep so may need to side slip this bit (or in a technical ski term it is a 'poop yer pants job'!!) Nice town, shops, bars, cafes, and a train station so if you fancy a day somewhere, hop on the train - European train travel is superb so you could get to Munich, Innsburck, Kitzbuhel if you fancy a day off the slopes exploring. There is a website if you type the name into your search engine, which shows the pistes and the hotels. I seem to remember seeing people carrying their skis from their hotels, so am unsure if there is storage anywhere nearer. All the other resorts are worth skiing, I particularly enjoyed Fieberbrunn although we did have good powder there. Enjoy!

I too have been wondering what a 'hockey stop' is, having been skiing for many years and never had this term before. I think this is what the rest of us will refer to as a 'whizzy stop' i.e. you come down the hill, and stop sharply with a whizz and hopefully a cloud of snow (down hill skiers do this at the end!) so I think hockey stop is a whizzy one! the only disadvantage to this is that sometimes you do tip over and do a face plant - but hey! you've stopped!!

Westendorf in Austria is great for beginniners, the slopes are in the village for beginners so easy to get back to your base if you are not enjoying it. Some nice easy runs up the top for you to get better on, and it is linked into the Ski Welt so if Westendorf slopes are not holding the snow, this is worth considering. Also Kirchdorf is good, and linked into 10 other resorts on the pass - Thomson do both I think. Have had friends learn in both and I have been to both several times.