Skiing in December? How reliable is Mayrhofen/Hintertuxer

Hi All. Looking to Ski in mid-december (13th-20th) in 2014 with a group of 8 (2 families of two adults and two kids). Aware of this being the start of most seasons, wanted to make sure we defiantly had some snow! Looked online and the same places kept on coming up (Tignes, Chamonix and Val Thorens) although these are rather expensive and a little out of our budget! Found Hintertuxer and was wondering what it was like, with the potential to stay in Mayrhofen. Prices are much lower than the 'big resorts' but seems like a large resort with several routes and variety to suit the group.

Essentially, all I want to know is what is it like! As a group we have limited experience of the skiing world, and we want to make sure that if we are going to spend a considerable amount of money, then we want to make sure it will be worth it ... and in my mind that includes snow!

If you know of any places with better snow at this time (at a similar price) then please feel free to suggest this as we've got plenty of time to research!

Many thanks in advance for your advice!

I would consider Cervinia at that time of year. Believe you will find much more convenient for large mixed group. Decent enough village and being Italian is lot cheaper than anything in France in terms of living costs once there.
Would not recommend Chamonix that early, would need to go high giving you 1 run which they don't piste, so not ideal. Plus lot of the terrain actually needs quite a bit of snow (no grassy meadows here).

You can ski most places these days in December owing to artificial snow. Glacier might be better snow, however, do you really want to take a young family up the glacier at Hintertux? Since you say you are fairly new to this world, I hazard a guess you may not have experienced the thin air (which some people simply cannot handle), and tendency to be windy, you find up there. And wrap up warm for a glacier in December!

I found Mayerhofen a bit a of party town. I only know about Austria, and within that I can highly recommend Seefeld as a nice easy, low altitude, well-prepared piste which will certainly be functioning by mid-December, (with a few bits of 'black' piste if you want a bit of a challenge, but nothing super-hard). And a lovely town suited to a young family or older couples (though I imagine it can be a pit pricy), but not so much of a clubbing - loud music - heavy-drinking scene. Piste-wise Schlick2000 is a hidden gem, low, lovely scenery, easy and pleasant to ski (apart from the run to the bottom, you can do down in the lift), by contrast with Seefleld nothing in the way of town, though you can stay in Innsbruck and take the free bus every day. Galtur (which has village, not a town) is another place which pushes the family-friendliness to compensate that they are not as big or glitzy as their neighbours, and like Seefeld also pushes cross-country skiing.

In December Seefeld (and Innsbruck, big-time) offer Christmas markets with events, music, and loads of mulled wine, etc. as a bonus.

Short answer; Hintertux will almost certainly be reliable for reasonable snow- it is open all year; Mayrhofen and the other Zillertal resorts usually only open mid December so depending on the snowfall, might be a little less so (although this season they opened early Dec as they had a lot of early snow).

Longer answer; I've been to the Hintertux glacier a number of times over the years, in January and March; always plenty of snow and reasonable-good conditions, even if nowhere else has snow.
For the past couple of years I have been for a week in very early December; in 2012 there was fresh powder most days but it was VERY VERY cold; in early Dec 2013 (ie last month) the piste conditions were fine, despite not having any fresh snow, and the temperatures were not too bad. Mountain restaurants are cheap too which is always a bonus (on the whole Austria (and Italy) are much cheaper than France and Switzerland so long as you stay away from 'swanky' resorts such as Lech/St Anton, Cortina etc).
You could stay in Mayrhofen and then bus up each day but it is a bit of a trek...
HOWEVER, as above, it can be cold up on the Hintertux glacier and as someone else commented, I would be wary of taking kids up there. The same can be said of Cervinia in Italy, which also has a reputation for being cold and windy- last time I went there, the resort closed for 2 days due to wind and low temperatures. But of course it is not always the case...
In summary, glaciers will always be reliable for snow, but can be so cold you can't actually ski. Most resorts once open, tend to keep the pistes topped up with artificial snow, so wherever you go, if they have good snow-making facilities you should be OK- although of course the higher the ski runs, the more likely you are to have good snow.
If I were you I would wait and see what the snow and temperatures are like a week or 2 before you are due to go-it varies massively between resorts from year to year; one year there may be rain and no snow; the next year the same resort in the same week might have 3 meters of fresh snow.... but with 2 families of 4 you won't have too much trouble getting something last minute in mid Dec. Kaprun and Zell am See tend to be quite cheap and have a glacier up the road, so if there is limited snow in resort, there is always the option of a Glacier. La Thuille in Italy is quite high and good for beginners and intermediates- the Planibel apartments are a good size if you want to self cater, but night life is non-existent.
Good luck!

Hintertux is guaranteed skiing. Mayrhofen is a nice lively working town to stay in, you might or might net be able to ski the local area. Much much cheaper than France with an atmosphere too.

I am new to this forum and have found a lot of information that is quite helpful. My family (wife and 2 adult children) is going to staying in Hintertux for the Christmas holiday this year for 10 days. We are all at least intermediate skiers. I see that the snow in the Mayrhofen area might be hit or miss at this time. Hopefully we get lucky and have most of the terrain open.

We are used to the typical cold and icey conditions of the north east US. I am thinking the conditions could be the same at this time of year in Austria?

Will we need to purchase a bus pass in order to get to/from the different ski areas? Both during the day and night?

I appreciate any information or comments.

-Kevin

Kevin, welcome to J2ski.

I could do this for you,but no time just now.

Look up the area lift company, and then....
Oh well, here it is,
https://www.zillertal.at/en/tips/winter/zillertal-superskipass.html

You will see that the bus pass is included in the lift pass,along with train travel, and free unlimited beer....
Sorry, I made that last bit up, but it seems like a good idea to me.....

Thanks Dave. The superski pass with bus service will work out perfect. I'm a little put off by the no free beer policy but I'll get over it in time.