Mr W. I used to always have the misconception, as you appear to, that low altitude always means less snow and not as cold. I think that generally lower altitude resorts have the possibility of suffering a little more compared to those higher up. If for example you compare the village of Mayrhofen at 690m with the village of Val Thorens at around 2300m, you would expect to have more snow for more of the season in VT.
Austrian resorts often are lower than their respective ski areas, as quite often they are in valleys beneath the mountains. Mayrhofen, Schladming, etc. However, some of these places are renowned for being in snow pockets or with micro climates of their own. Otherwise, how would you explain why the area around Soll for instance offers good skiing most of the season round?
I think its fair to say that if you ski lower down, you have more chance of struggling if conditions are not perfect, for example after periods of sustained sun or lack of snow, or rising temperatures. However, I have been to Mayrhofen and Sauze d'Oulx in Feb when its been 15c in resort (yes, even at 1500m in Italy) and yet get up the mountain up to around 2000m and the skiing has been outstanding.
Its wrong to dismiss Austria for low lying resorts, although I take your point about the ambience with snow on the ground. For me, its not essential, as long as the ski area has plenty of the white stuff.
If you are going late season, I think you can expect to experience difficulties anywhere under 1500m for example, although thats certainly no rule of thumb or benchmark to compare to.
I get the distinct impression your image of Austria has been tarnished and blinkered by a previous bad experience?
Why so low in Austria??
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That one always cracks me up as well :lol: Someone said it on TV only at weekend, explaining it away as latitude and location which in this case is a perfectly sensible reason and perfectly inaccurate, there's ski stations here at that height with far more skier days and better cover. If he'd said Cairngorm has a unique position that guarantees extreme wind that would have fair comment though :D
Austria has a good snow record because it's colder for any given height than France, that's all there is to it, micro-climates and associated nonsense are just as silly as claiming Austria is too low to have reliable snow.
exactly .... you must live there :D
and yet, that's exactly the reason people give for the snow conditions, I suppose they're right but they mean to explain to great conditions rather than the variability of it all.
I'm not trying to diss Austria, I just wanted to get a varied opinion on the lower slopes in the lower lying resorts, but you have been pretty honest in your answer and really confirmed what I was thinking,I really wasn't looking to open a can of worms, but I guess I'm just good at it... :wink: :wink:
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Started by Crashandburn in Austria 21-Apr-2009 - 28 Replies
Ellistine
reply to 'Why so low in Austria??' posted Apr-2009
What's wrong with a bit of slush anyway. Once you've got the hang of it it's wonderful stuff!
Great for powder training too. :thumbup:
Great for powder training too. :thumbup:
Pablo Escobar
reply to 'Why so low in Austria??' posted Apr-2009
For example, Scotlands ski resorts top out at around 1000m and we always have plenty snow 
Ise
reply to 'Why so low in Austria??' posted Apr-2009
Pablo Escobar wrote:For example, Scotlands ski resorts top out at around 1000m and we always have plenty snow
That one always cracks me up as well :lol: Someone said it on TV only at weekend, explaining it away as latitude and location which in this case is a perfectly sensible reason and perfectly inaccurate, there's ski stations here at that height with far more skier days and better cover. If he'd said Cairngorm has a unique position that guarantees extreme wind that would have fair comment though :D
Austria has a good snow record because it's colder for any given height than France, that's all there is to it, micro-climates and associated nonsense are just as silly as claiming Austria is too low to have reliable snow.
Pablo Escobar
reply to 'Why so low in Austria??' posted Apr-2009
If we are going on latitude we should really get damn good cold and snowy weather, unfortunately we get blasted with warmth from the Atlantic :(
Ise
reply to 'Why so low in Austria??' posted Apr-2009
Pablo Escobar wrote:If we are going on latitude we should really get damn good cold and snowy weather, unfortunately we get blasted with warmth from the Atlantic :(
exactly .... you must live there :D
and yet, that's exactly the reason people give for the snow conditions, I suppose they're right but they mean to explain to great conditions rather than the variability of it all.
Ian Wickham
reply to 'Why so low in Austria??' posted Apr-2009
Tony_H wrote:Mr W. I used to always have the misconception, as you appear to, that low altitude always means less snow and not as cold. I think that generally lower altitude resorts have the possibility of suffering a little more compared to those higher up. If for example you compare the village of Mayrhofen at 690m with the village of Val Thorens at around 2300m, you would expect to have more snow for more of the season in VT.
Austrian resorts often are lower than their respective ski areas, as quite often they are in valleys beneath the mountains. Mayrhofen, Schladming, etc. However, some of these places are renowned for being in snow pockets or with micro climates of their own. Otherwise, how would you explain why the area around Soll for instance offers good skiing most of the season round?
I think its fair to say that if you ski lower down, you have more chance of struggling if conditions are not perfect, for example after periods of sustained sun or lack of snow, or rising temperatures. However, I have been to Mayrhofen and Sauze d'Oulx in Feb when its been 15c in resort (yes, even at 1500m in Italy) and yet get up the mountain up to around 2000m and the skiing has been outstanding.
Its wrong to dismiss Austria for low lying resorts, although I take your point about the ambience with snow on the ground. For me, its not essential, as long as the ski area has plenty of the white stuff.
If you are going late season, I think you can expect to experience difficulties anywhere under 1500m for example, although thats certainly no rule of thumb or benchmark to compare to.
I get the distinct impression your image of Austria has been tarnished and blinkered by a previous bad experience?
I'm not trying to diss Austria, I just wanted to get a varied opinion on the lower slopes in the lower lying resorts, but you have been pretty honest in your answer and really confirmed what I was thinking,I really wasn't looking to open a can of worms, but I guess I'm just good at it... :wink: :wink:
Tony_H
reply to 'Why so low in Austria??' posted Apr-2009
Stick to cans of worms in Scotland. They are easier to open.
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Topic last updated on 23-April-2009 at 21:19