Yurp, 1st week in Jan, Ideas, suggestions

[comish]

So Mrs. Comish and I are going to be in Yurp for Xmas visiting the inlaws in Germany. Therefore we decided to book our flights to return Jan 7th leaving us a week to ski the alps. I know the standard response is follow the snow for the alps which I agree with from living in Yurp, problem is that week is super high season and therefore most places are sold out. We have been to St. Anton 3 out of the last 5 years this week and unfortunately it appears to be completely sold out and so we are therefore starting to consider new places we haven't been.

The other issue is places want people to come for 2 weeks that includes Xmas and New Years. We so far haven't found a way around this...

Looking for ideas / suggestions for places that are typically good for snow in the early season. Places we have already been and are not considering:
La Grave, Serre Che, Alpe du Huez, Val d'Isere, 3V's, Cham, Zermatt, Verbier, Hintertux, Pitztal, Andermatt, Portes du Soleil, and others I'm blanking on.

Thinking about Engleberg, Isghl, or ???

Our only restriction is we need to get back to Munich for our return to the states on Sunday the 7th. Anyone have experience rocking up to one of these places during the busiest week of the year and finding reasonably priced accomodation?

[H-man]

I'm still looking for you guys in St. Anton but you are right it is slim. Might be onto something however......

[comish]

Thanks H. Really appreciate the efforts already.

Mrs. Comish talked to a bunch of places this morning, (I let her do the German speaking..). There are some places with rooms, but they want people for both weeks. In a couple more weeks they will possibly let us take a room, but not at the moment. I guess there isn't a hell of a lot of snow (like none) so people were telling her there were going to be more cancelations as well so we have a shot...

We are still looking forward to one more Mooserwirt run.

[Toby]

Thinking about Engleberg, Isghl, or ???

Engelberg is probably more likely to have snow than Ischgl. Marginally higher top elevation, north facing, northern scarp of the Alps. Although Ischgl covers all aspects and is high enough. I'd just be worried about it being in the snow shadow of the Verwall. Having said that, we're going to be in the Paznaun a week after you leave and I'm not too worried about snow. There are plenty of accommodation options outside of Ischgl proper, esp. if you will have a car. I'm sure you could find something somewhere in the Paznaun.

[comish]

Bizump for the Euro crowd for more opinions.

My thoughts on Ischgl is that St. Anton almost always has more snow by this point in the season (at least the other 3 years we have gone) and therefore I would rather be in the Arlberg... Plus the Mooserwirt = good fun

[cj001f]

I'm sure you can find apres ski fun in the Ischgl kuhstalls. The busses up/down the Paznaun seemed to run relatively frequently so you could probably stay up towards Galtur without much trouble. If you bring touring gear out towards the Piz Tasna should hold good snow and not be much of a pain.

[Ripzalot]

nice job, i think you've covered most all the majors.

stanton seems to be your best bet for that time. i've rolled into town late friday nights in high season and found rooms, no problem. you can bargain with them too, depending how late it is.

other than that...

soelden might be an option. huge mountain, high altitude, decent chance for pow. my wife and i had a great early dec trip there a few years ago. got good pow when everything else was dry. plus obergurgl is just a few minutes down the road.

or davos? i've always had a great time everytime i go there. another big mountain, lots of ski options, high(ish) altitude, good chance for pow. also in the graubunden region - flims/laax, lenzerheide/valbella. i always have had fun trips there.

[Toby]

My thoughts on Ischgl is that St. Anton almost always has more snow by this point in the season (at least the other 3 years we have gone) and therefore I would rather be in the Arlberg... Plus the Mooserwirt = good fun

Except Ischgl's on the wrong side of the Arlberg and Verwall. Case in point is average snowfall on the western side of the Arlberg vs. the eastern side (St. Anton). Having said that, from what I've found out average snowfall in the Paznaun isn't substantially different from the average in St. Anton town. And there are some high mountains up there so there should still be decent accumulation. Here's a cool site. You'll need Adobe's SVG viewer and it only works in IE. Choose the "Mitlerer Winterniederschlag" (average winter precipitation) or "Anteil des Winterniederschlages am Jahresniederschlag" (% of winter precipitation from yearly precipitation) options from the drop down box. If you know where you're looking you'll see that parts of the Paznaun aren't that different from St Anton, although I might be inclined to question the accuracy of their data.

I don't think you'll be bothered visiting the Mooserwirt from the Paznaun. As an example we're going to be staying in Kappl, 5 miles towards Landeck from Ischgl. It's 20min by car, 45min by bus to Landeck. From Landeck it's 21min by train, 49min by bus to St. Anton. So I guess you could do it but a minimum 81min round trip is a long way to go for a few (albeit legendary) beers. As cj001f alluded, Ischgl's got a helluva reputation anyway, just not so much in the English-speaking world.

If you did really want to visit St Anton, you can drop down directly off the lifts from Kappl into the Malfontal to Pettneu (no skinning required), or Malfontal-Rendlscharte-St. Anton (~1500' vertical skin required). Return journey by public transport/taxi.

PS: stay another couple of weeks. We'll be arriving on the 15th.

[Telepath]

Thinking about Engleberg...

Sounds like a pretty good bet to me.

Depending on how the snow situation develops then having a car and hitting Austria (further east then St. Anton) could be a good idea too if you're into that. Last year the early season in central Austria was off the hook.

[Tectonically_Neglected]

Think about trying for a place to stay that is not smack middle in the resort itself but, say, 10 - 20km's drive from where you want to be. This will open up the main valley to you, which are often not packed with ski tourists, i.e. more chance of finding a place to stay.

The lower Silvretta can be pretty decent (Gaschurn/ Gargellen/ Tschagguns/ Schruns) given enough snow. Can also be bloody cold. As can the higher Silvretta i.e. Ischgl and Samnaun. Samnaun does have the additional advantage of being in the middle of a tax free zone i.e. ultra cheap booze...

A last very small "schneeloch" on the German/ Austrian border: Balderschwang. Small, cozy, low altitude, relatively easy skiing, bring skins for more fun but heaps of snow and relatively easy to get to from the N side of the alps...

Alternatively you could Think of staying in Au and driving to the Warth area.

[Toby]

If you do decide to visit Ischgl, it might be fun to hit up the Heiderberger Hütte for a night or three. That place looks sick. I'm sure your wife would like it too. I'd love to go myself but it might be a bit difficult with 3 little kids in tow.

[subtle plague]

Sounds like a pretty good bet to me.

Depending on how the snow situation develops then having a car and hitting Austria (further east then St. Anton) could be a good idea too if you're into that. Last year the early season in central Austria was off the hook.

was it?

[Hicks]

Paznaun Valley isn't exactly the place where to send maggots into - lots of gaper spots, especially Ischgl. And the hordes of Dutch tourists invading Kappl are told to steal your gear already on your first day if given the opportunity.
If you're willing to hike a lot out of bounds for your turns though then it's still o.k. Lodging is mostly available even during high season further up the valley at Mathon or Galtür - 5-10 min. drive into Ischgl. Ischgl - St. Anton about a 45 min. drive on the reconstructed road up the Stanzer Valley.
Samnaun is cool but the drive in can be much more of a pain during a storm especially if you need to catch a flight out of Munich. The runs underneath the tram are highly recommendable but you can do that from Ischgl as well.
For St. Anton look into private quarters at Pettneu, Fliersch or Schnann and commute - more likely to work than at the resort inself.
Some spots off most people's radar: Nauders on the Reschenpass above Landeck (quiet town but good backcountry runs to hike for, highly elevated), Grand Walsertal with small resorts like Mellau, Damüls, Warth (with access into Lech, no common ticket though, snow is as good).
Quick access from Munich:
Tuxer Tal with the glacier up the valley if snow is bony.

[Toby]

Paznaun Valley isn't exactly the place where to send maggots into - lots of gaper spots, especially Ischgl. And the hordes of Dutch tourists invading Kappl are told to steal your gear already on your first day if given the opportunity.
If you're willing to hike a lot out of bounds for your turns though then it's still o.k.

Yeah, but it looks perfect for my family. Wide open alpine for my wife and kids and lots of short hiking options for me. We'll be at Kappl most of the time and I've scoped out lots of 1/2 day/full day tours that look like fun. Surely Ischgl has plenty of options for comish and his wife where you can find fun terrain and avoid gapers? It's pretty big.

[schindlerpiste]

This season, with the way the snow has benn so far in Yurp, the only decent spots may be Amsterdam or The Canary Islands.

For snow, Kaprun, Andermatt and Arlberg usually have good early snow.

[H-man]

I heard back fro Herbie the Arab. Have you tried Hotel Moessmer? He thinks it is around 40 euro a night but might be wrong. Right in the village. Less than 5 minutes walking distance to Galzig.

Have Ms. Comish dial 4353362727. Have her tell them that you are a friend of mine. I don't know if it will lower the price, but it might help get you i the door for less than 2 weeks.

Worth a shot anyways..... Good luck.

Edit:Linky. He was off a little on the price....

[comish]

H- YOU THE MAN!

By the way, you must have smoked crack first and then posted because your phone number was a little off, but we tracked them down and we are now good to go! Thanks dood!

Now Ullr, lets get some fricken snow over there!

[klar]

it looks ike you worked something out but i would like to say that sölden is the most unpleasant town i have ever visited. ischgl is "interesting", sölden is horrible.

[comish]

We have been to Solden as well. Not my favorite. Not quiet the most unpleasant town ever, but we will happily take St. Anton over it...

[cj001f]

ischgl is "interesting"

no love for disneyland?

[klar]

no love for disneyland?

well, this one time i was walking around ischgl at 3 in the morning and i could kind of see goofy hiding in the shadows at the edge of my vision, but when i turned to look, he would be gone. that haunts me.

[H-man]

Glad to help. I definately smoked crack. The spelling was worse than usual also.

Take pics. Post them. Make us drool.

[Toby]

... i would like to say that sölden is the most unpleasant town i have ever visited. ischgl is "interesting", sölden is horrible.

Sölden certainly lacks gemütlichkeit. All kind of spread out along that busy main road with no centre. There are a couple of decent bars/restaurants. I like that one upstairs with the climbing wall in the atrium? Dunno if it's still there - it's been a while.