yet another newbie

Mmmm the potential injury point is the most compelling I think. The others are just irritants (I wouldn't use your own skis though). MrEvs was dead against me using our local one a couple of months ago so I just didn't tell him beforehand, I really wanted to make my own mind up about what it was like. Looks like it's down to a case of weighing up the injury risk against potential gains.

jabski wrote:Hi all
Me and the wife have decided to try our hand at skiing this year for the first time, both very late 40's. We have friends going to St anton Austria late February.but after reading a couple of reports on the area i am not sure its right for us.
so the questions are :

1) is this a good resort for total beginners
2) any recommendations if the answer to question 1 is no.

we live in London England

many thanks
brian/jane

Hello and welcome.
You are absolutely spot on - St Anton is a brilliant place to ski, but certainly not as a beginner.
No, you need a quaint little place with little mileage to go at, somewhere with good ski schools and a small ski area, as you won't need to explore a wide range of slopes. Somewhere with only a couple of runs, so that by the end of the week you can familiarise yourself with the run and concentrate on developing your skiing. Then, when you have moved up a gear, you can look for somewhere a little more exciting and testing.
For your first experience, I would recommend somewhere like Pila in Italy or Filzmoos in Austria.
You'll probably also get Niederau suggested to you on this forum.

Tony_H wrote:

jabski wrote:You'll probably also get Niederau suggested to you on this forum.

We already did ! But thanks Tony for mentioning those other small resorts, which I didn't know of, as they sound just my sort of place )

great replies thanks all
so looks like st anton is a no go.
I have had a look through the brochure's and quite like the look of El Tarter (Andorra) or Zell am see (Austria)
any thoughts or advice please
thanks again all
brian

Hi Jabski,
I would say that Zell am See is great for beginners and lower intermediates. We went there when it was my first time back on snow for 30 years and I was at the level of being able to ski down a blue run but not a red run.

As long as you realize it's not a ski in ski out sort of place. We stayed in the Hotel Heitzmann, a luxury 4 star hotel with fantastic food, in the old part of the town. We had to walk for about 5 minutes from there through the town to the gondola (which was hard work in ski boots and carrying skis but I believe if you're quick you can rent lockers at the gondola). And there was a queue for the gondola. The ski school meets at the top of it.

I found the runs nice and wide and easy, and well sheltered with trees each side (apart from right at the top). And the mountain restaurants were fantastic - great food and log fires. The view of the lake from the mountain is superb.

Prices - I had a look at the Heitzmann just now and with Igluski it's £684 for a week at the end of Feb - not cheap, but then it is quality, with free sauna etc. My sister stayed in the Eder Victoria which is a much cheaper hotel, over the Crazy Daisy disco and bar.

Ally

Thanks for the advice
i will try and resist the crazy daisy disco option. )

If it was just the two of you, I would dismiss St Anton immediately for a first trip - you end up paying a premium price for a premium resort when really a small resort is absolutely fine for your requirements and will be a lot cheaper.

However, skiing is a very sociable activity and it is lovely to travel with a group of friends even if you are not able to ski with them. So I think you need to balance the benefits of being with friends versus the downsides of being in a resort that has fairly limited beginner skiing.

BTW, St Anton is a beautiful town

Zell am See might be a good shout. I'd certainly consider that before Andorra personally, although I did like the look of Arcalis and Soldeu seemed to be the place to stay.