J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Does this mean wonderful fresh snow for Christmas and New Year? IF so, yippeeeeee!!!!

If you check out the SBB website (Swiss railways) and punch in Zurich and Kitzbuhel, it will give you a variety of options for getting there. The bad news is that it looks like a joureny of nearly 7 hours by train.

If you definitely want to go to Kitzbuhel, you would be better off flying in to Munich or Innsbruck. On the other hand, if you have already booked flights to Zurich, you might want to consider a resort nearer to the airport, e.g. St Anton.

Tony_H wrote:St Anton is a brilliant place to ski. Nasserein is definitely quieter in the morning, but skiing off anywhere involves tough runs which are often busy, icy and moguled.
If you have any concerns about taking kids there, you'd be right. You can take the gondola back down if you want to.
I am not sure I would have taken my kids when they were younger to St Anton, its a pretty serious place if you know what I mean.

I guess I am just being a selfish b*****d bringing the kids there!

Seriously though, I did bring my then 5 year old there a few years ago and it worked out fine - I think he took the gondola down each day. Once up the mountain, there are a couple of nice areas for the more timid skiers, e.g. on Rendl and up around mid-station on Gampen IIRC. Lech is also a great place for novices with loads of long easy blues.

Hopefully, it will not be too busy or icy in the 1st week of January!

I'm guessing that it you are using mini-skis that you have not taken lessons. I think you should, at least once, hire full size skis (roughly chin height as bandit suggested) and enroll in a ski class. Learning to ski properly will increase your enjoyment of the sport hugely as well as making it far safer for you and for all those around you!

I have been skiing for about 15 years and still try to take a few lessons on each trip to help me push out the boundaries a little further and give me more confidence in a wider range of conditions.

Heading to St Anton on 1 January (yippee!).

We are staying a little bit out of town (in Pettneu) and will probably use ski lockers in St Anton itself. The question is whether to base ourselves in the main village area or in Nasserein. Obviously the main village does give you access to more ski areas and is also a better base for sampling some of the amazing apres-ski. However, we will have a number of kids in the group and we have some concern that the resort runs in the main area can be very crowded, icy and difficult in the evening.

I haven't been down the home run into Nassarein and wonder whether somebody can tell me what it is like last thing in the afternoon?

Also, what are the morning queues like in Nassarein compared to the main village?

Finally, anybody know whether it is worth skiing the Pettneu area for a morning/day - from the piste map, it looks quite small but possibly challenging?

In my experience, prices are usually the same whether you buy in advance or in resort. The only difference may be that, if you are going with a tour operator, their pricing may be in sterling which could give you an advantage depending on exchange rate movements since they set their prices.

Other than that, it is usually a matter of convenience - getting them in advance saves you having to queue on the 1st morning!

You might consider Alpe D'Heuz. There is lots of easy skiing for beginners. The resort itself may not be that attractive but it still has a nice atmosphere. Its high enough to pretty much guarantee plenty of snow and has a reputation of being one of the sunniest resorts in the alps. It also boasts a pleasant outdoor pool (free with lift pass, though speedo's required!). I've stayed a few times with Crystal in their club hotels - Hermitage and Vallee Blanche. Reasonable prices and pretty decent food. All-in-all, a good resort with much to recommend it!

The SkiWelt is a slightly funny area. While the brochures will claim skiing between about 1850 and 700m, the reality is that the vast bulk of skiing is done up the mountain between about 1,200 and 1,800. Snow depth levels at village really only affect the home run in the evening. From my experience with Soll, it is rarely an enjoyable run - it can vary from sheet ice to slush to bare often with large numbers of inexperienced skiers. I often skip it and take the gondola down.

focus instead on snow conditions at mid-station and you will get a better idea of conditions where you will actually be skiing. Skiwelt may be a bit low but in my experience, it is usually pretty good if you exclude the home run!