Where in Germany or Switzerland?

[utahbob]

I am stationed In Kaiserslautern, Germany waiting to go down range and I just found out that I will get the American holiday of Thanksgiving (Nov 25th and 26th) off. I am trying to figure out where to go: Germany or Switzwerland to ride? I was doing some research and Zermat, Saas Fee and Les Diablerets are open in Switzerland and Garmish for Germany. Where is the best ride for the Euro or Franc?
Thanks in advance
Bob:)

[kamran]

Garmish is so limited and ususally the coverage at this time of the year is not ideal. Also not many other alternatives in the area. I would definitely try switzerland. The snow coverage for this time of the year is much better than Germany and once you are there, you can always drive to other resorts within reasonable time frames.

[boogieman]

id say definatly zwitserland or if you can go to austria
st anton is pretty nice

[Hagen]

That early in the season you might want to try to find a resort that also has summer skiing - i.e. more snow all year round...
Last time I went skiing in Austria we went to Soelden - great resort! ...and they also have a glacier as part of the resort where you can ski almost all summer. We went there in February and they had to open the glacier because they didn't have enough snow on the main mountain.
That resort also seems to be quite popular for carving - we saw a lot of really good carvers on snowboards and skis! ...that last trip made me try out plates... :D

[fivat]

Saas Fee (Switzerland) has one of the best glaciers in Europe. Many teams from all over the world come there to train in summer (alpine and freestyle snowboarding).

More info: http://www.saas-fee.ch/en/welcome.cfm

[D-Sub]

wow

[Wolfman]

Dude, Solden, Austria is definately the way to go.

I used to go there every year twice.
It has two large glaciers, and perfect runs besides that.
And do not forget the Virus boards test center.

Check out the website.
Cheap logging in Huben.

Have fun.:p

[D-Sub]

again, wow. double wow even.

[Pat Donnelly]

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3759594

[D-Sub]

wow. no fun!

[Wolfman]

Regarding the cable that snapped, **** does happen I reckon.

But luckily nobody was hurt. Still remember that American jetfighter playing around in the Italian Dolimite mountains. Flying under the cable for fun. Cutting the cable with its tail and killing 15 people in the gondola, yikes.

Anyways, Zillertal Arena, Hintertuxer Glacier is also a very cool region. Hochfugen, a small resort in the Zillertal, is known for its "schnee loch" (snow hole). Plenty of snow and a lot of fun runs, perfect for carving.

Need more suggestions?:p

[Ray]

Plus, one of the BIGGEST party places on the planet :D
The stuff we don't have here in the states...

[patmoore]

Zermatt is wonderful with great groomed cruisers and you have the added benefit of being able to drop into Cervinia without a passport.

Last time I skied Garmisch and the Zugspitze was in in 1956. As I recall it couldn't compare to Switzerland.

[skywalker]

As you are going to start from Kaiserslautern, I would recommend Soelden, too. Maybe you can visit me in Stuttgart for a beer on your trip. And: pretty sure you will meet some hardbooters maybe even from the EC-forum in Soelden. So go for it :)

Tom

[utahbob]

To All,

Thanks for the suggestions! I am preparing to go to Afghanistan, so I figure I might as well carve on some pieste (sp?) next year. Now I got to figure out to rent a car, carving board and hard boots. I will try to figure something out by next week. Will any of you be on the slopes then? I will by a few pints or liters of beer afterwards.
Cheers!
Bob

[Hagen]

...at least in Soelden you should be able to rent gear.
Actually when I tried snowboarding there for the first time in my life (I think it was in '95 or '96) the shop that we went to only had hard boots and carving boards to rent...

[Hans]

A good shop in Solden with alpinegear, http://www.riml.com/sportriml/

Greets, Hans.

[Hagen]

This thread makes me home sick... :(
...why can't we have decent shops for Alpine gear here at Tahoe? Wouldn't it be nice if you could go to Dave's in Tahoe City and demo the latest in Alpine boards, bindings and boots?

[Wolfman]

Just thought you might like that last piece of information.:p

Have fun and take care,Bob