Mayrhofen 14th December - good idea or not?

Hi,

I may be forced to take my holiday early. Really would like to go to Mayrhofen but i'm a bit sceptical given the early Dec date. I know no one can forecast for me, but based on previous years/experience could you give me some indicators?
Many thanks

Hmmm, it may not even be open on that date, although it did open 1st week in December in 2007 thanks to some good early snow. However, 16th/23rd December is often earliest date to ski there.
You might want to consider somewhere like Tignes that early.

For the snow histoty, you might check out:
http://www.igluski.com/viewSnowHistory.cfm?rid=197&submitted=go&from=hist_page

Looks pretty thin at village level, and has some decent snow every second year. You may find the pub pretty crowded. Or not.

I wouldnt discount it as it has the insurance policy of the hintertux glacier just up the valley.

also dont be put off with the snow depth on lower slopes,as this can be misleading with some resorts.mayrhofen and chamonix being the perfect examples,low villages where you generally dont ski back to anyway.most of the skiing is above 6000ft whereas the villages are around 3000ft.

crystal start their programme on 13th dec this year so the resort must be scheduled to be open at that time.

also in recent years it seems the eastern half of the alps has had the better of the early snow,whereas the western side fares better late season

Bluebird, I think you are right about the better early conditions in the Eastern Alps.

On my early response though, I wasn't sufficiently clear. The snow history is clear. Village level is virtually nothing, every year. It is the upper slopes that has a history of poor snow every second year.

For me, that would be too bad odds.

Thanks for the info - looks dodgy then. What about Zell Am Zee-Kaprun (would really like to go to Austria as first preference)?

Edited to add: After some hasty research I'm also very interested in Obergurgl.

I should add that the 5 times I have done Mayrhofen, only once did it have snow in the village, which is at 690m approx. The Gondloa takes you up to 1800 plus so forget the lower slopes. There is only 1 run to resort, which is the Ahorn Abfahrt, and is often not open. We were lucky enough to ski it 4 times in early Jan 2008, but it was very variable.

Therefore, if records suggest good snow above 1800m, which has been the case every single time I have been there, including 2007 when everywhere supposedly had NO snow, then I would go for it.

The "pub" will not be full.
Make sure you spend your first few pints off the slopes in the Happy End opposite the Penken Gondola, and say hello to Gitte, Uli and the rest of the staff in there.

My Father and his partner go there every year around mid December and ALWAYS have good snow, coupled with quiet pistes.

Its true that the Ahorn Abfahrt will almost certainly not be open, but that really doesn't detract at all. Its a pity if you can't ski a very long and in places quite challenging run, but not hte end of the world.

Obviously though there are no guarantees and one year they will get caught out - quite proably this year as I'm going at the same time!!

Hintertux is an obvious fail-safe though and as glaciers go its pretty extensive and whilst inevitably cold has fabuolous snow.

You should be ok.