Help - Mid March Skiing

Hi there,

My husband and I (in early 30's) want to go to Austria skiing next March (15th - 22nd). We have skiied twice before so would be above absolute beginner stage.

We can't decide where to go, we had decided on St Johann but a couple of people at work here with have said there will be no snow Mid March.

We will probably have to fly into Salzburg which is also a consideration and would like a resort with some nightlife

Can anybody advise?

i'd suggest going to Banff haha the prices may suprise you and snow in March is fantastic, hey i'll even give you a free lesson and show you ruond the mountain. Otherwise Salzburg, try Badhofgastein/Bad Gastein, or even Saalback if you can put up with the odd snowboarder!

Hi

I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of snow this year in St Johann, I skied there this year and there are plenty of snow cannons so provided it's cold enough there will be snow. This year as well as the lack of snowfall the problem was the temperature was mainly hovering around freezing and the snow cannons can't operate unless it's about -5 ish. The area pass gives you access to over 200km of piste so the chance is that you'll have skiing a short bus ride away if not at St Johann, Kitzbuhel is only just down the road! Nightlife wise there's pretty much all you could want in St Johann. Are you booking direct or with a tour operator?

Thanks for the advice, I'll be probably going with Topflight here in Ireland flying Cork to Salzburg

Just hate if we got there and there was no snow!!!

hey, there's no gaurantees in life!! but realistically the key to a good and long season in Europe is autumnal snow followed by cold weather, this cold weather preserves the snow layer for the heavier winter snows, this was missing last year hence the poor season. Some climatologists reckon the alps had the worst winter for 1,300 years!!! Lets hope lightning doesn't strike the same place twice!!

What you have to look out for is if the weather Novemeber and December is nice and cold the resorts will start laying down a layer of man made snow as a base, something to do with the chemical make-up of man made snow means it lasts longer than the real thing :shock:

freezywater wrote:something to do with the chemical make-up of man made snow means it lasts longer than the real thing :shock:

I'll explain this better later when I get time but I want to make the point that snow cannons do not use chemicals, some did in the paste maybe for a brief period but no modern cannon uses anything other than water.

A quick google just pulled this out :

http://www.peakretreats.co.uk/ski/sustainable-tourism.htm

However, that needs the caveat of pointing out it's completely and utterly missed the point about the impact of cannons which is primarily that you need water :D Water scarcity is a big problem in alpine locations.

did I say it had chemicals in it?????? I was referring to the way man made snow is made, which is different from natural. Now I'm going to have to explain myself, unfortunately Chemistry never was a strong point so I hope my chem tutor doesn't read this :oops:

the main difference is that natural snow forms as flakes whereas man mad snow form as crystals.

[First Tracks Online have a good Introduction to Snow Making Chemistry]

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freezywater wrote:did I say it had chemicals in it??????

Yes, you did in English as we actually speak it, I think if you read it back you can see that.

freezywater wrote:unfortunately Chemistry never was a strong point so I hope my chem tutor doesn't read this

don't sweat it, the odds if him/her reading both J2Ski and First Tracks Online are fairly small :D