A lovely resort, with fab runs and restaurants (Mayrhofen)

Member Name: nicki--martin

Product:	Mayrhofen
Date:	15/06/08 (345 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good snow history, snow making facilities

Disadvantages: can be a little expensive, busy during snowbombing

I have been to Mayrhofen three times now and intend to go again next season. Each time has been during the winter season, once in december, once in april and once in february.

The Town:
Mayrhofen is a small town with one main street. There are several supermarkets all selling the usual stuff, but also all have fresh meat and cheese stalls. The main spar opposite the penken ski lft is quite expensive and sometimes runs out of things during the busier periods. However, there is another supermarket round the back streets which is cheaper and has a biggr range of produce.

There is a large number of cafes and restaurants all selling pretty much the same at roughly the same prices.

There is also a very large number of shops catering to snowboard and ski wear both for on the slopes and off. These in my experience are extremely expensive and you would probably be better purchasing back in the UK from similar retailers. For those interested they are very similar to shops like freespirit, extreme, and mambo and there is an oakley store on the main highstreet.

The Food:
There are restaurants all over mayrhofen and they are all lovely. I must reccomend the Kramerwirt Hotel, however i would book during the day for that evening as it tends to get very busy. The staff are very polite and during one of our visits knocked over a glass of wine which resulted in free deserts for all of our group!

The Nightlife:
There are several clubs in mayrhofen, all of which are popular during the "snowbombing" festival. The ice bar at the bottom of the penken lift is a bit cheesy and is very popular. However, the only night that we experienced noise was on the last night of the season when there was a huge street party involving all the reps, intructors and locals.

The Lifts:
The main lift that is used is the penken lift. This can get quite busy during the morning rush for ski lessons, so it is worthwhile either getting there before 9 or after 10 to miss the rush. However, this said we never experienced the reported hour long ques that we were warned about. If this does occur though, a short bus ride will take you to another gondola which is apparantly much quieter & takes you further up the mountain.

The Snowboarding/Skiing:
This was excellent. I went the first time only having had 1 week previoulsy on snow. I quickly progressed from the blue runs (which are definately more suited to skiiers as they are very flat) to the red runs. It is very well suited to intermediates and advanced people, that said however, my mum who hadnt skiied for 20 years decided to try her hand at it again and enojyed every minute on the blues and reds. There are no greens at the resort.

There is also a board and ski park which is open for the majority of the season which is very popular and extremely well built. There are 3 different lines for different abilities which means that no one is under pressure and no one is holding anybody else up. These range from beginners runs, to proffesional runs which often see world champs strutting their stuff!

There are also the usual ski patrols and rescue teams which respond very quickly to injuries and accidents on the mountains. During a bad fall i dislocated my right shoulder and was in immense pain. However, even though i spoke no german, locals stopped to help me and a first aider came and reduced my shoulder back again. I was offered a lift back down on the snowmobile thing and a trip to hospital, but prefered to make my own way down.

Just a word of caution: watch out for the piste bashers (appropriately named "pisten bully's") because they wont look out or move for you!

The atmosphere and locals:
Mayrhofen has a very relaxed feel about it and everyone we met whilst there was very nice and friendly. The only time that it gets a bit roudy is when snowboming is on, but even then people are well behaved and pleasant.

The Verdict:
I will deffinately be returning again and hopefull will do so for many years to come. It is a reasonably priced resort with an excellent snow history and a fab setting. I have never had a bad experience whilst in Mayrhofen.

Summary: a lovely resort that i will be returning to many times!