"ROYAL SKIING AT THE KINGDOM OF SNOW"
Over lunch a month ago my uncle mentioned that he needed to move furniture from his home in Wales to his summer (ancestral) house in northern Italy.
Being the dutiful nephew that I am, I offered mine and Nerys' services to drive the van to the small village of Granelli just outside Bardi in Emilia-Romanga - the area where a large number of the Welsh Italians "Taffia" originated from.
And on the way back catch a couple of days skiing on the Stubai Glacier in Austria![;)]()
- Nerys' first taste of European skiing.
We took the Dover - Dunkirk ferry with DFDS and drove through France, Belgium, Switzerland on the way to Italy.
We left at 8am on Sunday 08 June and after a short night's sleep just outside of Basel got into Granelli at 5pm on Monday 09 June.
Glorious weather all the way down, and earlier in the day we took the Gothard Pass road via Andermatt rather than take the Gothard Tunnel.
Nerys in Andermatt town centre
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Birdos skis
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On the way over the Gothard Pass we stopped to take in the views. Plenty of snow around and plenty of people touring and skiing.
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We spent Monday evening, Tuesday and Wednesday morning in Granelli and Bardi kicking back, drinking espresso and red wine, and dining on fine food and catching some sun in the 30 deg temperatures.
Granelli
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Bardi
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Wednesday lunchtime we headed north over the Brenner Pass to Austria to spend two days skiing on the Stubai Glacier.
When I was looking into which areas were open for skiing at this time of year the Stubai Glacier won out because it had
good snow conditions
great coverage
comparable vertical and length of run to what Nerys had experienced on Hokkaido (thanks Clarky999)
and this killer deal
2-night B&B and 2-day ski package for 99 euros per person
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Search-Book/Packages/Sunshine-skiing-special
You don't know where you're staying until after you've booked the package and we were assigned the Gastehaus Danler in Neustift-Milders, about 15 km drive from the lifts
http://www.hotels.ru/eng/hotels/austria/neustift_im_stubaital/gastehaus_danler.htm
Neustift-Milders was all you could wish an Austrian alpine village to be. Beautiful and charming. And green green.
Gastehaus Danler is a lovely place. Great welcome. Plenty of room. Great continental breakfast. Free wifi. Walking distance to everything in Milders. Highly recommended.
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Had dinner at one of the local hotels and then got an early night in preparation for the first day on snow in a while.
DAY 1 ON SNOW : THURSDAY 12 June 2014
We woke to glorious sunshine and blue skies and after breakfast drove up to the base station.
The lifts run from 7.30 to 12.30 at this time of the year and the place was deserted.
The Gamsgarten I gondola takes you from the base at 1750 m to the Mittlestation Fernau at 2300 m and you stay on to the start of the skiing at Gamsgarten at 2620 m.
From there it's a short skate over to the Rotadl 8-seater chair which accesses the blue and red runs off the Rotadlkopf and the blue, red and one black run off the Daunferner I t-bar.
The skiing goes from 2620 m to 3109 m for a respectable 489 m of vertical.
It was possible to ski to within a couple of hundred metres of the Mittelstation Fernau at 2300 m with a short walk back to the gondola station where the snow had melted - approx. 700 m of vertical.
Stubai Glacier Piste Map
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Ski-Area/Lifts-Pistes/2D-Piste-Map/2D-Piste-Map
The pistes were well groomed and the snow was soft but not wet. The off-piste snow was consistent, smooth and a little grabby.
No queues and plenty of terrain available despite the closed off areas for race training.
Available ski area
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Nerys
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Coffee & cake was 5 euros, and lunch of 1 beer, sparkling water, main meal was 15-18 euros.
We finished skiing around 1pm, had lunch, and got off the mountain around 3pm.
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Back to the B&B, quick shower and then out for sightseeing and afternoon tea.
Grawa Waterfall
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DAY 2 ON SNOW : FRIDAY 13 June 2014
We paid for an extra night at Gastehaus Danler at 24 euros per person and after breakfast headed up for our second day on snow.
After warming up on the warming up pistes we spent the rest of the morning skiing the off-piste terrain.
Big improvements for Nerys today.
Patience and lightness at the start of the turn to stay above the soft snow
Greater confidence and comfort accelerating in the fall line
Far more adventurous line selection, including skiing between rocks and in gullies
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We left around 9am on Saturday morNing and drove back via Innsbruck, the Zugspitse area in the German Alps, and through Germany into Belgium.
Stopped for the night about 30 mins from Brussels, and 90 mins from Dunkirk in an Ibis Hotel. Excellent value at 65 euros for the room.
Got the mid-day ferry from Dunkirk on Sunday and we were back home in Aberdare by 6.30 pm
An excellent road trip to Europe and an excellent & cheap way to get a couple of days skiing on snow in the summer months.
Highly recommended.
Over lunch a month ago my uncle mentioned that he needed to move furniture from his home in Wales to his summer (ancestral) house in northern Italy.
Being the dutiful nephew that I am, I offered mine and Nerys' services to drive the van to the small village of Granelli just outside Bardi in Emilia-Romanga - the area where a large number of the Welsh Italians "Taffia" originated from.
And on the way back catch a couple of days skiing on the Stubai Glacier in Austria
- Nerys' first taste of European skiing.We took the Dover - Dunkirk ferry with DFDS and drove through France, Belgium, Switzerland on the way to Italy.
We left at 8am on Sunday 08 June and after a short night's sleep just outside of Basel got into Granelli at 5pm on Monday 09 June.
Glorious weather all the way down, and earlier in the day we took the Gothard Pass road via Andermatt rather than take the Gothard Tunnel.
Nerys in Andermatt town centre
Birdos skis
On the way over the Gothard Pass we stopped to take in the views. Plenty of snow around and plenty of people touring and skiing.
We spent Monday evening, Tuesday and Wednesday morning in Granelli and Bardi kicking back, drinking espresso and red wine, and dining on fine food and catching some sun in the 30 deg temperatures.
Granelli
Bardi
Wednesday lunchtime we headed north over the Brenner Pass to Austria to spend two days skiing on the Stubai Glacier.
When I was looking into which areas were open for skiing at this time of year the Stubai Glacier won out because it had
good snow conditions
great coverage
comparable vertical and length of run to what Nerys had experienced on Hokkaido (thanks Clarky999)
and this killer deal
2-night B&B and 2-day ski package for 99 euros per person
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Search-Book/Packages/Sunshine-skiing-special
You don't know where you're staying until after you've booked the package and we were assigned the Gastehaus Danler in Neustift-Milders, about 15 km drive from the lifts
http://www.hotels.ru/eng/hotels/austria/neustift_im_stubaital/gastehaus_danler.htm
Neustift-Milders was all you could wish an Austrian alpine village to be. Beautiful and charming. And green green.
Gastehaus Danler is a lovely place. Great welcome. Plenty of room. Great continental breakfast. Free wifi. Walking distance to everything in Milders. Highly recommended.
Had dinner at one of the local hotels and then got an early night in preparation for the first day on snow in a while.
DAY 1 ON SNOW : THURSDAY 12 June 2014
We woke to glorious sunshine and blue skies and after breakfast drove up to the base station.
The lifts run from 7.30 to 12.30 at this time of the year and the place was deserted.
The Gamsgarten I gondola takes you from the base at 1750 m to the Mittlestation Fernau at 2300 m and you stay on to the start of the skiing at Gamsgarten at 2620 m.
From there it's a short skate over to the Rotadl 8-seater chair which accesses the blue and red runs off the Rotadlkopf and the blue, red and one black run off the Daunferner I t-bar.
The skiing goes from 2620 m to 3109 m for a respectable 489 m of vertical.
It was possible to ski to within a couple of hundred metres of the Mittelstation Fernau at 2300 m with a short walk back to the gondola station where the snow had melted - approx. 700 m of vertical.
Stubai Glacier Piste Map
http://www.stubaier-gletscher.com/eng/Winter/Ski-Area/Lifts-Pistes/2D-Piste-Map/2D-Piste-Map
The pistes were well groomed and the snow was soft but not wet. The off-piste snow was consistent, smooth and a little grabby.
No queues and plenty of terrain available despite the closed off areas for race training.
Available ski area
Nerys
Coffee & cake was 5 euros, and lunch of 1 beer, sparkling water, main meal was 15-18 euros.
We finished skiing around 1pm, had lunch, and got off the mountain around 3pm.
Back to the B&B, quick shower and then out for sightseeing and afternoon tea.
Grawa Waterfall
DAY 2 ON SNOW : FRIDAY 13 June 2014
We paid for an extra night at Gastehaus Danler at 24 euros per person and after breakfast headed up for our second day on snow.
After warming up on the warming up pistes we spent the rest of the morning skiing the off-piste terrain.
Big improvements for Nerys today.
Patience and lightness at the start of the turn to stay above the soft snow
Greater confidence and comfort accelerating in the fall line
Far more adventurous line selection, including skiing between rocks and in gullies
We left around 9am on Saturday morNing and drove back via Innsbruck, the Zugspitse area in the German Alps, and through Germany into Belgium.
Stopped for the night about 30 mins from Brussels, and 90 mins from Dunkirk in an Ibis Hotel. Excellent value at 65 euros for the room.
Got the mid-day ferry from Dunkirk on Sunday and we were back home in Aberdare by 6.30 pm
An excellent road trip to Europe and an excellent & cheap way to get a couple of days skiing on snow in the summer months.
Highly recommended.
) for 25k including shipping (19k excl shipping). I had a search on evo as well and there are some very cheap deals on some Rome boards just now, I saw a couple for $136 and $160 US.....the reason I didn't get one of them was that they were rockered......I wanted a camber board.