Good piece in the Guardian on top 10 Austrian ski areas – Top 10 Austrian village ski resorts | Travel | guardian.co.uk

There top ten are:

1. For beginners – Westendorf

2. For mixed-age families – Filzmoos

3. For silver skiers – Oberau

4. For groups – St Anton

5. For lovers – Alpbach

6. For experienced skiers – Galtur

7. For partygoers – Mayrhofen

8. For young families – Ellmau

9. For Glam – Lech

10. For non-skiers – Igls

Now, interestingly, or worryingly, Westendorf, Filzmoos, Oberau, and Ellmau don’t appear on theSnowSite? Why? No idea.

From the list I have personally only skied two: St Anton and Lech (Lech is a chort taxi ride from St Anton), and yes, Lech is for Glam (also has some great cruiser ski runs), however, if St Anton is listed for ‘groups’ and Mayrhofen is the ‘party’ resort, then Mayrhofen must be a really good party place, and I must check it out.

For the full-story, and breakdown of why which resort was picked for what, have a look at: Top 10 Austrian villages in The Guardian.

On the first day of skiing at St Anton I used the Galzig lift. As I stood there I thought ‘this is new’, and I was wondering what was wrong.

(more…)

Six days of skiing in St Anton….

(more…)

Final day of skiing.

Yesterday the weather was awful, but the forecast for today was good. So, up early and first lift up to Rendl.

First run was dreamy. Groomed base with a light dusting of powder. The second run, down to the lowest lift (Maass) was icy and horrible. Runs off Riffel I back to the base of the lift were great. Runs uber Gampberg were also icy.

Rendl doesn’t get much early sun so runs took some time to soften up. Rendl is great though as it remains quiet.

Around 11 I decided to head over to St Christoph for lunch. Route 1 out of Rendl was icy, but got better further down.

Find of the trip: a small bar/restaurant towards the bottom of Route 1 called Speisen and Getranke. Best cappuccino in Rendl, and a great Applestrudel… Why do you always find the best places on the last day?

Christmas Day, St Anton, Austria….

The forecast was for snow on Christmas day. However, in St Anton it is driving rain. Lovely.

9:45 – Rendl Restaurant – got soaked walking through town. Caught the main cable car up to the ski area, at 5000 ft the rain turned to snow. In the cable car it was impossible to see anything. The mountain is shrouded in fog and driving snow, plus all the rain had frozen on the exterior of the car.

Not many skiers out.

11 am. Coffee break. Why can’t they do hot coffee here?

Weather is really grim, and snow conditions not great. Yesterday was warm and the ‘melt’ froze overnight, and then fresh snow added. Where there is a good covering of snow it is fine, but there is a lot of ice about. Visibility is very poor, I have had to buy new goggles.

Plan now is to head back fiends to St Anton and then over to St Christoph to meet some fellow skiers for lunch.

Very warm this afternoon, temperature around 5°C. Spring skiing conditions.

3:30 pm, time to stop for s drink on the way back to St Anton.

First stop, Krazy Kanguruh (Crazy Kangaroo). Good happy hour prices, but not a lot going on. May be a bit to early.

3:45 pm – place seems to be filling up – lot of ski instructors here.

4:30 pm Mooserwirt – the place is dead. Nothing go on. Almost empty. Doesn’t anything happen in St Anton on Christmas Eve?

Apparently the reason Mooserwirts was so quiet is because the only night of the season the DJ gets off is Christmas eve. I have also heard that all the bars in town are shut tonight and the only bar that will be open is Scotty’s Bar in this hotel (Rosanna).

Time for lunch…..

Today it is the Krazy Kanguruh (Crazy Kangaroo).

The place is surprisingly quiet. Hardly anyone here. Menu is not very extensive, salads, soups, pasta and burgers Lunch today will be the skiers favourite – spaghetti bolognese (spag bog).

Service was speedy (there are nearly as many staff as customers), the spag bog was hot, very tasty (a bit too salty), and the portion was large. All for around € 10.

Met a bunch of Aussie in the KK. What a surprise. Two had come from Australia for the trip, and the other two were ‘traveling’.

Up on the slopes at Rendl just after 9 am. The cable car up to the main ski area was empty (and the seats toasty).

Today the weather is cloudy, but the light is not too flat, and there is occassional sunshine.

For the first hour I seemed to be the only one on the slopes. I did whole runs without seeing anyone, lifts seemed deserted.

Snow conditions are very good. A few places were a bit thin, and there are a few areas of ice. And I have spent the first hour skiing virgin groomed trails.

Around 10:15 a few more people hit the slopes, but lifts still remained ’ski on’.

Now, 11 am local time, I have stopped for a coffee (of the two restuaurants at the top of the Rendl cable car can neither of them do hot coffee?). Currently in the Panorama Restaurant and the views are stunning.

The plan now to take a lift part way back up the mountain and then ski down route 1 back to St Anton for lunch.

Mark Warner (a UK ski company) uses two hotels in St Anton, and I am staying in the Rosanna (not to be confused withe the Rosanna Chalet).

(more…)

As the morning started with a blizzard I decided to take the day off from skiing (a mistake as the weather cleared around lunchtime to give a great afternoon) and look around the town.

(more…)