J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

AndyONeill has queried the difficulty of "the home run" in St Anton.

The first point I would make is that there are more than one ways of the mountain in St Anton, depending on where you have skied and where you want to finish. There is the main run down into St Anton itself off the Galzig/Gampen area (there is another steep black into the village but avoided by virtually everybody so I will ignore it, the run down into Nassarein from Gampen and the run down from the Rendl area.

Secondly, St Anton is not unusual in having a relatively difficult home run - it is often a feature of resorts that the home run is a bit steeper than a lot of the other runs because of the typical shape of the mountain. This aspect may be accentuated by the resorts desire to grade the run blue even though it may be quite difficult. This can lead to skiers who are simply not competent enough tackling the run.

Thirdly, home runs suffer from being lower and having very high volumes of tired skiers of varying skills levels in the evening which often results in sections of ice, moguls, deep slush and/or crowds. BTW, they are often wonderful and much under-utilised runs earlier in the day!

So back to St Anton! Is it particularly difficult? I think the runs down from Gampen/Galzig to the main village and Nassarein are reasonably difficult. The run off Rendl (Red) is probably a little easier, despite the higher grading, but it is quite prone to ice/slush depending on weather.

Overall, I would certainly think that these runs are not much worse than I have experienced in say Meribel, Soll (which at least has the honesty to grade it red) or Flaine (depending which way down you come). In fact, the only resort that I can recall with a genuinely easy home run is Alpe D'heuz which has a big wide green run down from mid-station.

None of these resorts would be a problem for an experienced skier and all are easily by-passed by taking the gondola down - the problem with this latter option is that even relatively inexperienced skiers feel they are wimping out if they do this.

Good question and sure to give rise to lots of debate. What makes it interesting is that, IMHO, nowhere has it all.

For me, the closest is probably St Anton. The skiing is amazing for virtually all levels of skier - only beginners might have grounds to grumble. The snow cover is usually great and the lift system efficient and modern - no queues in 1st week of January this year. The village, while now quite large, is still nice with a fairly traditional Austrian feel to it and the apres-ski - well what can you say - probably the best there is!!! Not without its drawbacks, however. I was particularly disappointed with the inadequate bus service and the sometimes arrogant attitude experienced. Also quite expensive by Austrian standards.

Alpe D'heuz would be another favourite of mine but there is no apres-ski worth talking about and the village certainly would not be regarded as pretty. Flaine would also be high on my list but similar limitations. Soll is a regular spot for me and I think it rates highly on most counts. However, a lot of the runs are quite short and low altitude can limit the quality of the pistes (though the quality of piste management there is now up there with the best).

Take photos now Tony. You need to build an archive quickly. From my experience this year, the Lidders are taking over and soon the bobble will be a dim and distant memory. I'd say the Lidding rate is now up to around 90%! That really reflects an incredible change in behaviour in a very short period of time (and all without any nanny State interference!)

Jabe444 wrote:Man made snow equals bad skiing conditions

I used to agree with that statement but not anymore!


I am just back from a fantastic few days skiing in Soll, mainly on artificial snow. They had a modest fall of snow about 2 weeks ago but no really big dumps. They have also been hit with some high temperatures - we had 12C on the top of the mountain on Monday and glorious sunshine - a very pleasant change from a very damp and grey Dublin!.

Despite this, they are managing to keep virtually all runs open and in great shape with fantastic skiing to be had. If I can manage the technology, I will try to post a picture later on of the South-facing valley run down to Brixen. The piste is a line of white against a green mountain with virtually no snow other than on the piste itself but it was still in good condition. Thats not to say that there wasn't the occasional patch of ice about and some slushy bits but overall - brilliant.

From what I can gather, they have invested very heavily in cannons and equipment and it is paying off in spades. For a relatively low resort, it is able to deliver a super skiing experience with relatively little snow.

Of course, it would be even better with a good dump of snow.

Relax - it is utterly inconceivable that there would not be a lovely big dump between now and your trip, if not lots of them. Besides, with the relatively low levels of early season snow, the odds are now strongly in favour of lots of late season snow!!! Anyway, between snow-making and piste management, you will still be pretty much guaranteed plenty of skiing to be done and you will have a great time!

Obviously, as you are travelling so late in the season, you will have to expect "spring conditions" which means perfectly nice skiing high up and best in the mornings. Lower slopes are likely to be quite slushy/icy, especially after lunch.

tropicana wrote:yeah, kind of point taken Wanderer....ISWUM. But isnt it great to have fresh snow that not icy ????? And its softer to fall into !

Absolutely! But even a day spent skiing hard packed icy pistes is better than nearly anything else, once you are competent enough to manage the conditions!!!

Its clearly not a vintage year with some resorts luckier than others. But its is not too bad either. As earlier comments have indicated, snow-making facilities now mean that it would be very unusual not to have most of the main resorts open.

I had super conditions in St Anton for 1st week in Jan, though it was extremely cold. Heading off to Soll on Saturday for a long weekend. From the reports available, it seems that they had some fresh snow on 26 Jan and conditions are pretty good at the moment though I am sure they will need fresh snow soon.

One thought that has struck me in recent weeks reading comments from Tony, Dave Mac, Pavel and others is that snow conditions don't really matter too much once you have reached a reasonable level of competence - you will be able to have a good days skiing in virtually any conditions. A good reason to develop and perfect your skill levels!!!

While most of us crave beautiful sunny days following a nice big dump of snow, it is really beginners and early intermediates who struggle with less than perfect conditions. And this can include "too much" fresh snow on the piste!!!

6 sleeps + 1 sleepless night. I can never sleep properly the night before I travel!!!!!

Its only a long weekend in Soll but I am really looking forward to it. They seem to have had a decent fall of snow this week which was badly needed. So conditions should be good - yippeee!!!

Now, as long as the Aer Lingus dispute does not get any worse, I should be ok!