J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

avalon wrote:

Hi everyone ! We are coming to Neiderau in March 2009 with our grandson who is 9 and he is desperate to learn to snowboard.Can anyone give us any tips please ? Husband and I are both accomplised skiiers and the litle `un can ski pretty well to. We will be staying at the Hotel Austria March 9th for a week.

The Austria is a great location, straight opposite the Gondola. The hotel, shop and ski hire attached are all run by daughters of the Blachfelder family.

I recently found out that my younger son had tried snowboarding a couple of weeks ago in Scotland. I just threatened to cut him out of my will, but I think the ratio of falls/metres boarded was such that he has already given up.

There is an issue for boarders in Niederau. Once you are on the run, any run, it's as good as anywhere else for boarding. However, the top of Niederau is a plateau, and the paths between runs were designed for skiers. So if your young one wants to board the mountain, you are all going to be slow between runs.

Any other Niederau specific questions, just fire away.

Well said Rose.

Our group of village friends are like 10/15 years younger than us. I don't think that is any way an accident, we still play sports, and as our "older" friends retire, our shared interests just seem to be with younger people.

Whenever I hit a "big" birthday, and get a bit of teasing from our friends, I remind them of say twenty years hence, when they come to dinner, they can park their Zimmers behind our skis!

That won't happen of course, by then we will have moved on to a younger age group. :D

To the best of my knowledge, of J2skiers, only Jan lives there.

I guess that I am the other most regular writer on Niederau. I have spent so much time there, I know a lot about the place, and I am always happy to help those that have specific queries. I have no commercial interest.

In truth, I would be the wrong person to ask, because I suspect that you would be looking for km of skiing, total number of blacks, night life. Someone else can do that.

When you go back to the same place on a regular basis, over a long period, you get to know a lot about the place, the people, characters, history, building, art, music, village life. So for me, it has a great life value, as good as, but different from that of the small village that I live by. I lived there for four winters, and instructed there. My friend died in a ski accident and is buried in the churchyard.

I don't care that it is a small ski resort, don't mind doing the same run over again, I know 10,000 different ways down! To me, skiing is body poetry.

What is interesting to me is the number of people, both on J2ski and those I meet skiing, who also have gained an affinity with the village. I too would be interested in the answers.

Ellestine!

Don't know my March dates yet, but if the winter is good, will be later on, towards end of March. It's much better for painting, because the light is so good.

Not that Hertshotgirl

I think I meant, I don't drink vodka.

brad wrote

As Tony also said above, 60 is old, but it really isn't "that" old, it really depends on the person, some people have trouble even walking in there 60's, I've meet other people in there 80's that seemed to have the energy of a 50 year old. I guess we can all hope to be the latter.

I wouldn't answer Tony's comment, I once asked him, if 60 is old, at what age would he finish skiing? He replied, "in his mid-sixties." That so lacks ambition. It also means that I will still be skiing when Tony has retired. Yeah :lol:

Have told the tale before of when I met up with an old Austrian in Niederau still skiing at the age of 94! He has stopped now though, think his knees are still OK, he just can't remember his name.

Geoff Smith is the new J2ski hero, good man. Of all the people that I ski with, who can ski fairly quickly, none is under 60, several are over 65, some over 70.

So why do I spend my time skiing with 25 year old lassies?

Mrs Para wrote:

Thank you for the reply Dave. There are five of us so we would need 2 taxis - do you know roughly how many euros?

Glad you like my name but as a lady (?) I won't be thumbing any lifts!!!

Also is it better to buy the local ski pass and just upgrade on the days we want to ski the Welt?

Could I be really cheeky and ask where the Hotel Harfenwirt is on the picture?

Better to take a mini-bus taxi. I would guess 20 euros each way, so 4 Euros each. Phone them from your mobile when you are finished skiing.

Lift passes. I buy a season pass so, I doesn't matter if we take a day elsewhere. We will be in Niederau at New Year with friends, (also staying at the Harf), and they will be in the same position. If we decide beforehand that we are taking a day out from Hopfgarten, they can buy a 5 day pass for Niederau.

So this winter, a 6 day pass is 146 Euros, a 5 day is 127 Euros. A day pass fom Hopfgarten is about 35/38 Euros I think. In Hopfgarten, take 5 min to visit the church, it has a fabulous interior.

The Harfenwirt is at the opposite end of the village, in the right direction for Hopfgarten. The T-bar is straight over the road from the Harf, and you can ski back to the roadside. Hotel is about 5 min walk from ski centre. The Bichlwirt is about 2 min the other way.