Mags in the Alps: Studying in Vienna Jan-May, Please Help!!

[Fellin34]

Hey folks, where should i go skiing?

I'm from Montana and grew up skiing the Rockies. I'm in my third year of college and will be studying in Austria this spring. I hear Vienna was not the best ski choice but I am eager to travel.

I don't speak German yet. I will not have a car and I don't know a single person in Europe who skis! I will be arriving Jan 7th and taking one intensive German class until Feb 8th but i think i'll have some time on my hands to leave East Austria on the weekends. Feb-May i'll have Friday-Sunday to ski as well, with a couple of 9 day breaks. I want to find steeps and i'm bringing my AT gear. Where should I go on a broke college kid's budget?

Any info is greatly appreciated!

-Wade

[jwolter7]

I'm in Crans Montana, Switzerland in the Valais near Sion. If you get this way let me know I may be able to get some time off we could go touring and ski some backcountry. In spring I will have more time off and could meet you somewhere.

From Vienna you have some good skiing in Sallbach/Hinterglem, and Badgastein which are some of the farthest east resorts. Hintertux, Solden/Otztal/Piztal, Stubital, Ischgl, and of course St Anton the big daddy of them all. Many people have heard of Kitzbuhel but the mountains are not as big around there. Stick to the big high alpine areas I have mentioned they are what makes the Alps so unique. The high alpine/glacier skiing is what makes the Alps such great place.

The big classic resorts of the western Alps are, St Moritz, Wengen/Murren/Grindalwald, Zermatt, Verbier, Chamonix, and the whole d'Isere river valley(the three valleys) with Val d'Isere being the most famous up at the end of the valley. Also, in Italy the Val Gardena/Sella area.

Enjoy your winter, spring should be very good this year with all the snow the Alps have.

[miketheskier]

Bear in mind that St Moritz, Zermatt, Verbiers are incredibly overpriced.

http://www.salzburgsuperskicard.com/ <-- Ok, Salzburg is on other side of your country but check that out, you may be interested in it if you're willing to train a lot

If you go to St Anton and it's a powder day, then go to the sister resort, Sonnenkopf am Arlberg. A small gem of a mountain with huge easily accesible bowls.

Wien is quite a way out so you will have to think of either driving around (remember to buy your vignette's) or taking the train/coaches

[LittleWoodsie]

+1 on Saalbach/Hinterglemm here. As well as good skiing it ranks along with Ischgl and St Anton as one of the top Apré resorts in Austria. Check out the Goaßstall.

Another area worth checking out is the Kitzsteinhorn near Kaprun and Zell am See. This has more altitude that the surrounding area so maintains better snow in bad conditions and spring skiing that goes strong well into May and even June in a good year. The glacier itself is very flat and boring. But there are some cool routes down to the glacier and the Langwied area just below the glacier is a great little playground full of chutes and gullies. The further you explore out to skiers left the more interesting it gets, but also much more prone to avalanche. You also have to be careful out to skiers left as it is very easy to get cliffed out if you don't know where you are going. If the snow is good and the avalanche danger low there are some good BC routes below the glacier down to the carpark and off the back down to Mittersill.

The party scene is more active in Zell than in Kaprun. But if you want to get away from Austrian/Dutch oompah music then check out Paletti in Kaprun, which is where most of the locals hang out.

March, April and sometimes May are the best months to ski the eastern end of the Austrian alps. There is a better base than in January, February is full of Dutch and Brit school groups and families on school holidays. The rest of the season quietens down except for the two weeks around easter which are a shitfight. Saturday is the best day of the week as all the tourists are changing over so all you get on the mountain is locals and seasonal workers on their day off and ski racers on the mountain for training.

[smallAXE10]

Man I wish I could join you on your adventure. If you want to save some money and get your travel on the cheap, I would suggest maybe heading to Innsbruk. we found this little gem after getting to St Anton and realizing how expensive that place is. All around St Anton we found, only rents housing for a min of 4 days...so we peaced

Innsbruk is so sweet though. Its filled with kids our age and an awesome night life. we stayed at this cheap hostel for a few days, I think it was called Reichenauerstrasse Hostel. Its a little junky and has a curfew but it is cheap the caretaker smoked us up on hash all night. We mostly skied at nordpark which was also pretty cheap and bigger than any mountain i had ever skied before. The buses are easy to sneak on and will take you straight to the mountains.

If your ever in Salzburg check out the Augustinerbrau Hause. Its very old school and the beer is amazing. They usually have a large table full of meat product to go with your mass of beer. Paddy's pub is also pretty sweet. its an Irish bar just down the street that a lot of young travelers hit up.

Good luck on your trip man. That shits going to be so much fun. I hope some of that information helps ya out a little.

Prost

[klar]

pm cramp and/or Schorsch629, they are both based in vienna.

[Fellin34]

Thanks for the great info everybody!

[DeutschBag]

Ski Amade. That Swiss dude is blowing smoke. Kitzsteinhorn is good, but you listen to him, you die.

Ski Amade sucks balls for the most part. Zauchensee is good, bad gastein is okay and you check out what the locals tell you that day. That's the closeste you're going to get to good skiing in that area

One word: Krippenstein. Go there. Beacons, shovels, trans. You want to be good? Go there. Fuck Anton or Ischgl. Look it up.

Besied that, from Wien, Amade is the best. Have fun at Alpendorf

[LittleWoodsie]

That Swiss dude is blowing smoke. Kitzsteinhorn is good, but you listen to him, you die.

Strong statement to make with nothing further said to back it up. In my description I mentioned both avalanches and risks of cliffs if you don't know where you are going. I would have thought that would be enough to indicate checking with patrol, locals or hiring a ski guide before going down there, rather than basing everything on a paragraph on an internet forum.

But maybe I needed to spell it out more clearly. Yes, people have died on some of these routes. They are dangerous, as is anything steep and uncontrolled in the alps. But these routes are also still skied regularly, without incident, by people who have taken the correct precautions.

[hofman]

Hey, I'm from Montana too but I go to vienna to visit family every year (but this one) for some skiing. We always have a car so I don't have great advice on traveling. I would second the Krippenstein area as well as some areas around Bad Ausee (taupliz and loser) which are about the closest good skiing to vienna.
Another of my favorites is Obertauern. You can stay down in Radstadt which is easily accessible by train and take a ski bus there or try the Zauchensee place.
Have fun

[jskierpx]

Hey man I just finished my third year of Uni here in California (CSU Chico), and taking this semester off to move to France to be a bum in the french alps. My point being, if you want to come check out the highest peaks of the alps, I am living in the tail end of EK valley in Bourg St Maurice. Clutch if you want to check out Tignes, Val d'isere 3 valleys, and I am connected to Paradiski(Les Arcs and La Plagne).

Anyways, you know the drill, you can come crash in my flat pending you bring an extra hot austrian skier chick and fill me with boose each night....


Oh, and I will second Krippenstein for the gnar...

[Fellin34]

Sweet, i can't wait to get there. I hope the summer of fly-fishing guiding set me up well enough to ski my ass off, come on dollar!!

[Fat Freddy]

pm cramp and/or Schorsch629, they are both based in vienna.

ahem! you do know that i'm from vienna, too, don't you?

[Schorsch629]

ahem! you do know that i'm from vienna, too, don't you?

ohoho..... never forget the fat frederick

@fellin: if you are a girl, send some photos and i'll decide on what level i will take care of you.

if not just pm me and we meet for a beer......

[klar]

ahem! you do know that i'm from vienna, too, don't you?

oh, my dearest Vergissmeinnicht Vred, please forgive me! how could I have forgotten you?

Fellin34: you must absolutely make sure to pm Fat Freddy also!

[freak]

ahem! you do know that i'm from vienna, too, don't you?

hm, I thought you were one of subtleplagues alii but you never know for sure...

freak~[&]

[Franz Klammer]

Krippenstein or Tauplitz when the former is closed.

I would also recommend getting one of the ski touring books for Eastern Austria if you have a partner and are experienced. My parents always do tours in that region.

[Fellin34]

I arrived in Munich yesterday and i have limited internet access but i will pm you guys when i get into vienna later this week.

is the train the best way to these areas or do you recommend busses? the family i'm with in Germany says there are groups who bus out of vienna on the weekends, do you have any info here?

can't wait to ski!

[Fellin34]

Innsbruck is amazing. Skied it last weekend. You all live in a beautiful place. Starting tomorrow after my german final i will be setting off on a nine day tour through the alps. I will go anywhere, france, switzerland, austria, and i plan to be in Italy on Thursday. Any Beta?

[otter]

hey, I am planning on going to Krippenstein in a few days. what is the snow like there right now???