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Serious newbie with some help and questions answered please!

post #1 of 20
5/31/12 at 1:51pm
Thread Starter 

Hi Folks,

 

I hope I have posted in the correct place, if I haven't I am sorry.

 

Firstly the last time I went skiing I was 15 years old, 25 years ago lol so I am really clueless.

 

My questions are regarding some info on places with a group of friends who all want to start skiing.

 

We are travelling at the start of December to Krakow Poland for the date of 16th for a meeting, so we figured we could all go skiing on the way prior to this date with enough time to still drive to Poland for our meeting.

 

We are driving from the UK.

 

Do you guys know of where are the nicer places along the way to Poland that we could go skiing? We would love to have a log cabin type property with a nice huge real log fire place? We will be roughly between 4 and 6 people. We are not rich or anything so if it is at all possible on a smaller budget?

 

The basic rough route we take from the UK is from Calais to Cologne, Cologne to German/Polish border and then on to Krakow.

 

If you folks have any suggestions it would be much appreciated.

 

Thank you for reading and for any help.

 

Peter

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post #2 of 20
5/31/12 at 2:01pm

Hi Peter, welcome to Epicski.  I have moved your post to Eurozone where we have more members with European skiing expertise.  Sounds like you have a great trip planned.

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post #3 of 20
5/31/12 at 2:37pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for that!

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post #4 of 20
5/31/12 at 2:51pm

Welcome Peter! 

I'm not knowledgeable about your area, but I'll see if we can get some members who are familiar to pop in and help you out. 

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post #5 of 20
5/31/12 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trekchick View Post

Welcome Peter! 

I'm not knowledgeable about your area, but I'll see if we can get some members who are familiar to pop in and help you out. 

Wonderful, thank you!

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post #6 of 20
6/1/12 at 5:34am

Unfortunately, going to the Alps will be a major diversion from your planned route. The shortest route would probably be to go through Luxembourg, Stuttgart, and Munich to ski in a German resort like Garmisch. You could also use that route to pop across the border into Austria, where you'll find some more resorts. Afterwards, you can drive from there through the Czech Republic to southern Poland.

 

That said, there are a few places around Krakow with some decent skiing. Zakopane and Szczyrk have enough terrain for a couple of days of skiing, and they're only a couple of hours away from Krakow.

 

One thing I would suggest is to get yourself some practice at your nearest indoor slope. Most parts of the UK are reasonably close to an indoor facility. Try to go once a month for the next few months. Once you get to a proper resort, you'll be very glad that you went to the indoor slopes to shake off the rust.

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post #7 of 20
6/1/12 at 6:42am

If you need help sorting out new ski boots as you get back into the sport, you may want to check in with our member CEM , If you're not close to him, then perhaps he has a good recommendation. 

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post #8 of 20
6/1/12 at 7:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trekchick View Post

If you need help sorting out new ski boots as you get back into the sport, you may want to check in with our member CEM , If you're not close to him, then perhaps he has a good recommendation. 

 

 

thanks Trek, was runnign a bit late in seeing this, afraid i can't offer much help in terms of resorts en route though...but wherever you end up make sure you post a trip report

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post #9 of 20
6/1/12 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CerebralVortex View Post

Unfortunately, going to the Alps will be a major diversion from your planned route. The shortest route would probably be to go through Luxembourg, Stuttgart, and Munich to ski in a German resort like Garmisch. You could also use that route to pop across the border into Austria, where you'll find some more resorts. Afterwards, you can drive from there through the Czech Republic to southern Poland.

That said, there are a few places around Krakow with some decent skiing. Zakopane and Szczyrk have enough terrain for a couple of days of skiing, and they're only a couple of hours away from Krakow.

One thing I would suggest is to get yourself some practice at your nearest indoor slope. Most parts of the UK are reasonably close to an indoor facility. Try to go once a month for the next few months. Once you get to a proper resort, you'll be very glad that you went to the indoor slopes to shake off the rust.

I pretty much agree with Mr Vortex, although I was thinking about it earlier...

IF the season starts off really well, then I'd head towards Colmar. If you don't need to go to Cologne, then Calais - Metz - Strabourg - Colmar. There are some lovely little resorts between Strasbourg & Colmar, but they aren't great for early season snow, which is also true of places like Garmisch.
But if you're prepared to go that far out of your way, then drive straight past Colmar and head through to Austria - take the road towards Innsbruck and stop off at Stuben or St Christoph (near St Anton). Lots of lovely skiing there.

Alternatively, head straight to Krakow and try Zakopane or some of the resorts in that area - I've never been, but would be interested to hear what they are like!
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post #10 of 20
6/2/12 at 1:04am

I would agree with the above. 

How much skiing did you do 25 years ago, and how experienced are the others that you will be travelling with?

Its a long diversion to the Alps and so I would have thought it would make more sense to ski in Poland like Zakopane or somewhere there, especially if you have your own transport and can travel to the different areas.  It'll be cheaper too! 

 

The main things to research are what terrain there is in relation to everyones skill level and how long you will ski for - if you have some experienced skiers as well and spend a week in a small resort they might start to get itchy feet.  And then what the snow conditions are like as you will be travelling right at the start of the main european ski season - high resorts with glaciers in the Alps are open from October but the rest open from beginning to mid december so it might be best have a good look at when places open.  Zakopane opened end of Nov in 2011 but I have no idea how much was open or what it was like.

 

And definately get out to a snow dome as much as you can before you go it'll save so much time getting used to sliding again and let you enjoy the whole mountain a lot more.  If you can I'd aim for once a week before you head out, and a dry slope will work as well if a snowdome is too far or expensive.

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post #11 of 20
6/2/12 at 3:51am
Thread Starter 

Thank you all so much for all your input. Plenty of suggestions for us all to gather round and decide.

 

Im guessing that somewhere in Poland might be our best option. All of us have skied before but not for years so it will probably be like going for the first time. As for equipment, we planned on renting it all for this trip and see how it goes.

 

We will all sit down and go through all the resorts mentioned here and routes and decide from there. Will keep you posted.

 

Once again thanks for your time.

 

Peter

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post #12 of 20
6/6/12 at 5:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wear The Fox Hat View Post


Alternatively, head straight to Krakow and try Zakopane or some of the resorts in that area - I've never been, but would be interested to hear what they are like!

 

In a word, small.

 

A few years ago, I went to Zakopane with an old girlfriend during a visit to her parents' place. When we first got to the mountain and walked up to the ticket office, she asked me what I was doing. When I said I was looking for a trail map, she just laughed.

 

There are only a couple of lifts, and the pistes all funnel back to the bottom, so there's no way to get lost. There are a few trees you can pop in and out of, so you can get some fun skiing if the snow is good. Szczyrk is the same, though we were lucky that the black there was partially roped off and un-groomed that week. That meant a wide patch of partially cut up powder for us to play in the day we were there, which was fun.

 

Both are big enough for a day of relatively entertaining skiing if you don't mind popping into the trees and exploring the extremities of the pistes for interesting snow. They're also good for beginners because they are small enough to do lots of laps without having to think about where you're going (you go up, then you go down; that's it). I don't know much about the villages though, because we drove in from the GF's home town each day.

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post #13 of 20
6/6/12 at 10:52am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CerebralVortex View Post

 

In a word, small.

 

A few years ago, I went to Zakopane with an old girlfriend during a visit to her parents' place. When we first got to the mountain and walked up to the ticket office, she asked me what I was doing. When I said I was looking for a trail map, she just laughed.

 

There are only a couple of lifts, and the pistes all funnel back to the bottom, so there's no way to get lost. There are a few trees you can pop in and out of, so you can get some fun skiing if the snow is good. Szczyrk is the same, though we were lucky that the black there was partially roped off and un-groomed that week. That meant a wide patch of partially cut up powder for us to play in the day we were there, which was fun.

 

Both are big enough for a day of relatively entertaining skiing if you don't mind popping into the trees and exploring the extremities of the pistes for interesting snow. They're also good for beginners because they are small enough to do lots of laps without having to think about where you're going (you go up, then you go down; that's it). I don't know much about the villages though, because we drove in from the GF's home town each day.

Hmm food for thought. We were hoping for something slightly bigger, with various slopes and with lovely wooden cabins with log fires but maybe we are just dreaming lol

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post #14 of 20
6/6/12 at 10:22pm

Welcom Peter :D Good to have you here in Epicski.

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post #15 of 20
6/7/12 at 1:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peterpoose View Post

Hmm food for thought. We were hoping for something slightly bigger, with various slopes and with lovely wooden cabins with log fires but maybe we are just dreaming lol

 

When I looked up the Szczyrk piste map online, it looked like there were a couple of other resorts in the immediate area. They didn't appear to be fully connected, but they looked very easy to get to by car.

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post #16 of 20
6/9/12 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CerebralVortex View Post

 

When I looked up the Szczyrk piste map online, it looked like there were a couple of other resorts in the immediate area. They didn't appear to be fully connected, but they looked very easy to get to by car.

Yep, I guess we can always explore beercheer.gif

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post #17 of 20
6/18/12 at 12:26pm

Hello Peter,

as it goes i've just came back from Zakopane, my GF is polish and we've had a few days in Krakow, which is absolutly lovely(apart from graffitti), then on to Krosno where her family are from, then on to Zakopane, you'll find accomodation really cheap in Zak, and the terrain should be more than enough for you if youve not skied in 25 years, it is a bit spread out with different parts of the ski area not linked together, youll like it there if youre after log cabins open fires and all that plus theres a lot of other things to see and do there its a big place for a ski resort,  

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post #18 of 20
6/18/12 at 4:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rossymcg View Post

Hello Peter,

as it goes i've just came back from Zakopane, my GF is polish and we've had a few days in Krakow, which is absolutly lovely(apart from graffitti), then on to Krosno where her family are from, then on to Zakopane, you'll find accomodation really cheap in Zak, and the terrain should be more than enough for you if youve not skied in 25 years, it is a bit spread out with different parts of the ski area not linked together, youll like it there if youre after log cabins open fires and all that plus theres a lot of other things to see and do there its a big place for a ski resort,  

Hey, thank you Rossy!

 

I think we are going to give Zakopane a try in December, hope its snowy :)

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post #19 of 20
6/19/12 at 9:38am

If you drive thru Germany all the way to the Polish border then detour from Görlitz or Zittau into the Czech Republic towards the Snezka area and to Spindlerow Mlyn - snow permitting. Small and tiny resorts but well suitable if you haven't skied in ages. Then head on to Krakow and Zakopane. Alternatives south of the border are Tatranska Lomnica or Rohace on the west. Else Jasna above the village of Liptovski Mikulas.

 

All that said mid December might be pretty early for all the resorts mentioned so check the snow levels before you go.

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post #20 of 20
7/4/12 at 3:35pm
If you take the ferry from Harwich (in England) to Hoek van Holland (in the Netherlands) and you drive in an almost straight line to Krakow, then you will pass an important ski area in Germany. It is the Sauerland region an there are a lot of skicenters. I life close to Hoek van Holland and we drive often for a day skiing to Winterberg or Willingen (Upland). The prices are low (a day pass for 26 or 22 euro). 
 
Especially Winterberg is a fast ski area with lots of slopes for newbies and modern chairlifts. Almost all the slopes are artificially prepared with snow if there is a lack of the real thing. But you have to have luck to ski so early in December. The last four years where good and we could start skiing in the first or second week of December.
 
This video is from last December in Willingen:
 
And one week earlier we skied as well:
 
The site for Winterberg:
 
The site for Willingen:
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