Week 1 December 2012

"Dear Mr/Ms Helmet,

I was asked how many times I had been to Austria and my reply was six which it is,
if I had been asked how many times I have skied Austria my reply would have been one.
I do hope that clarifys the matter for you.

Kind Regards

Wickers "


Winduptastic :D

idkwia wrote:Ian Wickham, I have skied for well over 300 weeks in different resorts in France and about the same amount in different resorts in Austria and I can honestly say I pretty much enjoyed all of them but if I had to choose then there is no doubt that Austria would win quite easily for food, accomodation (it is miles better than France in this category), ambience i.e. character, and to say that the lift queues are worse in France is simply plain wrong. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion but if you have only skied for one week in Austria then I don't think you are qualified to make a considered judgement.

Back to the question in hand: Obergurgl will be good early season but is 5 hours from Munich, shame you weren't flying to Innsbruck as it is only about 1.5 hrs from there. That early in the season I would suggest Hintertux which will give you the Zillertal valley if the snow really comes early or as others have said Obertauern is a hidden gem mainly for its height.

Hi Idkwia, It seems to me you must have enjoyed skiing in France as you seem to have skied there quite a bit, any way my friend keep your hair on where we all like to ski is all about opinions and I respect the many blinkered people like yourself with a preference for Austria ... at this point before idkwia blows a fuse " I was only Joking" Or perhaps you do enjoy Austria as you seem share the same lack of humour ..... idkwia "I am Joking ".
I will not lose any sleep if you ski Austria till your legs fall off .... It is all about opinions :thumbup:

Ps Yes I am back from my trip to South Africa as you see the strikes have been sorted ... its the least I can do.

My wife & I arrived in Munich Airport on Sat Dec 1st 2012.
Hired a car and drove 2h 45 minutes to Ischgl.
We booked into hotel Alpina, Junior suite, E88.00 per person per night - half board.
Super Room, super clean, super staff, super location, super Ski room.
As part of half board; the evening meal options were very limited.
That said, We would definitely stay in hotel Alpina again.

The apres ski in 'the Schatsi bar' (part of hotel Elizebeth)at the bottom of the slopes was thoroughly enjoyable.

Our best find/discovery was the bar/resturant on the top floor of the Silveretta/Fernau gondola station in the Idalp base.
Most days we had Tomato Soup, Apple Strudle with Vanilla sauce, followed with Irish Coffee. A relaxing read of a good book, while sitting at the bar counter, good down time!!!

The ski conditions were very good, we really had a good time. We skied mainly around the Idalp base and made a number of trips over into Switzerland. The Wednesday we left the resort there were major snow dumps, no doubt further enhansing the skiing.

My wife and I look forward to returning to Ischgl in
the future!