J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by acarr

Ally - me too. I know what people say about proper base layers blah blah, but when money was tight we spent it on outerwear. And we wear the much-maligned tube socks, shock horror! :twisted:

When I first started skiing, I imagined that you had to fit the T bar between your legs somehow :lol: Then our instructor showed us how to do it properly.

How do you get off at the top if there are 2 sharing the T? We've only done it as singles, when the instructor showed us how to push the T off to the side to dismount. Obviously you can't do this if there's another person on the other side of the T.

Allie

I like d2b. I have a d2b ski jacket, which I bought in Austria 3 years ago. It has loads of pockets, including one on the sleeve for a ski pass, zipper air-vents that you can unzip for extra ventilation under the arms, a big, roomy hood which can be removed, it's really warm and waterproof and has a snow skirt. What more do you need? :-o

Allie

In 3 years of learning, I can honestly say that using the lifts has been a hard slog. In the first year, I was so scared that I preferred to sidestep up the nursery slope rather than use the lift! :shock: I still have a deep-seated fear of getting off at the top, due to the many times I started sliding backwards and fell over in panic! By year 3 I was ok with drag lifts. This year, I hope to learn the mysteries of the chair lift - something I am really dreading. I do prefer the button-type drag lift, as the button fits securely between the thighs. As opposed to the T-bar, because my amply-proportioned rear end doesn't feel as if it's properly fitting on the one side of the T. :oops:
Onwards and upwards, as they say...

Alllie

Intersport in Hochgurgl is in Hotel Riml. You can reserve online at www.intersportrent.com
Have never used, so don't know anything about them.
Allie

Snapzzz your little girl looks adorable. Still in the pink phase, I see. So is mine, at 9, but am finding it more difficult to source pink clothing as she gets bigger!
allie

Hi mick
There is a brief discussion on the following thread about a couple of the hotels in niederau http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/7675.page#66012
The Hotel Austria is directly opposite the gondola and the nursery slopes, so can't beat the location. However we haven't stayed there, so can't comment on the quality of accommodation. We stayed in the Harfenwirt (see my comments about that on the above thread).
Niederau is excellent for learning to ski, and has many fans on this forum. It is very popular with British people - I leave it up to you to decide if that's good or bad )
Allie

We stayed in the Harfenwirt last year, booked through Inghams. Agree with Jenno - Inghams rep was very good. Now, about the hotel. We were put in the guesthouse (this wasn't made clear by Inghams at the time of booking). If you are in the guesthouse, you have to walk to the main hotel for all meals. Although not far (couple of minutes' walk), I found this irritating. You have to make sure you have everything that you'll need during the day with you when you go to breakfast, or waste time going back for it. The room quality in the guesthouse was basic, to say the least. It was generally clean, but the bathroom could have benefited from being updated - grotty tile grout - I know that's not really proper dirty, but doesn't look good. I just have very high standards of cleanliness! Let's say that the main hotel is 3-star standard, but the guesthouse is nearer 2-star. Halfway through the week we had a lucky break. While we were out, the plumbing in our bathroom went wrong and they were unable to fix it, so they moved us to the NEW WING of the main hotel. That room was fantastic! Really, really nice. So, if you are as fussy as me, try and get a room in the new wing. The Inghams rep gave me a little tip. When you are checking in at the beginning of your stay, make it clear to Herbert that you would like an upgraded room. The upgrade charge is paid directly to him, not to Inghams, so he gets the cash. If there are vacancies in the main hotel, he will oblige.
Herbert himself is fine if you take the trouble to talk to him. I thought the negative comments on tripadvisor were ill-judged. Yes, he is a bit disorganised, maybe a little eccentric, but the guy works his lederhosen off from dawn to dusk. I don't envy him dealing with customers.
Food was ok - there was plenty of it - 3-star standard, usual fare for Austrian hotel (soup, salad bar, main course, dessert). My husband struggled a bit as he's a vegetarian and they couldn't cope with that. One night they gave him things that looked like Findus vegetable burgers - unfortunately still a bit frozen in the middle! Having said that, if we queried anything, they were very quick to try to put things right.
In terms of location, the Harfenwirt is a good 10 minute walk from the main gondola and nursery slopes. At the end of the first day, we thought we were going to die from exhaustion walking back up the hill to the hotel! There is a boot room at the hotel, but most people left their gear in a room beside O'Malleys pub, which is beside the gondola station. There is a slope opposite the hotel, which our instructor took us to. It's unpisted apparently, and probably too easy for 99% of people on this forum, but we found it challenging enough! As I said, the ski schools meet in the village. There is a ski bus stop outside the hotel, which takes you to Auffach and Oberau - we didn't get that far.

The Hotel Austria is probably in the best location in the village, being directly opposite the gondola station. If we were returning to Niederau we'd probably try to go to the Austria. We had coffee in it one day and it seemed pleasant enough. Might I suggest that the price difference you mention might be due to being in the Harfenwirt guesthouse, not the main hotel, so if you paid for an upgrade it becomes a similar price?

I hope some of this is helpful. If you have any other questions, let me know.
Allie