Last minute Ski holiday

miss.piggy

Hi everyone.
I would really appreciate your help. I want to book a ski holiday (some time between now and the end of the skiing season). I know it is very last minute! But if we don't go this year we'll never get to go! It's for me and my husband. Neither of us have skiied before so we want somewhere suitable for beginners. It is important to us that the area is picturesque with good food (so I'm guessing Italy, France or Austria would be best?). I don't mind whether we book it ourselves or through an operator. We would like decent accommodation and an overall holiday price as cheap as possible. Can anyone offer any advice??
Thanks in advance.

olaola

I'll always recommend Saalbach in Austria - it's great for beginners, as the beginners slope is in town and it has a chair lift (which you'll learn to appreciate!) And you'll be able to progress up the mountain quickly.
Nice town, short transfer, reasonable prices and decent snow.

Gingersnaps

I've always preferred anywhere in Austria.
Westendorf is a lovely little village with the nursery (beginner) slopes in the centre of the village. It won an award a few years ago for the prettiest village in europe. Doesn't have hectic nightlife though if that's what you're after.
St Johann is another good one. It's a bit bigger than Westendorf and would have a bit more nightlife.
Hope this helps.

miss.piggy

Thanks for the replies guys. Looks like I can get cheapish flights to Salzburg 5th-12th March so I might try Saalbach. Will there be good snow there then? Thanks

k123456

I like DIY but if it is your your first time maybe a TO is the way to go

DIY is great but you need to book hotel , car hire (snow chains) lessons etc yourself

Added to that if you take lessons ( I assume as beginners you will), you may find it tricky to get group lessons in English in the more off the beaten track resorts

A TO will arannge all that for you

Snow wise it not fantastic this year in Europe, hold fire til nearer the time and pick somewhere where it has recently snowed
and hopefuly get a last minute bargain

Fattes

Would keep an eye on Crystal and Direct ski as they do great last minute deals

If you go with a TO i would book ski and boot rental separately form the TO packages

As for Where to go AUSTRIA AUSTRIA AUSTRIA AUSTRIA AUSTRIA

Snow has been really bad this year but anywhere with skiing from 1,000 meters to + 2,000 meters should be good.

Mayrhofen, Saalbach, Obergurgal, Lech (Not cheap)

Can recommend getting up to the ski club of ireland for a one day course before you go if you are lucky you may even have me teaching you :D:D:D

mr spuckler

hi op, i'm looking at something similar for the following week so will be interested to hear how you get on.

i've been doing a lot of looking recently and haven't seen anything to blow me away yet!

Fattes

http://www.crystalski.ie/ski-deals/dublin-airport-ski-deals/index.shtml

http://www.directski.com/go/hotelsearch?data_destination=X&new_search=1&data_traveldate=12+Feb+2011&data_adult_travcount=4&data_infant_travcount=0&data_airport=DUB&data_flexibility=0&data_child_travcount=0&session=d981c690f2794415f84bf7c368761bfc&data_currency=EUR&data_accomtype=X

429 for Saalbach on here and less than 400 for St Johann

mr spuckler

Fattes wrote: »

http://www.crystalski.ie/ski-deals/dublin-airport-ski-deals/index.shtml

http://www.directski.com/go/hotelsearch?data_destination=X&new_search=1&data_traveldate=12+Feb+2011&data_adult_travcount=4&data_infant_travcount=0&data_airport=DUB&data_flexibility=0&data_child_travcount=0&session=d981c690f2794415f84bf7c368761bfc&data_currency=EUR&data_accomtype=X

429 for Saalbach on here and less than 400 for St Johann

crystal scare me...don't include transfers or accommodation supplements in their upfront quotes.

don't want to go to st johann the week i;m going as the tag rugby trip is there that week!

edit: wanted to go to saalbach last year but didn't work out...will have to wait and see if it snows shortly before we're due to go

flikflak

^ why do they scare you? I rang them for a hol for the same week the OP wants.

Got €399 all in (flight, transfer and b+b) to St Johann. There were no hidden extras.

miss.piggy

Thanks for all the replies guys. Well I have the flights and accommodation booked! Only €100 each return for the flight to Salzburg. The accommodation is in Hotel Konig and is around €1,000 in total for the two of us for half board. Abit expensive but it looks nice and everywhere else decent was booked.
Does anyone know the best way to get to and from the airport?
I am going to hire gear and book lessons when I get there - will I just be given skis sticks and boots? Do I need to bring ski jacket, trousers and gloves myself? What else do I need to bring? Sorry but I'm totally clueless!!!
Will I need to book 6 days of beginner lessons?
Thanks!

bovril

You will only get rental of boots, skis and poles and a helmet if you want one.

You will need to bring all your own clothing. You will need a good jacket, salopettes, ski socks, gloves and at least one base layer. See the ski clothing thread a few posts down on the main forum http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056172735

If you're new to skiing then lessons are a good idea. Usually the ski schools run lessons over 5 days and you can ski by yourself on the 6th day if you wish.

You'll need to factor in the expense of your lift pass too. You may need a 5 or a 6 day pass depending on how many days you want to ski and also depending on whether you are in a resort where complete beginners might not need a lft pass for the first day. That's if you're a complete beginner.

flikflak

miss.piggy wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys. Well I have the flights and accommodation booked! Only €100 each return for the flight to Salzburg. The accommodation is in Hotel Konig and is around €1,000 in total for the two of us for half board. Abit expensive but it looks nice and everywhere else decent was booked.
Does anyone know the best way to get to and from the airport?

Which resort are you going to?

miss.piggy

Going to Saalbach......

flikflak

Well you could get the train to Leogang then a taxi but you would probably be better off arranging a transfer. Call the hotel and ask them if they provide a transfer service otherwise use one of the many taxi companies. Just google it for loads of options.

glanman

flikflak wrote: »

Well you could get the train to Leogang then a taxi but you would probably be better off arranging a transfer. Call the hotel and ask them if they provide a transfer service otherwise use one of the many taxi companies. Just google it for loads of options.

If you are willing to risk it, most tour operators will sell you transfers only, but only when you arrive and ask them... this would probably be best value... it depends if they have space on their bus obviously, but for two of you there shouldn't be a problem getting one... the reps meet people in arrivals so you would approach them there. Salbach is pretty near Salzburg so should be well served...

flikflak

^ hmmm I would not place all my bets on being able to get on a toup ops transfer bus. I worked many ski seasons in Austria at SZG and not very often did we have a lot of room on our buses. Also depends on what time your flight arrives as if the OP is travelling scheduled then there might be a bit of a wait until a charter or 2 lands. They will tend to fill the buses with a few different tour ops pax too.

It will probably be cheaper if you can hop on a transfer bus but I would hate to land and then be stranded if I could not get onto a bus and have to end up paying an unbooked taxi.

Effin Runner

Just back from Saalbach last Saturday. 4th time there and still one of the best in Austria. Look up www.saalbach.com for all the info you need.I think they offer transfers for about €70 return . Got ski rental from "ski pro" on the main street.They can organise beginners ski school for you as well. Book on line for a best price and you can pay when you arrive.Hope you have a great time.;)
p.s. The lift pass will cost you around 200 each for 6 days so you would want to factor that into the budget as well.

GalwayGunner

I'm also looking to go at the start of March: got 2 decent offers from Topflight for Saint Johan, Austria and Arinsal, Andorra.

For a couple who have never been skiing before which one would suit better??

Are Topflight a good company to go with?? What about DirectSki or CrystalSki??

Fattes

I would go with St Johann, but shop around for price.

Direct Ski is the exact same as topflight but with a bigger discount. Direct ski is owned by the son of Topflights owner and Reps, holidays etc are all the same with a diffrent logo.

Crystal are not bad either.

flikflak

To be honest all the TO`s are much of a muchness. I usually go DIY but got a good deal with Crystal this year so it was too good a bargain to pass up.

I am also going on the 5th to St Johann this year. I learned to ski in Arinsal many many years ago and the instruction was fantastic but the transfer was long. I would pick Arinsal over St Johann ONLY if the price was vastly different (cheaper) otherwise I would pick St Jo.

Austria gives you the whole package and St Johann is a big enough town to keep you occupied when you are not on the piste.

See you in Max`s pub at the bottom of the St Jo home run maybe

GalwayGunner

From the reviews St Johann seems like a better holiday but just concerned that it may not suit for a newbie - there's only 5% green runs.

Has anyone gone over there as a complete beginner?? Would I just be stuck on the nursery slopes for the week!?!

Fattes

GalwayGunner; Most of St Johann, slopes are aimed at beginners even their reds are quite mild and would be easily do able by most beginners at the end of the week.

It is purely a Beginner and Intermediate resort, they have a tendency to overestimate some of the runs to bring in more skiers.

When it comes to run grading resorts can do some silly things I have seen Reds that are in fact greens to make the resort more appealing to advanced skiers and there is a resort in France that has one Green run back to the village, In reality it is a BLACK!!!!! But no beginners would go if they told the truth!

Book your ski school and rental separately Ski School Wilder Kieser is top drawer

GalwayGunner

Fattes: Cheers mate - exactly the type of info I was looking for!