Right folks. Off to finish the packing then to Bristol tomorrow and onwards to the big M Saturday. Be good whilst I'm gone and I'll take a few piccies and tell you all about it when I get back.
Jim
Mayrhofen
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have a good un Jim 8)
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Started by Simontiggy in Austria 18-Feb-2010 - 38 Replies
Ian Wickham
reply to 'Mayrhofen' posted Mar-2010
getjim wrote:Right folks. Off to finish the packing then to Bristol tomorrow and onwards to the big M Saturday. Be good whilst I'm gone and I'll take a few piccies and tell you all about it when I get back.
Jim
have a good un Jim 8)
Getjim
reply to 'Mayrhofen' posted Mar-2010
Wow!! What a week. Just back from Mayrhofen and am absolutely knackered. Have skied myself silly all week. Will write up a comprehensive low down later but suffice to say it was the best week skiing I've ever had.
AllyG
reply to 'Mayrhofen' posted Mar-2010
I'm glad you had a great week Getjim, and I'm looking forward to your report :D
Caron-a
reply to 'Mayrhofen' posted Mar-2010
great news :D
Gary Waters
reply to 'Mayrhofen' posted Mar-2010
GETJIM, Going to MH this saturday for a week and looking forward to reading your review before I go :thumbup:
Getjim
reply to 'Mayrhofen' posted Mar-2010
I realise that many on the forum have been to Mayrhofen and there are those that are somewhat dismissive of it and TO holidays in general. I for one was very sceptical about going there as I'd created an image in my mind of Benidorm in the snow and that would be my worst nightmare.
I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a large Brit contingent in the resort but surprisingly once you get on the lifts and pistes you hardly hear a British voice.
Flew from Bristol with Austrian Airlines charter flight. Very plush, loads of legroom and nice food. Don't' say that very often about charters.
Stayed at the Kramerwirt Hotel, run by the delightful Kroll family. Lovely, traditional alpine hotel with comfortable rooms, separate seating area, double bathroom and balcony. Breakfast was the usual fare of meats, cheeses, cereal, cooked, pastries, fruit etc. all served buffet style. We really loaded up here and then had a very light lunch if anything. Evening meals were 4 course meals or buffet on a couple of nights. I'd thoroughly recommend the Kramerwirt. It's down at the bottom of town so away from any noise from the bars but has the SkiBus stop right outside. The church is right next to the hotel with bells that ring every quarter hour, 24 hours a day and then ring constantly for a while at 7am and 7pm. Lucky for us we were at the back of the hotel.
I'd read a lot about the lift queues in Mayrhofen especially at the Penkenbahn. Sunday was the busiest day in resort and we waited 20mins to get on the gondola. For the rest of the week we walked straight up the ramp and through the turnstiles waiting maybe 2 minutes for a lift. Lifts down at the end of the day were much the same at Penken, maybe a 10 minute wait and on the days we used the Horbergbahn it was deserted.
With Sunday being our first day skiing for 12 months we kept things simple. Up to Penken and used the small blue directly outside the lift station for a short while to get our legs in before venturing down Blue 20. By the end of the week I was fed up with this run as I do not like long narrow trails. Taking the Tappenalm 8SB opened up Blue 8 and the Mittertrelift. These are ideal areas for getting those long turns sorted and ideal for beginners and early intermediates. We used Mittertrelift a lot both for lessons and for practicising technique on our own as it was a short wide run without the longer lift queue that Tappenalm had.
On Monday and Tuesday we had 2 hours of lessons with Ski Schule Mayrhofen Mount Everest. Our instructor Tom was excellent. Very young at 19 but with a very mature head, excellent teaching style but fun with it. My aim for the week was to get myself down a red run. After a bad fall last year I'd wanted to get back on the horse and advance my skill set. Tom certainly managed this in only 4 short hours. By Tuesday I was on Red 1 and grinning from ear to ear.
We'd had snow all day Monday and Tuesday with visibility on Tuesday afternoon getting very poor it made for interesting skiing.
By Wednesday the weather had cleared and we headed for the Hintertux Glacier. We'd arranged a visit to the Natur Eis Palast which is a glacial cavern inside the glacier. An hour long and costing 8 Euro is was a very interesting break from skiing. If you have a ladder phobia maybe it's not for you. The weather was about -17c at the top with high winds so we didn't hang around here.
Descending down 2 of the 3 Hintertux gondolas we arrived at Sommerberg and skied here for the rest of the day. Blue 15 & 16 are pretty straight forward but the T bar for Blue 16 is an absolute killer on the legs. Blue 17 was a very 'interesting' run. Graded blue but probably skiing on the dark end of red the descent from the Tuxer Joch Haus was very badly moguled and hadn't been pisted since the weekend due to the snow fall. Had a good giggle going off the pisted areas and stumbling through the powder with the grace of a three legged elephant on roller skates.
Thursday brought clearer but much warmer weather and we skied up at Rastkogel. It was here I truly mastered the reds. I think it was skiing in a group who were more advanced than me that encouraged me to ski them. Rastkogel is a stunning ski area and the one where I felt the most comfortable. Wide open runs both blue and red make for very enjoyable skiing.
The big mistake was then heading down the narrow Skiroute 1 to the Eggalmbahn. As I said before I'm no good on narrow chutes and with this being steeper I was useless. I had to resort to skis off and walk down. Unfortunately, instead of calling it quits for the day I went up to Eggalm and totally freaked at the top. I usually have a good head for heights but standing at the top I just froze. There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to ski so I had to walk. Those that have been and skied it will know that Eggalm to Tux Lanersbach is a long way down and I walked it! Good job I have very comfy boots. With the warm weather, the bottom end of the run was like porridge and very difficult to get through on foot or ski.
After a really bad afternoon on Thursday I was determined that this glitch wasn't going to be my resounding memory of Mayrhofen. So, Friday morning I took myself up to the Ahorn area which I knew was very easy blue skiing. A couple of very nervous runs got me going and the confidence back and I was soon on the slalom run and through the timing gate. We then travelled back over the valley to Rastkogel and went back to the reds I knew I could conquer. Being late in the week the rest of the group were now getting tired and wanting to ski the blues but I decided that I wanted to get myself back to where I'd been earlier I the week. I skied them ragged for the rest of the day and skied every red (except skiroute 1) twice over. The weather on Friday was very warm indeed. The thermometer at the 150 lift read 18c!! It's a bizarre feeling being in snow all day and then sitting out in a T shirt.
I thought prices for beer etc were very reasonable for a ski resort certainly compared to VT and Grindelwald. 500ml Zillertaler Pils was E3.40, Gluhwein E4.00, Soft drinks (very expensive) E2.50, coffee E2.20, substantial soup and roll E3.50, large plate of sauté spuds, bacon, cheese, veg E7.50
Skis were hired from Sport 2000 via Thomson's. We'd booked superior skis and they were well prepared. Nice sharp edges and no dings in the surfaces. We were warned that there had been a spate of ski thefts in resort. I'm not so sure, and I think it was more a rouse to get us to buy a 15Euro lock. Neither our instructor nor the hotel staff or reps had heard anything about skis being stolen. Not much choice of skis. The majority were Elans. Next time I'd go somewhere with more choice.
We were a bit dull on the après ski. Had a few in the Elk Bar at Penken. The Ice Bar and Happy End at the bottom of the Penken lift are wedged solid from 4pm onwards. Mo's and Coupe seem to be more chilled and easier going.
Downsides of the week? Not many really. Just don't put a hole in your lift pass so you can secure it in your pocket. It gets very embarrassing at the gondola turnstile on a busy Sunday morning when the green light doesn't come on and you get shouted at by the grumpy attendant!
If you don't ski all week I can imagine you may struggle to find other things to do in town. There's the swimming pool and ice rink and you can get transport down the valley to other attractions.
Would I go again? Yes, definitely. Still loads of runs to cover and other areas of the Ziller valley to ski
I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a large Brit contingent in the resort but surprisingly once you get on the lifts and pistes you hardly hear a British voice.
Flew from Bristol with Austrian Airlines charter flight. Very plush, loads of legroom and nice food. Don't' say that very often about charters.
Stayed at the Kramerwirt Hotel, run by the delightful Kroll family. Lovely, traditional alpine hotel with comfortable rooms, separate seating area, double bathroom and balcony. Breakfast was the usual fare of meats, cheeses, cereal, cooked, pastries, fruit etc. all served buffet style. We really loaded up here and then had a very light lunch if anything. Evening meals were 4 course meals or buffet on a couple of nights. I'd thoroughly recommend the Kramerwirt. It's down at the bottom of town so away from any noise from the bars but has the SkiBus stop right outside. The church is right next to the hotel with bells that ring every quarter hour, 24 hours a day and then ring constantly for a while at 7am and 7pm. Lucky for us we were at the back of the hotel.
I'd read a lot about the lift queues in Mayrhofen especially at the Penkenbahn. Sunday was the busiest day in resort and we waited 20mins to get on the gondola. For the rest of the week we walked straight up the ramp and through the turnstiles waiting maybe 2 minutes for a lift. Lifts down at the end of the day were much the same at Penken, maybe a 10 minute wait and on the days we used the Horbergbahn it was deserted.
With Sunday being our first day skiing for 12 months we kept things simple. Up to Penken and used the small blue directly outside the lift station for a short while to get our legs in before venturing down Blue 20. By the end of the week I was fed up with this run as I do not like long narrow trails. Taking the Tappenalm 8SB opened up Blue 8 and the Mittertrelift. These are ideal areas for getting those long turns sorted and ideal for beginners and early intermediates. We used Mittertrelift a lot both for lessons and for practicising technique on our own as it was a short wide run without the longer lift queue that Tappenalm had.
On Monday and Tuesday we had 2 hours of lessons with Ski Schule Mayrhofen Mount Everest. Our instructor Tom was excellent. Very young at 19 but with a very mature head, excellent teaching style but fun with it. My aim for the week was to get myself down a red run. After a bad fall last year I'd wanted to get back on the horse and advance my skill set. Tom certainly managed this in only 4 short hours. By Tuesday I was on Red 1 and grinning from ear to ear.
We'd had snow all day Monday and Tuesday with visibility on Tuesday afternoon getting very poor it made for interesting skiing.
By Wednesday the weather had cleared and we headed for the Hintertux Glacier. We'd arranged a visit to the Natur Eis Palast which is a glacial cavern inside the glacier. An hour long and costing 8 Euro is was a very interesting break from skiing. If you have a ladder phobia maybe it's not for you. The weather was about -17c at the top with high winds so we didn't hang around here.
Descending down 2 of the 3 Hintertux gondolas we arrived at Sommerberg and skied here for the rest of the day. Blue 15 & 16 are pretty straight forward but the T bar for Blue 16 is an absolute killer on the legs. Blue 17 was a very 'interesting' run. Graded blue but probably skiing on the dark end of red the descent from the Tuxer Joch Haus was very badly moguled and hadn't been pisted since the weekend due to the snow fall. Had a good giggle going off the pisted areas and stumbling through the powder with the grace of a three legged elephant on roller skates.
Thursday brought clearer but much warmer weather and we skied up at Rastkogel. It was here I truly mastered the reds. I think it was skiing in a group who were more advanced than me that encouraged me to ski them. Rastkogel is a stunning ski area and the one where I felt the most comfortable. Wide open runs both blue and red make for very enjoyable skiing.
The big mistake was then heading down the narrow Skiroute 1 to the Eggalmbahn. As I said before I'm no good on narrow chutes and with this being steeper I was useless. I had to resort to skis off and walk down. Unfortunately, instead of calling it quits for the day I went up to Eggalm and totally freaked at the top. I usually have a good head for heights but standing at the top I just froze. There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to ski so I had to walk. Those that have been and skied it will know that Eggalm to Tux Lanersbach is a long way down and I walked it! Good job I have very comfy boots. With the warm weather, the bottom end of the run was like porridge and very difficult to get through on foot or ski.
After a really bad afternoon on Thursday I was determined that this glitch wasn't going to be my resounding memory of Mayrhofen. So, Friday morning I took myself up to the Ahorn area which I knew was very easy blue skiing. A couple of very nervous runs got me going and the confidence back and I was soon on the slalom run and through the timing gate. We then travelled back over the valley to Rastkogel and went back to the reds I knew I could conquer. Being late in the week the rest of the group were now getting tired and wanting to ski the blues but I decided that I wanted to get myself back to where I'd been earlier I the week. I skied them ragged for the rest of the day and skied every red (except skiroute 1) twice over. The weather on Friday was very warm indeed. The thermometer at the 150 lift read 18c!! It's a bizarre feeling being in snow all day and then sitting out in a T shirt.
I thought prices for beer etc were very reasonable for a ski resort certainly compared to VT and Grindelwald. 500ml Zillertaler Pils was E3.40, Gluhwein E4.00, Soft drinks (very expensive) E2.50, coffee E2.20, substantial soup and roll E3.50, large plate of sauté spuds, bacon, cheese, veg E7.50
Skis were hired from Sport 2000 via Thomson's. We'd booked superior skis and they were well prepared. Nice sharp edges and no dings in the surfaces. We were warned that there had been a spate of ski thefts in resort. I'm not so sure, and I think it was more a rouse to get us to buy a 15Euro lock. Neither our instructor nor the hotel staff or reps had heard anything about skis being stolen. Not much choice of skis. The majority were Elans. Next time I'd go somewhere with more choice.
We were a bit dull on the après ski. Had a few in the Elk Bar at Penken. The Ice Bar and Happy End at the bottom of the Penken lift are wedged solid from 4pm onwards. Mo's and Coupe seem to be more chilled and easier going.
Downsides of the week? Not many really. Just don't put a hole in your lift pass so you can secure it in your pocket. It gets very embarrassing at the gondola turnstile on a busy Sunday morning when the green light doesn't come on and you get shouted at by the grumpy attendant!
If you don't ski all week I can imagine you may struggle to find other things to do in town. There's the swimming pool and ice rink and you can get transport down the valley to other attractions.
Would I go again? Yes, definitely. Still loads of runs to cover and other areas of the Ziller valley to ski
Acarr
reply to 'Mayrhofen' posted Mar-2010
Thanks for the review Jim. There's nothing like getting someone's first-hand impressions of a place - much better than anything in a guide book.
Allie
Allie
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
Topic last updated on 05-April-2010 at 20:56