J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Pavel,

You know that sometimes you hear a piece of music that gives you an install recall of a girl you once met? A quickening of the heart, a smile of that long ago feeling.

Well, when I read your description of the run down, I was transported back to a day, when I first encountered deep snow, snow that sprayed high over the shoulder, with crystals glittering, rhythmic bouncing turns and only the sound of your breath, and your occasional almost hysterical squeals of excitement. Yes snow in nose and mouth! And I was first on and off the lift.

I feel a yodel coming on.

Hi Rob,

I have evolved several solutions. I am short sighted, but can read clearly. Normally wear varifocals. Solutions:

Wrap round dark sunglasses, Specsavers £60 ~ in fixed short sight lens only, but this is OK for skiing, I only need to see the next turn. Wear these 98% of the time. OK in snow conditions, unless really wet snow.

Wide goggles over normal glasses. Old solution, no longer used. Available from ski shops. Cheap

Goggles with internal clip-in spectacles. They work OK, but I rarely wear them. £90 ish

Clip-in inserts into wrap round cycling-type sunglasses. Five different colour lenses. Normally only wear for biking. Under £100.

Last two available as specials from most spectacle shops.

Not quite Caron, Direct Travel still ask that you ski on a run recognised by the lift company. There are a good few runs that do not fall into this category, but ~ what the hell.

Bandit,

I'm with Direct Travel. Two reasons:

Multiple 17 day cover, and when I go over this, I phone them from the resort and extend it, usually + £15.

Reasonably sensible off piste cover and definitions.

I don't bother insuring my skis. I have only ever permanently broken one pair of skis, Fisher Superglas with a 90 degree bend ~ result of skiing under a fence wire, hidden under the snow. One of the few perfect heel releases I've had.

From mid December, almost all Tyrolean resorts are running with a mixture of artificial snow and the real stuff.

Damn you Jan, you stole all my thunder, I have 80 years more Niederau experience than you, get in the queue!

Sorry to be so late with this skidaddle, have been at the Edinburgh Fringe all day with eldest son, who amongst all his other non-jobs writes on the Festival for a Scottish newspaper. Free tickets to everything.

If you want to ski Kitzbuhle, it is closer to go to Kirchberg, and ski over on to the Hannenkamm.

And ~ bummer, Jan has covered everything else. Except, I think it should become official that Jan has the best Auslander capacity for Schnapps ever seen, and still be able to ski the backside off most living creatures. Enough to say that usualy before I see Jan, I have already had ten runs.

Skidaddle, there are not that many runs at Niederau, but there are a 100 diferent ways to tackle each of them, and as Jan indicates, great rewards at the top, when you sit with a drink, looking out over the Kitzbuhleralps.

To answer Jan's train query, I frequently travel by train from Munich Airport to Woergl.

German Rail Address is:
http://www.bahn.de/-S:PtVORN:eigCB9NNsI3dVtNNNT1M/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml

I would not book on line, because if there is a delayed flight, then you may miss the connection.

At Munich airport, go to any info desk, ask for directions to the travel centre ~ this is in the central area. Go there, book your train Woergl return, then down the lift to the Platform. With your ticket, you will get a print out, detailing any train changes, what station, which platform you arrive, and which you depart, including all the times. If a train is 90 seconds late, I would put in a complaint.
You will normally change at Munchen Ost, (Munich East), and probably, again at Rosenheim. I think my last return fare was around 55 Euros, but you can check this through the above address. The fare may vary slightly, depending if you are on the fast train. Journey time to Woergl is about one and a half hours.

At Woergl station, you might be lucky with a postbus, but I really wouldn't bother. A taxi to your door in Niederau is 15 Euros. Fifteen to twenty minutes. If it is taxi Rist, tell them you know Dave, and Werner may charge you extra.

From Innsbruck and Salzburg, get the bus into town, you would be looking to go to the Hauptbahnhof. Train to Woergl, etc.

In this case, use:
http://www.oebb.at/pv/en/index.jsp

Try putting in the journey from the airport, you often get the complete bus/train journey description and price.

Season. Niederau lifts close on 29th March, if previous years are anything to go by, there will still be a metre of snow. It's daft, but seems to be dictated by the travel companies. Auffach stays open until 13th April, but most of the valley hotels will be closed, and socially, the valley is very quiet.

A good late season time is to go is the first two weeks of March.

Am already booked the last two weeks in Niederau. Always in the Bichlwirt on the 18 Jan. Drinks are on you.