reports from Niederau

cwagner wrote:Thanks for some beautiful pics and such an honest and in depth re4port on Niederau. We too are off on 7th Feb there and after reading this we are looking very much forward to our trip. My only concern is that my two small ones will be spending m,ost of the day in the shade??? it was mentioned that the ski school works from an area that is not in the sun?? Any advice on how many layers to put the kids in or would we be better hiring an instructor to take them up to the other areas that are in the sun? both of them are in their third year skiing and can competently travel easy runs with us but as my 12 year old will be in Kitz with her school I thought it would be best to put the younger two in ski school so they keep up with her when we meet up in Kitz after our stay in Niederau. Any advice appreciated - Jan???

RossF wrote:Neiderau--> is there much skiable off piste? The slopes look absolutely awesome. Is the valley in the first photo the bottom of the resort? Ie. can you ski back to there?

RoseR wrote:No look out for a lady and a tired toyboy :lol:

RossF wrote:Neiderau--> is there much skiable off piste? The slopes look absolutely awesome. quote]

Ross, there are several off piste runs.

Directly under the gondela, from about half way down, to the bottom, there is the Stuck. It isn't that wide, enclosed by trees, quite steep. Because it is a bit rocky, and has small scrub, it needs to have a fait covering to be at it's best.

From the Gondela can be seen a top to bottom run, called the Gseng. It runs through fields and woods, very steep at the bottom.

From the bottom of the Lanekopfl, but above the Hochberg, and directly opposite the Anton Graf Hutt there is a run to Oberau. This is called the Katzenberg. Used to be a very pleasant run, but two years ago there was a landslide, and there has been some civil works carried out. I am not sure what effect this has. Intend to find out in a couple of weeks if the conditions are OK, and I can find a ski buddy willing to ski it with me. There is also a land access dispute between the land owner and the lift company, but that is unlikely to be a deterent.

There is some deep off to the left of the Mercenwiess.

From halfway down the Mercenwiess, (run 19), there is an off piste called the Sixwiess. It is steep, narrow, lots of boulders and trees to negotiate. Quite difficult to pick ot a clean route, but a friend of mine who has a very fast leg action does make a good job of the run.

There are one or two other shorter runs to have a go on at the top, just off piste play runs, not steep, good fun.

From the top of the new 4 man lift, I watched a guy set off through a gap in the trees, looking quite purposeful........might give that a go in mid January.

One of the issues is that the surface often presents as a breakable crust ~~ can be hard work, unpleasant even. So these runs do need to have a dump on them to be at their best.