Latest posts for the topic "Are piste maps condensed? "

Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:00:19 GMT

Ok, quick question.

Having looked at a few piste maps i am wondering what there is to attract people to certain resorts.
For example, lets take the often praised Niederau. The piste map here shows precious little runs, certainly nothing to keep me busy for a week!

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Niederau/pistemap_full

Am i missing something?
I realize that off piste opens more terrain but if you only ski on piste what am i going to do after the first day?

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:12:17 GMT

I think you have the ski welt area down the road

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:16:50 GMT

Yes, IME piste maps are generalised, and quite often show major routes. If you want to ski a small resort, it's quite pleasant skiing the same run repeatedly, but in different ways. These days I find @55km quite enough to amuse me, as it's how I ski the slope that determines entertainment and achievement.

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:33:35 GMT

Looks OK, I would be more concerned of the altidute, too low IMHO, hit a warmer week and the snow between 1500-800 will be disappearing quickly.

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:59:22 GMT

I wasn't really asking about Niederau in particular, im sure its a lovely place.
Its just that the piste map is a bit sparse and i had noticed this on quite a few, especially austrian, maps.

Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:07:23 GMT

Snapzzz wrote:Ok, quick question.

Having looked at a few piste maps i am wondering what there is to attract people to certain resorts.
For example, lets take the often praised Niederau. The piste map here shows precious little runs, certainly nothing to keep me busy for a week!

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Niederau/pistemap_full

Am i missing something?
I realize that off piste opens more terrain but if you only ski on piste what am i going to do after the first day?

Snapzzz,
I think piste maps do miss a lot out. I haven't been to Niederau but I know when I went to Hochgurgl (Obergurgl area) the piste map had one simple piste marked but in reality the whole huge area seemed to be piste (judging by the fact that everyone was ski-ing all over it) and in fact we wondered where the piste had gone :wink:

What isn't perhaps clear on the Niederau piste map is that it apparently (according to the website below) also has a giant slalom, a special carving run, a slalom track, and a speed track (which is why national teams go to Niederau to train) and they do a guest race every Friday. These extras alone would keep me happy for a whole week!

http://www.wildschoenau.com/sport/winter/en/tmp_1_1306156917/Snowboarding_in_the_Wildsch%C3%B6nau_Tyrol_detail.aspx

Ally

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 20:40:59 GMT

Thanks Ally,

I did find it hard to believe that a resort could survive with only a few runs.
I have started to study the piste maps hard in preparation for booking next years trips and having done Paradiski this year i am beginning to wonder if i was spoilt by the vast choice.
I cannot imagine myself being happy with a small resort now, no matter how good those few runs are.

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:17:30 GMT

Most large linked ski areas are a relatively recent arrangement. The schiwelt, which is a wonderful, if confusing ski region, was, until the late 80's, eight disparate village ski areas. Most had only a couple of small lifts.
Hence, those of us who pre-date this era, are quite comfortable with skiing in large or small areas. After all, all that skiers need to ski, is some snow.
Having carried skis up the Lake District's Cross Fell, and spent days happily skiing down it's gullys, and walking up, it would not occur to me that I need to have huge areas to enjoy my sport.
I love skiing ~ and I like to ski all day, and do as much as I can. I find, for a number of reasons, that I can do a lot more skiing in the resort that I return to year after year, than in any other area ~ and I have skied a lot of areas!

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:01:03 GMT

I haven't been to too many places but overall I always found piste maps pretty accurate where the number of runs is concerned, though there is no guarantee that particular run will be open. i noticed some discrepancies in location of the runs - sometimes they are shown further or closer to each other than they actually are and it can be little bit confusing for people not familiar with the area. The number of runs is not the best indicator of the quality of skiing on offer anyway. Argentier only has three reds, three blacks and couple of blues, but that will keep most people occupied and entertained and leave them with a sence of achievement if they ski them all, because all blacks are real blacks and reds will be blacks in most other places, no cruisers there, once you can ski a black in Argentier you can ski a black anywhere. Terrain, things like vertical drop and pitch angle will be more important than number of runs. some resorts can be more oriented towards families who are learning to ski, runs are generally gentle and there would be less of them, but families with kids will like it - you can't get lost and you won't feel too intimidated. In Argerntier they simply won't be able to have a good time, it's a very unflattering area that asks for some skills and mileage that would give some confidence to ski it. If skiers are still at the stage when they ski across the hill and can't keep it down all the time they will struggle, on the other hand if they like a challenge, want to improve and invest in instruction, from this place they'll return head and shoulders above the skiers they were before - and all that on a handfull of runs. ON the piste, so you can imagine what the off-piste is like over there. In most resorts there would be some off-piste area so local guide should be able to help with the boredom. plus skiing only takes part of a day, and what's around resort and what's in it may play a role in a choice.

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:03:13 GMT

I've always found the piste maps in the places I have been to be pretty accurate in reflecting the number of runs in the respective resorts, including Niederau. It is as small as the map suggests, but as people say, that need not be a problem for them.
If you're looking at prospective places to visit, I always find the following things very important:
1. Height - I want to go high every time, ie 2000-3000m ideally
2. Extent - I like a larger area 150km plus
3. Reviews available online or in WTSS - give you an idea of what the whole place is about

Re:Are piste maps condensed?

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:12:35 GMT

Interesting contrast between the maps for the linked resorts of La Thuile and La Rosiere. On the Italian map, which crams two ski areas onto one smallish page, the crucial 'link' area is rather unclear.
The La Ros map is much bigger and much clearer. (Only found this out after a skier from the French side asked me if I knew where we were and I had a look at his map!)