J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Ally

I am off to

1. Finkerberg on 16 January

2. Stuben (St Anton area) on 15 February

Tony

Very sorry to hear about Mrs H. Hopefully, she will make a quick and full recovery and you will be able to get away as planned.

Just one thought: if it is still 8 weeks out, you may not be fully committed financially to all costs of the holiday so insurers might not want to cover some of the costs if you pull out later having paid for everything :evil:

Hope it all works out. In the meantime, I think you should definitely look for another trip later in the season. Even if it works out as a bonus week, I am sure you will cope :mrgreen:

To be honest, I am usually pretty relaxed once we are up the mountain. However, when we are at the base, especially with roads nearby, I tend to be more cautious and will usually split the skis.

Unfortunately, we did have some skis stolen in Flaine a couple of years ago from outside the hotel at lunchtime - it was near a road so I suspect some opportunist grabbed a couple of pairs and threw them in the back of a van :twisted:

I haven't been at Christmas but it is a good area and the snow on the glacier should be absolutely fine. It is really one big bowl so depending on your skill level you might begin to tire of it after a couple of days. There are a few off-piste routes that are definitely challenging if you are up for it.

Given the height, it could be bitterly cold depending on weather conditions. I stayed outside the village so can't help with that.

Zell am See is also on the pass and is a short bus ride away. Its a lovely area but a lot lower and snow conditions at Christmas could be iffy. I would expect the town to be very nice at Christmas - I was there once for New Years and it was fantastic.

Definitely a good thing in my view. As Andy has said, the Arlberg have been charging a fortune for their liftpasses on the basis that it covers such a large area. However, to access it all, you have to take the bus and the bus service is a disgrace :twisted:. I've seen 300 people queuing at Alpe Rauz waiting for the bus to Lech. I suspect the burghers in Lech do not really want to the riff-raff from St Anton coming over :roll:.

Incidentally, I see that Lech has now been connected over the other direction to Warth adding another theoretical 100k or so to the lift pass. I doubt it would be practical (or worthwhile) to try to get over there from St Anton :evil:.

For short breaks, the trick is to maximize your time on the snow. To do this, you need to be thinking of skiing on travel days which means early morning flights out and late flights back. It also means looking for resorts with short transfer times.

I've done it several times to Soll via Munich because the flights from Dublin work out really well.

Also remember, if you are only going for 3/4 days, you do not need a huge resort and the smaller resorts are generally less expensive.

You will probably need to look at off-peak periods to get accommodation for a few days.

Hi Scarlet

There are a few easy runs to the right off the 1st gondola that she would probably enjoy.

The Scheffau/Ellmau areas have loads of nice blue skiing. You can reach this reasonably easily off the chair to the left when you come off the 1st gondola. However, while this is mainly a fairly easy route, there was be a few tricky bits depending on conditions - I would check it out yourself before bringing her over. You would also need to check out the route back - from memory, there are one or two pitches that she might not enjoy :cry:.

You could check out buses up to base of Scheffau to access that area - I presume there are regular services from Soll but never used them.

Two things to definitely avoid:
1. Do not take her up on the 2nd gondola - the runs off the top are really quite difficult.
2. Whatever you do, don't even think of letting her come down to the valley in the afternoon. The valley run is no place for the timid and will ruin her day. She should take the gondola down everytime :wink:

Hope that helps.

Anybody tried this outfit yet? I'm heading to St Anton area in February and ski hire prices are outrageous. Mietski.com have a shop in Pettneu, a few miles from St Anton and are waaaay cheaper at the moment.

Is it worth the trek (and time) out to Pettneu to make the savings?