Skiing — Day 3: The Auffach Ski Area
Skiing the Auffach Ski Area and seeing Elvis at The Cave
January 2015
I spent the first two days of the trip skiing the Niederau area, and by day 3, I needed new terrain.
On day 3, I headed over to the Auffach Ski Area, 20 minutes down the road by free ski bus (free with a pass issued with the ski ticket).
The free bus worked fine. I caught it from outside the Harfenwirt Hotel. The bus was at the start of its route at this stop, so it was empty. The bus took just under 20 minutes and made 3 or 4 stops to Auffach.
Auffach Ski Area — first impressions
The Auffach Ski Area is quite extensive, and it is much bigger than Niederau.
The free bus dropped me at the bottom of the Schatzbergbahn gondola, the main lift out of the town. The ride to the top, via a mid-station, took around 15 minutes.
The snow on the mountain was good; it was less icy than in Niederau.
The Auffach ski area consisted of mainly red and black runs and so may not be a good mountain for beginners.
From the top of the Schatzbergbahn gondola, I skied down to the Hahnkopfbahn lift. From the top of the Hahnkopfbahn lift, I went down route 13 (Wurmegg Abfahrt) to the mid-station of Verbindung. I was hoping to ski down to the village of Inneralpbach, but there was no route down, and I had to use the gondola.
In Inneralpbach, I caught the gondola (Poglbahn) to the top and skied the mountain. I worked my way down to the bottom of the Wiedersbergerhornbahm, the furthest distance my ski pass would allow.
I was pretty impressed with the ski area. There was a lot of terrain to cover, and modern lifts served it. There were not too many drag lifts.
One bonus is there are free Wi-Fi spots on the mountain.
Auffach/Inneralpbach Ski Area — free Wi-Fi
I had never encountered free Wi-Fi on the slopes. What a revelation! Why don’t more resorts do this?
The Wi-Fi was associated with lift buildings and seemed to extend along the lift line, particularly on the gondolas with mid-stations.
Food stop at Schatzbergalm
I stopped for a quick snack at Schatzbergalm, near the top of the Schatzbergalm lift.
Schatzbergalm is a typical mountainside self-service restaurant. It was pretty large, so it would be able to handle the crowds, although the food service area was small. There was no Wi-Fi, and loos were downstairs. Why do they always put the toilets downstairs?
Auffach/Inneralpbach Ski Area
I had a good day skiing over at Auffach/Inneralpbach.
The area had a good range of runs (mainly reds and blacks), and snow conditions were better than in Niederau. But I still had to watch out for ice. I enjoyed the free Wi-Fi.
As it was a public holiday in Austria, I had to queue for several lifts, but I generally skied straight onto most lifts. Some runs were quite crowded, but the crowds disappeared once I moved away from the centre of the mountain.
Below are some photos of the Auffach/Inneralpbach Ski Area. The author took all the photos.
Bus back from Auffach/Inneralpbach Ski Area
The bus back was great. I skied down the mountain and straight onto it.
One slight problem was I forgot to press the buzzer to stop the bus for my hotel. I didn’t know it was a ‘request stop’.
The bus is an excellent free service.
Evening Entertainment — Elvis at the Cave Bar, Niederau, Austria
I said I would go back to The Cave to catch Elvis, and I did.
It was all a bit weird. I was sitting in a bar underneath a hotel. The bar was mocked up to look like a cave, and I was listening to an Elvis impersonator on stage.
A strange way to finish the day.
