Austria (E. Alps) Early Snow!

A lot of Austrian resorts have been noted snowfalls of 1-3 meters (40-120") over the last week.

To take the most famous Austrian region - Arlberg/St. Anton/Lech/Zurs
They are now reporting a 30-70" base.

http://www.lech-zuers.at/at/guide/13784 ... ntern.html

Nov 12, 2007, 45.0 cm new

Town Perfect Powder Snow up to 70 cm
Base Perfect Powder Snow up to 70 cm
Top Perfect Powder Snow up to 180 cm

Those early-bird specials from opening to Dec 22 are going to be great deals if things keep up. Usually, early season is a major crapshoot there.

We're already booked for Jackson Hole, which is nothing to sneeze at, but I'd cancel and head back to Austria in a minute if it weren't so cost-prohibitive right now... it truly is God's Country for skiing.

:evil:

It's nice to see European areas getting early snow.

I understand most of St. Anton faces sue south. Did you find that to be a big detriment at all? Combined with its greater snowfall than most of Euroland, you might make the case mid-winter is the best time to visit?


Affordability.
Transportation. Flights are a lot more expensive. However, St. Anton does not require a car being located directly off the rail system.
Lift tickets are still cheaper than almost all US counterparts. Generally, prices are mid $50s.
Lodging is hard to compare - since the US-Euro styles are not apples-to-apples.
Food is probably more in Europe due to currency issues.

ChrisC":39sgl1ak said:

I understand most of St. Anton faces sue south. Did you find that to be a big detriment at all?

Click to expand...

13 of my 14 days in the Arlberg have been at Lech/Zurs with only one at St. Anton. However, that is the rap on St. Anton: south/southeast facing, and much more traffic. Luckily, my day at St. Anton was with H-Man from TGR, who knows the area as well as a native, and even gave a hacker like me a nice tour.

As I've mentioned before, the on-piste at Lech/Zurs is more double-blue/easy black compared to St. Anton, but head a bit off-piste and it's pure and :shock:. Here are photos of the G-rated stuff:
http://forums.zoneski.com/index.php?showtopic=2751

The Alps are still going strong! This is a very nice change after last season. I'm heading down to Bad Gastein next weekend for 3 days of skiing and can't wait to finally check the full area out. Last year there was so little snow that I ended up spending most of my time in Alms and Huts on the mountain drinking beer.

Even with all of the snow this season, I've still had to do more base repair to my skis than all of last year combined. I hit some pretty bad rocks at Stubai a few weeks ago going off-piste and had the same happen at Kitzsteinhorn. The powder was worth it though!

Last year in January:


This year in November:

Let me take the opportunity to formally welcome you to FTO Liftlines, Nate. You've already proven yourself a worthy contributor, and I hope that continues!

Thanks! I stumbled across this site the other day while doing a google search on places that sell K2's out here. I clicked the link, found the forum and started reading. I'm really impressed with the posters here and the information on the site. It's too bad that the Europe section of the forum isn't more active, but hopefully I can help change that

One more from my last trip to Stubai in Austria. Not the best lighting, but this area was soooo much fun to ski this day. At least waist-deep powder and enough steepness to keep you moving. If you look closely, there is a skier in the shot:

Not to sound like a broken record, but your pics are fantastic..
Please post more Alps

And some of those local German hills, too - we'd love to see them!