 Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks @aplaceinthesun, well that's our trip gone. Given the situation probably for the best all round and we'd started to get cold feet anyway as things have been progressing.
As you say, now to see what bits of my money I can get back as was DIY plus Sunweb for accomodation and lift passes.
Sad not to get out there was it was due to be off first time there. Think I'll look to see if we can get a cheeky pre Christmas week in December. Hope those of there are all still ok.
Edit - should have said best for us to have cleared up uncertainty but feel gutted for all those whose businessess and livelihoods are suffering as a result 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Feel sorry for those whose livelihoods depend on the tourist trade. Wonder what the fallout will be in terms of businesses going bust - perhaps also airlines. I need to figure out whether to return to the U.K., and if so, when and how. Wish it didn’t coincide with having to do something about Austrian residency, due to the Brexit clock ticking.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@JimboS, Good to meet you and Mrs JimboS last night. What was your impression of the Spitzbub Spacey show? (It was quieter than usual, at least to start with, but got progressively more lively - and crazy. Pity you had to leave before he climaxed  )
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@tatmanstours, hi Richard, good to meet you too. We had a great time last night. Mrsjimbos said she dragged me home when I was getting too drunk!
Anyway, see you next year sometime.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@tatmanstours, I'd be tempted to stay in Austria for as long as possible, as the healthcare system is probably in a better state than in the UK, and the people are no more likely to panic and stockpile toilet rolls 
The short-term fallout will be severe - several airlines will either go bust or need bailouts, which in turn will require either direct EU intervention or suspension of the state aid rules. Car hire companies, travel agents, cruise companies, taxi companies and others will be next, along with restaurants and bars, and in a knock-on effect, breweries which don't have a substantial bottle or can market. Accommodation providers will be hit, but more so in non-seasonal parts of the industry - ski apartment or hotel owners will see a 10-15% drop in takings for the season, which is painful but maybe not enough to pull them down, but in reality many of them were winding down anyway and the peak weeks of Christmas, New Year and much of February were normal so in some cases they've already banked 95% of their money for the season. Hotels in major cities will see a much longer hit, but with also having a full year to make their money a loss of 2-3 months in winter/spring is still probably only 10% of their takings
What this will do is take down all of the companies which are leveraged on a large pile of debt, as the loss of business will mean they can no longer service the debt. Those which have cash in the bank will go into hibernation if they can, retain their staff on the lowest wages they can get away with, and hope for better times to arrive before they burn through the savings they have.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Anyone heard what’s happened to the earlier poster sparkle ,if it wasn’t for his earlier post we who are now on the way home after a great week in another place would have been compromised
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@ski for fun, send them a PM?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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They were shipped out to a quarantine hotel just round the corner from zell Piesendorf never been heard of since
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@tatmanstours and @JimboS, I hope you can get out and enjoy the last day on the slopes, still looks lovely on the webcams.
Looking forward to getting out there sometime. Good luck with journeys home and stay safe.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Rowlski, The last skiing day could hardly have been better - a cloudless, blue sky and perfect pistes, with hardly anyone on them. The kind of conditions I’m more used to in April.
From tomorrow the whole valley will be in quarantine for two weeks. That Netflix subscription will certainly be paying for itself!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@tatmanstours, glad to hear it on a splendid last day. I'm going to book for December once I can see if things are likely to be back to some sort of normality...
Enjoy Netflix  Are people restricted to houses / apartments during the lockdown there? Even if not on skis I'd be wanting to get out in the mountains and do a bit of walking, the scenery is still stunning and a bit of fresh air has to be good for you!
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@Rowlski, in Austria pretty much all outdoor activities are banned beyond walking your dog on your own, no ski touring or snow shoeing! Big fines for not doing so.
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You know it makes sense.
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@munich_irish, Watch a black market for lending out your dog appear.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@tatmanstours, hope you are feeling ok, I took ill on Monday with all the classic CV19 symptoms, was very unwell on Tuesday and Wednesday and feeling a bit better today. No way of telling for sure if its flu or CV19, as you can't get tested unless you are on deaths door.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Sorry to hear you’re unwell. So far so good in my little socially isolated apartment in Saalbach. Always glad to meet a fellow  but glad I didn’t hug or kiss you.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@tatmanstours, we should have been flying out tomorrow
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Should have been out there on the planks now. Looks pretty overcast today and see temps dropping with a top up tonight and tomorrow. Interesting to see the conditions anyway. The valley runs look complete still despite the recent warm weather even without the piste bashers out doing their stuff!
Ah well, hopefully there before Christmas if things are sufficiently back to normal by then.
@JimboS, how are you doing? Hope you're through the worst of it and on your way out the other side of the symptoms? Fingers crossed.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Well, that was really bad, been in bed for most of the last 14 days feeling terrible, headaches and exhaustion, nausea and diarrhoea, luckily it didn't go to my lungs. Called 111 a couple of times and hang on for hours but didn't get through. Today is the first day I've had without paracetamol. Still a bit light headed and exhausted but now on the mend. Been luckier than some.
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@JimboS, Glad you’re out of the woods. Any theories about how you became infected? I spent quite some time chatting to you at the Spitzbub (did we shake hands?) on the Thursday evening of your week but thankfully seem to have escaped. However I know that at least one of the bartenders had it (and has only just been released from isolation), as well as another Snowhead, who was at the other end of the bar from us.
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I wondered if I got mine from the Spitzbub too? I didn't spend too much time in there during the week though. There was a guy in a bubble who was a bit pasty and coughing who could have been the one, or it could have been the airport on the way home where I lost a contact lens and didn't a few minutes fishing around in my eye trying to get it back.
@JimboS, very pleased that you are through the worst. I got a far milder dose but shared those symptoms. I only had a couple of days completely flattened but it lingered on for a while after and I got a cough for 10 days or so. The worse thing has been losing my sense of smell and taste, which is still not back 18 days later.
Stay safe everyone.
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Yes, lost my sense of taste and smell too, but that was a blessing at times. Haha. No idea where I picked it up, but there did seem to be a lot of I'll people at the airport which was rammed. @tatmanstours, luckily we bumped elbows. 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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there by the grace of god go I, glad to hear that folks who think they contacted the virus are recovering, we were meant to be in saalbach sun- sun 8th march .Travelling by car we overnighted at the german border on the sat night 7th and having left home on the friday once across the north sea picked up the news of the group who had a member gone down with the virus .On contacting the tourist office was told all under control and up to me to decide what to do, so contacted the hotel who understood that the conflicting advice from both our uk and the austrian govt was do not travel to an affected area, we took this advice and cancelled our hotel on the sat morning and ended up going to schladming which at the time was supposedly clear, different county styria though only a line on a map
We had intended to be skiing for 10 days however we booked the hotel in schladming for 3 days and when still all clear booked for another 3 in the same room, as the the area was to be closed and everywhere shut we left on the sat morning drove more or less non stop to rotterdam to catch the overnight ferry back.Now having been back for a fortnight with no symptoms am glad we did what we did ,whilst unlikely that I would have been in spitz would definitley been in a lot of the bars huts and on the uplift.Never having been to schladming though have been to other ski amade spots and not been particularly overwhelmed have to say we had a great time skiing on well maintained slopes with a different though pleasant vibe as against saalbach and despite the unfolding situation the hotel management where excellent.Now just considering wether to book some mid jan flights for saalbach in jan as they are so reasonable(not so keen on driving in jan) as they totally understood would rebook our original hotel as an act of support as they waived any charges
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@JimboS woah, glad to hear you're over the worst of it that does sound nasty.
Sounds like you were fairly fortunate @ski for fun, I've only been to Schladming for a long weekend though enjoyed it and would go back. Had one afternoon up on the Dachstein glacier too which was very small but had perfect snow.
I got a dose of what may or may not have been Covid here without travelling, thankfully milder and like your experience @Klamm Franzer was feverish and out of it for about 3 days then the rest, cough but no chest impact. It would seem a lot of it about but seeing as I hadn't travelled and no tests who knows, could have just been a different coldy/fluey bug.
It does sound like the apres scene was the spreading vehicle in the ski resorts, just look at the pounding Ischgl is getting...
Fingers crossed all are well enough and the situation coming back to some sense of normality by December for the start of the next season.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just seen the webcams, nice and cold and snow right down in the valley and villages, ah if only
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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It’s currently snowing outside, with a temperature at village height of -2C (going down to -9C overnight). So much for all those doom merchants, who bang on about the south-facing slopes and advise against visiting Saalbach in late season. Conditions during the second half of March would have been delightful.
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@tatmanstours,
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You know it makes sense.
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Yup, I'd have lucked out on this week... if we were there
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Burning the 04.30am oil, and it's -7C outside. What a great non-skiing day awaits! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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@tatmanstours,
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@boabski, outside the Goassstall 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@tatmanstours, and inside the schwartzacher
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hope everyone is doing OK and enjoying or at least tolerating the world of lockdown!
Now then, it's way too early to be booking anything (even though we now have our voucher from Sunweb) as there are so many ifs, buts and maybes about what is possible when, but...
If things look OK for travel come December and resorts are operating would it be worth visiting Saalbach for a week from 12th December? Presumably even if there was good early season snow only half at best would be open just given lack of numbers. Would most restaurants and bars even be open then?
If travel is on again I fancy getting out early but may need to choose somewhere that's likely to be a bit busier early season.
Thanks and keep safe everyone!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Rowlski, I normally arrive in Saalbach around 10th-12th December. Sometimes I wish that I had got there earlier, because conditions can obviously be excellent if the snow arrives timeously during November, as it usually does. However there is, equally obviously, a risk that, if the season gets off to a poor start (as it has in two or three of the 14 consecutive years when I’ve arrived in Saalbach before Christmas), I might be twiddling my thumbs for a week or two. However, even in such poor seasons, the extensive and very impressive snowmaking has provided enough skiing to stave off boredom for the limited number of people who are there so early in the season (so I suppose my reference to twiddling my thumbs is possibly not justified). So I tend to think of the second week of December as a reasonable compromise.
As you say, the resort tends to be relatively quiet before Christmas, but my perception is that it’s become progressively more lively over the last decade or so. Many of the apres-ski bars throw opening parties around mid-December, and some will be open from the official start of the season (the beginning of December). Bobby’s, the Crazy Deer and the Spitzbub were certainly open when we arrived on 12th December last year.
From memory all the mountain restaurants that we use were also open when we arrived. So it was really business as usual, except that everything was delightfully relaxed, with no crowds, an upbeat atmosphere and undercurrent of anticipation and excitement - and of course practically empty pistes.
I can honestly recommend the “lull before the storm”. For me the middle of December is one of the best times to be in Saalbach (also the middle of January and the middle of March). However the Hinterhag won’t be open until Boxing Day, and the apres-ski will be laid-back until after Christmas - which to me is not a bad thing. There will be enough friendly bars and conversations to keep you happy. There will also be a sufficient number of open village and mountain restaurants to feed you.
All this is of course based on past experience, which is no guide to the post-pandemic future!
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@Rowlski, I've done a couple of pre-Christmas trips to Soll (for ease of access for short breaks), one on my own and one with a friend, and had reasonable snow and enjoyable skiing both times. Pistes are not all open, and those that are may be all artificial snow or might be a 50cm of fresh on top of 20cm of artificial laid down as a base.
No matter where you go, you can be sure that some places and runs will not be open, but the majority will be because there's still money to be made before the rush, plus the incoming seasonal staff get to start at a leisurely place while they work out where everything is, how the tills work, and so on if they're new to the place.
It's very different from a high season trip - apres bars will have 5-10 people in them rather than 300, you can talk to the staff and they'll be delighted to spend time with you, and that also means that if you go back again later in the season they'll typically greet you by name and make sure you're served promptly no matter how busy the place is then. What there won't be is a band - no point until the place is busy. The pistes are also delightfully empty, and therefore don't get cut up and mogulled, plus of course the weather is colder than in March and the sun is very weak. That can mean that it is cold, but no more so than in January. On the other hand, it may be raining in the villages, and only turning to snow halfway up the mountain.
I can recommend it. I've never been to Saalbach in December, but I've been in January, February and March in the past, and I will visit before Christmas one year, possible this one.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks @tatmanstours and @ousekjarr, I've only been skiing once pre Xmas and that was to Cervinia and lucked out with amazing snow even though not guaranteed even there and that is obviously a mega high resort.
With snow making these days I'd be fairly confident there'd be enough to ski on, was almost more worried that not much would be open on mountain or restaurants given lack of punters! I very much like the idea of having the pistes almost to myself
I think that will remain my plan A bit given everything will be leaving it late to book.
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@Rowlski, I suspect that, “given everything”, if things return to relative normality, there will be quite an avalanche of late bookings. Having said that we already have four weeks booked.
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FAQ
that @TatmansTours was referring to who was at the Spitzpub on the same occasion on the Thursday.
).
