Julians SKI WEEKEND FOR BEGINNERS (& EXPERIENCED)
NON SMOKING - Saturday & Sunday 19 & 20 January 2008
Information in chronological need to know order.
Formatted: 22 1 2008 Web Ref.: http://berklix.com/jhs/ski/event/mayrhofen/

BEGINNERS Particularly welcome this weekend, - it is much more fun learning together, & there is a good beginners area: gondola lift to & from top of Finkenberg, It is nearly flat at the top of the mountain, with "baby" (IE raw beginners) lift, blue gentle lift & 3 restaurants. Best snow on top of mountain too, non iced overnight as opposed to valley snow. Good night life @ Mayrhofen too. (Quieter in Finkenberg, but depends where we find rooms). /
EXPERIENCED SKIERS Come too! Take turns to pass by & visit the beginners & give advice for a while, then return to the other much steeper slopes.
NON SMOKING This trip is only for Non Smokers, day & night, for the entire trip.
BOOKING Booking & paying deposits for friends of friends is not accepted (as they then do not feel committed to the group), they must personally book & pay (except boy / girlfriend / spouse). Book by web form, not phone (else you forget to tell Organiser things), Fill out web form at your own or a friends computer or Internet cafe, (Not at Organiser, people rush & bodge it there).
DEPOSIT 50 Euro payable on booking. You are responsible for getting money to Organiser on time. Minimal bank notes (ever tried handing back a handful of notes in a Sunday afternoon blizzard ?); No coins: drop through snow & Organiser does not want the weight. No cheques: Organiser will not waste time paying them in to a bank, or time / postage after trip, returning them. No bank transfers: Organiser will not daily check bank statements to see who paid what, (& deposit is more usable as cash). Deposit may be part used for EG hotel reservation fee. Booking & paying deposits for friends of friends is not accepted (as they then do not feel committed to the group), they must personally book & pay (except boy / girlfriend / spouse).
DEADLINE FOR BOOKING & DEPOSIT The deadline for booking & paying deposit is 21:00 Wednesday. Those failing to meet deadline are not chased, but discarded.
PREVENT WASTE OF ORGANISER TIME Organising is time consuming, even before the trip starts. We have insufficient organisers & trips, more are welcome. Un-necessary work & hassle discourages existing organisers from organising more trips, &/ or discourages new volunteers from organising, so if you see someone wasting Organisers time, or causing wanton annoyance, get others to join you in discouraging it !
COMMUNICATION PRE TRIP Book via Web form. Days before a supplemental email or phone call to Organiser is OK, Organiser uses email to broadcast to all people days before trip. Give Organiser both home & work email if you can. If you must tell Organiser a change within last 24 hours before departure, do not rely just on email, but also Phone ! Organiser may only check his email once a day. SMS : No. Organiser, rarely reads SMS, never replies to SMS, & he only turns mobile on when going out. Phone not SMS Organiser for a reply !
FREE DRINKS FOR OTHERS PAID BY YOUR DEPOSIT If you fail to arrive at departure point, or depart without clearance, or deliberately cause trouble etc. As trouble deterrent, part or all your deposit may be forfeit: used to pay irate hotel keepers, wasted seat petrol contributions, drinks for non troublesome skiers, &/ or Red Cross etc. Failure to pay money due others, EG hotel or petrol contributions, could result in skis or other property impounded by driver, & sold under value, to first person willing to pay money owed.
ORGANISER IS NOT A PAID COURIER ! Organiser is here to ski & have fun like you; Not to have his time consumed by individual complications caused by non compliance to group arrangements. The bigger the trip, the more work needed, & more compliance needed to group arrangements, to avoid overload. Organising work is limited by allowing less individual flexibility than individuals may like. Only come if you are prepared to fit in, Do not expect to waste Organisers time if you will not comply with
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group arrangements. Deposits are forfeit, when occasional ingrates indulge in deliberate argument, provocation or time wasting etc.
DEPOSIT REFUND A week after trip has finished, back in Munich ! After chance for disruption has passed: Correct room, Sat night meal not disrupted, all have paid pension, skiing finished, hire equipment returned, return travel goes OK, & drivers paid for fuel etc. (Organiser does not spend time or money on bank transfers by paper form, or postage (unless you provide a stamped addressed envelope & accept risk of cash in post). Collect money in cash, eg Next Friday night.
MONEY Bring More than enough! - Organiser will NOT lend you Any! People have gone hungry before now ! _Approximate_ Costs: Fuel etc Eu. 20/25 (If 3 pass.), [+ Austrian motorway toll Eu. ~3/ head (7.6 for 10 day in Jan 2004)] + Accommodation Eu. 30/ (35) + Lift Pass Eu. Eu 53.5 for 1.5 days ab 11.45h in 2008, + Optional: [Ski Hire (In Munich: Eu. 33) or 15-19 / day @ Finkenberg ] + Ski School (if _You_ arrange it Tel & Fax +43.5285.63954, Klaus Kroell, Mobile +43.664.3834205, Dorf 152, A6292 Finkenberg, www.skischule-finkenberg.at, skischule.finkenberg@aon.at 4 hours = 50 Euros, 1 hour private = Eu. 38 ] + Food: + 5 (possible coffee on arrival, waiting for half day ticket ? ) + 15 (Lunch) + 10 (Apres Ski drinks / cake) + 20 (Evening Meal & drinks after) + 15 (Sun. Lunch) + 10 (Sun. Apres), [ + 15 possible meal at Kufstein] ). + Reserve cash for medical costs / car breakdown towing, trapped in wrong valley / taxi or 2nd hotel to pay, helicopter ski rescue etc ! + 2nd nights accommodation & food if we get snowed in, (never happened yet but how will You pay if necessary ?). Credit Cards useless for cheap accommodation. We do not stop at border for bank (& no bank at border since Schengen). Pay { ski equipment hirer , lift company, restaurant, hotelier , driver } direct, not via Organiser, who will Not be involved with your payments.
PASSPORT / ID / EQUIPMENT HIRE No border check usually, but sometimes border-less Schengen is suspended, so Germans must always have ID, & British their passports, If you are too lazy to, & we get stopped at border, you will be abandoned there to hitch back to Munich. Beginners: If you need ID to hire equipment, do not ask driver to to deposit his ID (which eg Organiser refuses to do, he retains his for police driver inspection), Take your own !
INSURANCE Arrange your own Ski / Sport / Travel Insurance, We Provide NONE (& are Not qualified instructors !).
BOOK Reccomended "We Learned To Ski" by Sunday Times, ISBN 0 00 216 868 5. Parallel ski book by Ken Lawler seems good too.
Snow Report: TV Bayern 3 Teletext 642
CLOTHING Anorak with hood, zip pockets, elastic cuffs, & non-slip material; several thin polo necks; trousers of anorak material; long johns; long woolen socks (not synthetic as compression all day can cause rash); hat; goggles (double glazed, sunglasses are not useful in blizzards); gloves (wind & waterproof, leather or lined plastic OK; not woolen). Separate dry clothes for evening, particularly socks & trousers (you may freeze, sweat, or sunburn during day!) Optionally: Sunscreen & wind / cold lip cream. Ear plugs against snorers sharing your room at night !
SUITCASES are particularly Inconvenient packed in a car boot, large hiking backpacks are also not convenient. Top zipped rectangular holdalls are ideal, they allow optimal packing & provide easy dry access, in cold / dark / wet / icy / crowded car-parks. Remember we have to pack in 4 set of evening / non-ski + ski clothes, boots, sticks, & day ski-packs etc. Expect to change into & out of ski clothes in open windy car park ! There may be nowhere else available, & no time to waste finding & walking there.
DEPARTING By Car to ski resort probably at 08:00 (CHECK WITH ORGANISER) Saturday from Giesing Bahnhof Car Park, West Side of rail tracks (where lots of big bus stop space is), North end (direction of city centre). Purpose of all meeting in one place is to allow for last minute contingencies, eg sick driver or vehicle failure. Requests to depart from any other time or place than the assigned venue are unwelcome. Do Not phone Organiser at home Saturday morning, he is in his own mad rush, worse than you are. In emergency you might reach him by Mobile at Giesing after
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08:00, but it is too late to cancel or change bookings!
PASSENGER ASSIGNMENT Find your listed driver for the outbound trip. When we have lots of people you must go outbound with whoever you are listed with. The list has been carefully assembled to enable optimal fast packing of people & skis into cars & racks. It tries to allow for such as: * Drivers with racks to load full quota of extra skis. * Cars without racks to have minimum ski owning passengers; * Larger cars to take more, * Each car to have at least one experienced club skier, * Multiple hotel address / passenger optimisation, * No beginners & No hirers in Organisers car (to avoid admin. overload), * Avoidance of too many cars with just 1 person who needs to hire skis. * Each car to have a passenger with a mobile phone, * Smokers (if any) together to ease later room allocation & smoke stops / breath in cars. Organiser can change car seat allocation on my computer, but it is too late when Organiser has printed it & we are at Giesing, (change requests then disrupt & delay everyones departure while Organiser is burdened to try in a rush, & fail, to consider all possible ramifications of your unplanned annoying change, & edit list with a snow deadened biro on wet paper). Use the opportunity to meet new people allocated to your vehicle !
DRIVERS After you have loaded all your assigned passengers, & after you asked drivers without racks if they need you to take some skis for them, then ask Organiser for departure clearance. We do Not drive in convoy.
PETROL + MAP If you are not full, or need to calculate fuel consumption, buy fuel on Mittlerer ring between Geising & Salzburg Autobahn. Buy a map at petrol station & find Mayrhofen approx. 2 hours drive South (compass bearing 170 degrees), south of Inn-Tal in Austria. Buy Austrian Autobahn permit (pickerl (sp?) if you need one (recommended)
AUSTRIAN AUTOBAHNGEBUHR: Cars & Vans 10 day = Eu. 7.5 @ 2001. Fine=Eu. 250 ! Munich ADAC & Petrol stations used to sell them. Beware buying queues at border (if you can even buy there ?)
MOBILE PHONES It is illegal to use a mobile phone in Germany while driving. Even "hands free" sets can be dangerous, especially when distracted by passengers &/ or winter driving. It is stupid & illegal to use them near petrol pumps. Drivers should consider handing phone to a passenger before driving.
MOBILE PHONES IN AUSTRIA Numbers on list are for emergency only, or after personal invitation. Organiser & others do Not want to pay for your call to be relayed by their German provide back to Austria! Do not phone Organiser except in emergency, calls not to His personal benefit cost you a beer ! Best not phone people on mobiles during ski time unless you know they will not mind you interrupting their skiing. Do Not phone Organiser before his arrival at Finkenberg, he is driving, & does Not want to know about a few rooms, unless your offer is to accommodate everyone on the trip. If you carry a mobile phone while skiing, ensure it contains the SIM card with the number you registered with the Organiser, not some other number none of us know.
AUTOBAHN Ensure your passengers re-read this sheet en-route! Please drive to a safer standard than you might on your own, passengers lives are not yours to risk, especially in bad conditions ! On Saturday departures, you may experience heavy traffic jams from change in the Alps. The Austrian A-Bahn was once toll free till 2nd junction: Kufstein Sud, beware long tail backs congesting the "slow" lane well before the Kufstein Sud exit, with non payers queueing to exit. If you have a Pickerl, you may prefer the "Overtaking" lane, if you do not have a Pickerl, consider exiting at Kufstein Nord. Austrians now also fine between border & first exit (German TV, 2007.12), so maybe exit in Germany, Kiefersfeldern.
NEWS Organiser informs Drivers of new information. Drivers inform their passengers, (relaying meal & drink locations & times, & checking ski hire, hotel payment etc). Extra info, perhaps inc. room list (if You tell me), may be fixed to pension / hotel door, &/ or announced at Giesing & / or later.
PENSION If & where accommodation is pre booked, To Be Announced. (Often not booked before departure, do not worry.)
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ROOM RESERVATION Pick up keys &/ or drop off evening clothes at hotel before skiing to assure Hotelier that you will be back that evening.
DESTINATION Finkenberg Ski Lift car park (beyond Mayrhofen Austria, direction Hintertux), (Weather dependent, To be confirmed at Giesing).
SAFETY Ski laws & Safety precautions exist. Teach beginners in car en-route: Skis carried horizontally on shoulders can blind people, tips behind shoulder should be way above head height. Do not stop over brow of hill. Avoid obstructing others. Look behind before starting. Faster skier to avoid the slower etc. Altitude worsens effect of alcohol. The alpine distress signal is Six regularly spaced whistles (or flashes of a light or shouts etc.) within one minute, then wait a minute and repeat The reply from someone who will fetch help is three regularly spaced signals followed by a pause. Alpin Notruf=140, Info +43 5356 6957 http://www.bergbahn-kitzbuehel.at
EQUIPMENT HIRE Best hired in Munich Friday, but can be hired locally. Tell driver at least half hour before Mayrhofen, if you need to hire. Discuss with driver if you should hire in Finkenberg or Mayrhofen. Ensure You (not your driver) have passport or money for deposit, ask time to return equipment Sunday, & agree Time with driver Before you hire. If necessary, stop skiing early, & use ski bus or taxi to get to hire shop, drivers will not stop skiing (or apres-skiing) early just to return your skis before your shop closes, it is the ski hirer problem, not drivers responsibility. There is a hire shop at Cafe Sennhuetten, Finkenberg, others too. Hire shops @ Finkenberg shut about 11:30, one at Finkenberg lift opens 14:00, at Sennenhutte 14:30. Tell driver well before, that you need to be dropped immediately as you pass by ski hire in Finkenberg, before hire man goes to lunch, & leave rest of car load to hunt rooms while you hire. Arrange to meet in car park or whatever later, to store street clothes before going up lift. (If you dont have a mobile phone, take a passenger with you who has, to keep in touch with driver.)
CAR CARE Treat drivers cars with care: Glass sub zero becomes more brittle, frame-less windows slammed onto ski rack grips, or leaned on, could break. Do Not lean skis on cars, they slip of their own accord, or when someone else jogs the vehicle, & ski edges damage paint & people !, Careful of slipping while placing skis in roof rack, especially if glass sun roof, Do Not kick car bodies even gently to remove snow from boots, without prior permission of driver. Drivers look under car for your (& other ! cars) passengers skis.
LIFT TICKET Purchase under cable of Finkenberg lift: (840m to 2250m). Eu 53.5 for 1.5 days ab 11.45h in 2008, Ski- & Gletscherwelt Zillertal 3000 (Hintertuxer Gletscher, Eggalm, Rastkogel, Penken). Slightly cheaper if one can avoid Hintertux}, Also 1 day & 0.5 day cards. Organiser normally recommends, 1.5 day excluding Hintertux. Co-ordinate with driver what to buy: consider temperatures, heights, & lack of snow, in which case Hintertux glacier next day may need more expensive ticket. No group purchase planned (1 free ticket on every 18 is not worth organising ).
NO SKI SCHOOL 2 commercial ski schools exists +43 5285 2795 & 3800), employ them if you want professionals you can sue for incompetence, negligence etc ! Organiser will Not be arranging ski school for you, does not know where they are situated in Finkenberg or Mayrhofen, & will not contact them for you, ask our free periodic advice or find your own instructor school.
SKIING - BEGINNERS Avoid gouging other passengers & lift mens eyes out: hold both sticks in one hand, near handle, so they dont wave high when walking. Both skis on other shoulder, tips to rear, 30 40 degrees from vertical at back (to avoid hitting head / eye gouging people behind).
SKIING - HELP All experienced skiers please take turns visiting beginners areas to offer advice (it is easily visited, en route between other ski areas. Short spells advising can be fun, and simple "Why do it this way ?" questions can provoke thoughtful discussion between supposed experts. ! Beginners please encourage help by offering to reward advice at the 3 nearby bars on top of mountain.
LUNCH Saturday, usually about 13:00 in Christas (ex Vronis) restaurant at the top of Finkenberg, over the back, near the Nord- Hang- Bahn. Sunday venue varies
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To Be Announced Sat night).
NORD- HANG- BAHN Last lift up to Penkenjoch to get home is usually 16:00, do not miss it ! Walking up took Organiser 16:15 to 17:25 on 08.02.1987. Then one is exhausted & needs to rest, though it is getting darker by the minute. It is then necessary to ski the whole way to Finkenberg valley (past the closed middle station) in the dark - Not reccomended ! Since then they have added the short SL (Schlepp- Lift) Mitter- Trett, so you could instead walk up its piste, traverse down to near Horbergbahn, walk up short slope to Horbergbahn, & hope it is not also closed. There is no piste from Horbergbahn to valley, only a closed track degenerating to worse than off piste through trees. If you are lucky you will find "Ski route nach Schwendau" on right... Richard, Julian & Mike S did it one year, it is hell !
LAST RUN DRINK Beginners & slower skiers take DSB Penken chair down to middle station. Ask lift men at lunch time, when it closes (~16:15 ?). In good weather, better skiers usually meet for a Himbeer Boule at the ski bar, before skiing fast to middle station. Normal skiers take the Mittel- Station- Lift to valley. Only very good skiers should consider skiing the 2nd stage track to Finkenberg, it is often closed, & when not, dangerous: narrow, stony, icy, crowded, & too many loonies behind you who can not stop. Intermediates & most club experienced skiers on parts of that narrow steep track are a danger to themselves & others.
SKI ROLL CALL No big group "safe return roll call" occurs. Make arrangements among your similar ability co-skiers. Each passenger checks in with driver at end of day. Passengers report a missing drivers to other drivers & Organiser.
APRES SKI DRINK At days end, we meet in the Cafe Sennhuetten http://www.cafe-sennhuettn.at +43 5285 621900, 10 metres up & across road from base of Finkenberg lift, (spacious there). The Laterndl is a loud over crowded bar at foot of cable, not out meeting point.
ROOM ALLOCATION If we have not got enough rooms, all help look until we all have rooms for all. ( Finkenberg Tourismus Verband: +43 5285 62673. ) Organiser allocates types of room (single / twin / triple). Tell your hotelier to show you to a room Of That Type only. (There are never enough single rooms; It is usually not possible to accommodate requirements re. provision of integral showers, differing room prices etc). Where possible single drivers are offered single rooms to ensure a good sleep Saturday night to reduce risk of drivers feeling sleepy on Sunday nights return, after skiing all day. Couples are usually allocated double rooms. Remaining single passengers share remaining twin / double & larger rooms. Organiser reserves right to [re]-allocate rooms if necessary. Do not smoke in bedrooms without consent of fellow occupants ! Tell Hotelier you would like breakfast at about 08:00 ( To Be Announced)
SATURDAY NIGHT MEAL
To Be Announced at Sennhuetten. Probably for 19:30 or 20:00. Will be booked for all. Tell Organiser if you will not eat with us / do not want a seat. Last couple of years we got beds & ate outside Mayrhofen. Possible venues: Finkenberg Hotel Neuwirt Tel 05285 62665. Non smoking at our tables, as are all our meals, coffee etc. Laimach-Hippach: Gasthof Pension Hubertus. on back street parallel West of Zillertal Tel 05282 2373 Mayrhofen Hotel Post: bottom end of Mayrhofen, A la carte, normal prices, Restaurant Brucke is not used: food OK, but far too hot & everyone very sleepy even before a post prandial beer / coffee. Some other restaurants are now over heated too, check on entry. Sport Hotel: reccomended for coffee and large chairs, after meal. Optional: Scotland Yard Pub smokey & very crowded after dinner, OK early. Schlussel disco, top end, after bridge (A club skier was drunk, then mugged outside about 2 or 3 AM years ago).
PETROL ETC ( To Be Announced at Saturday nights meal), full cars usually pay approx Eu. 20/25 (If 3 pass.) per head. Passengers of full cars share 100% of fuel & de-icer etc, (to encourage drivers to provide cars, racks, winter tyres, & chains, & incur depreciation, corrosion etc). Drivers & passengers share motorway tolls. If your skis travel out with another car, if you buy other driver a beer, deduct 3 Eu. from your driver with no
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rack (encourages drivers to buy racks (& chains & winter tyres). Pay 100% to outbound drivers even if return drivers may be different. Dont be be mean: We have insufficient willing drivers with good fully equipped vehicles, reward & thank them!
SUNDAY MORNING Set alarm pre 08:00 Breakfast. Pack & dress to ski. Co-ordinate with your driver, not with sleepy Organiser. Pay hotelier Direct; Not via Organiser. (who rejects all requests from hoteliers & skiers for him to handle their money: He has no change, no time to waste resolving other peoples problems, single supplements, beer & sauna charges etc. Organiser wants his own quiet breakfast, arranging his own ski partners, his own passenger queries, co-ordination with other drivers, + free time to arrange / predict contingencies, & do his own packing & car preparation & loading. Hes got more than enough to consider, while sleepy. Ask your own driver, not Organiser ! Return your own keys. Leave nothing in hotel, we will not return. Use the post to return forgotten keys or collect lost clothing.
SUNDAY UP TOP Usually each car goes independently to lift, and skiers team up according to ability, sometimes in lift car park, sometime if after a late breakfast, they meet briefly up top, outside Christas (ex Vronis) about 10:30, skis on, ready to ski (not skis off ready to go to toilet & make others wait (or lose you)!)
SUNDAY LUNCH Most meet at Christas (ex Vronis) again, a bit earlier than Saturday, maybe 12:45.
SUNDAY APRES Meet at Sennhuetten, after skiing. Who is missing ? Prepare to split & depart, return equipment, clothing & shoes to right cars, pay debts, swap phone numbers etc.
SUNDAY NIGHT MEAL
To Be Announced Sunday approx 17:30 at Sennhuetten after skiing. 3 possibles: Auracher-Loechl, Roemerhofgasse 3+5 Kufstein Tel +43 5372 63238 http://www.auracher-loechl.at; Weinstadl, Ebbs-Kufstein, Kaiseraufsteig 25 Tel +43 5372 64172; Chinatown, Munich Giesing. A tired driver with a full stomach is not so attentive to icy night driving hazards, so drivers wishes are paramount, however passengers may be able to swap cars if both drivers agree.
RETURN
Do not plan (or tell people in Munich) you will be back before Late Sunday night (we often eat before leaving, or en route, & major road closures & motorway jams can occur), even if we do not stop for a meal it can easily be 22:00 or 23:00 before we are in Munich. Passengers & drivers are assumed to return in the same combination as on outward journey, Passengers are entitled to return to (Giesing) departure point. Passengers are not entitled to home taxi service from drivers. Giesing may not be optimal for driver or passengers: discuss in car what suits you perhaps 70 km before Munich, well before the Motorway forks.
PLEASE HELP Be amenable to changes, stay alert, ask if in doubt, help where possible. All the time spent organising this trip is Free Of Charge. If someone hassles Organiser, Please show your gratitude by helping stop that person. Organiser is here to go skiing with friends, hes Not a paid commercial travel courier !
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY & WELL BEING, & must be self reliant, fit, with cash, right clothes etc. WE DISCLAIM ALL RESPONSIBILITY for your: death, injury, disability, dependents, 3rd parties etc whether skiing, driving, or at hotel etc. The club & Organiser ( Organiser ) charge no fee, make no profit, & provide no insurance. (arrange your own). We are not qualified ski teachers, or professional drivers etc Things can & often / usually do go wrong on ski trips ! Anticipate, adapt, cope, & help others !
ORGANISER & COPYRIGHT Julian H. Stacey, Munich, 2001,2,3,4,5,6.8. (I have run Mayrhofen ski trips most years since December 1988, & similar for Kitzbuhel & other destinations etc)
LAW / RECHT Only people accepting these limitations can come. English law applies to the organisation of this trans-national trip of multiple nationalities. (Englisches Recht ist gueltig, Falls sie Englisch nicht verstehen, ist ihre mitreisen nicht gestattet)
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