Bichlbach, Austria

[osulljp]

Went to the small Austrian resort of Bichlbach over the New Year. Flew into Memmingen with Ryanair and it was a very easy 100km drive from there,(75% motorway). Train is also possible (2 changes).

Bichlbach is home to to Austrian skier Niki Hosp who won the overall world cup in 2007. They are rightly very proud of her. Her face is everywhere.

Bichblach is part of the Zugspitze Arena. The lift pass (Happy Ski Pass,185 for 6 days, adult, but very good family passes for those with kids) covers Bichlbach/Berwang, Ehrwald, Zugspitze glacier, Lermoos, Biberweir, and Seefeld in Austria and Garmisch and Mittenwald in Germany.

We skied Bichlbach, Ehrwald Almbahn, Lermoos and Garmisch.

The village is at 1075 m and is a sleepy little place. Six or seven places to eat but very quiet at night. Didn’t hear another word of English spoken the whole time. The local slopes are good. If you are an early intermediate you would be happy here for the week, otherwise they are good for two or three days. The area is split between the Bichlbach side (steeper, fast lifts) and Berwang, (easier, bigger but slower and a bit chaotic lift system).

Lermoos is a great place to ski with 1200m of vertical and fast lifts. The snow was a bit limited as we skied it first day, before it dumped down.

Ehrwald was a real surprise. A really lovely area to ski with a great mixture of slopes to keep everyone happy. Some of the reds are really great, if you like fast carving, while there are loads of long blues through the trees, with good fast lifts.

Garmisch is host to the 2011 World Champs and you can see the investment being made. Unfortunately we picked the day when all the local regional ski teams had their races there so the place was mobbed. But it is a good place that I have skied quite a bit in the past. The reds and blacks to the valley are really great and the Kreuzeck gondola gets you up 1000m in 7 minutes to do it all over again. We took the regional train from Bichlbach to Garmisch. It was free, covered by the visitor tax of 1.50 per day. It stops at the slopes if you ask the conductor.

The whole Zugspitze area is a good option for a DIY holiday. Sleepy village at Bichlbach, party town (by German standards!) at Garmisch, and Lermoos or Ehrwald somewhere in between. You have guaranteed skiing on the glacier. Fly to Munich or Memmingen and take the train or drive. I have gone before here over school mid term for 550 per person (incl lift pass and gear hire). This year’s holiday was Tue to Tue and it worked out, with lift pass and ski hire, at 3 grand for 4 adults and a teenager (2 b&b and 3 s/c).

[paul]

Hi osulljp, great report ! I've featured this on the main page, thanks for taking the time to put something together !

[off-piste]

Wow €600 a piece seems deadly. Was the snow conditions good ?

Also great write up there lad !

[osulljp]

Snow was good, adequate the first couple of days and then it dumped down so we had great conditions the last two days. There is good snowmaking in all of those resorts, not that the quality of such snow is anything like the real thing, IMO.

Flights were 660, car/petrol 400, accommodation 675, liftpass 850 and ski hire 390. The trick was getting accommodation that was willing to break the Sat to Sat norm. Once I got that, in a nice friendly pension, 400 mtrs from the slopes, I was laughing as Tue flights are much cheaper than weekend ones. I found the place on tiscover.com, but I had to fire off loads of enquiries before I got an acceptance. I booked it first week of October.