Austria- When to ski?

We are confused about whether the best snow conditions are mid-January or early March. When you look at a line on a graph of snow against months, the maximum is indeed later in the season, March time. But often people *write* that the best skiing conditions are found in mid-January, when things are at their coldest.

When is the best time to ski in Austria?
Or is it dependent on the resort?

Many thanks, new member :D

I am sure Austria is no different to any other skiing country and the answer is a clear and unarguable "it depends".
It depends ........
On the definition of good snow, is this fresh powder, smooth groomed piste cover etc.
So it is your definition that matters. Last time I had a powder week was 2004 I think. Courchevel, end of Jan and it just dumped and dumped. Couldn't see a thing all week, only got up to the higher runs once or twice and didn't go out of the Courchevel valley at all.
I had a grin on my face all week, but so many people were very frustrated by the conditions as even the nursery slopes were deep powder most of the time. This is what I mean by a personal definition of good snow.
January will be colder with shorter days and any snow that falls will be to a lower level.
March will be longer days, probably sunnier and warmer and any snow that falls could be wet or rain at lower levels.
And in any individual year the quality of the snow will depend on what has fallen earlier in the season. This could be very relevent to march as a great base from December and January with a cold dry Feb and march will leave good connditions but if Dec and Jan have been dry conditions could be very worn and bare by March.
So, your name suggests powder is the name of the game I reckon January gives a better chance of fresh snow but possibly poor visibility etc, whereas march gives you the better chance of those infrequent but glorious blue sky powder days on the higher slopes.
A suggestion for you ...
Go both months :lol:

Thanks OldAndy.

Our group is all intermediate skiers, we're not interested in off-piste or anything. We just want good skiing conditions on the pistes. Does going in March increase the likelihood there will be slushy slow on some of the lower slopes?

Also, how do the crowds compare? We want no crowds on the slopes, but preferably a few crowds in the apres ski spots :D

Earlier in season will be a bit colder, mid December just before xmas is quieter, or First couple of weeks of Jan, if you have to go Mid Jan or early March i would pic Jan personally if you go later then pick somewhere higher.

Have you decided on resort yet?
I reckon that for detail about apres ski and queues etc. that resort choice will get a clearer response.
But I'm not an Austrian expert and don't even know when the main holiday periods are skiing primarily in France myself.
Someone will be along soon who knows Austria well ...
:thumbup:

For the last four years I have visited Austria mid jan and early March. In my opinion March has produced better conditions and more snow every time but you need to be above 1000 m. Either way I am sure you will have a fantastic trip.

YoungAndy has given an excellent explanation of how the variables affect snow conditions in any country.

I have been visiting Austria in January and March, and occasionally in February, for over 40 years.

Roughly, in 3 years out of 4, March has deeper snow than January. However, it is not straightforward. Just looking at sample resorts, Kitzbuhel and Niederau have deeper snow than Mayrhofen in March, sometimes by a significant amount. eg in the big recent year, 2009, Nied/Kitz were 209/224cm, with Mayrhofen at 186cm. Soll was 219cm. In other years Nied/Kitz were usually ahead, with Soll/Mayrhofen with lower depths, but only by a margin typically of 10/15cm.

In January, Mayrhofen can hold its own, typically all resorts being about 70/80cm.

All depths are mountain depths, not resort. Resort depths are important, because in some resorts you cannot ski down to the village for much of the season.

Resort height is only a general guide for snow depth. There are a number of geophysical factors that influence the depth of snow in a locale.

All of which means ~ its going to be another great winter!

Thanks for all the replies so far!

Because we are going to book early and book the time of work, we can pretty much choose the exact week we ski in Austria. And we also have a pretty blank slate in terms of resort.

We are going to be doing some apres ski things, so the resort must have some life in the evenings. Apart from that our variables are the same as everyone's: good snow, clear pistes, cheap time to go. So mid-Jan and early March seemed the most natural times to consider, but we don't have information about European school holidays, only UK ones. The schools and universities in UK do their snow trips Jan and Feb, with the half-term school holiday in Feb being particularly expensive.

Would anyone like to suggest a few Austrian resorts?? :D