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My personal experience of skiing in Niederau, Austria
The stories of apres ski partying are legend in Niederau, Austria.
My father was one of the early pioneers of skiing in the late 1960s and the stories of dancing on the tables into the small hours after drinking more than a few schnapps, I will always remember fondly.
Niederau being a small ski resort, wasn’t a place I’d opted to ski over the years as my preference was to ski the bigger Austrian ski resorts with far greater skiing.
My first time here was in early 2020. The resort was in pretty good shape for snow, plus a fresh dump of snow appeared overnight half way through my weekly stay.
Niederau Wildschoenau
Niederau is part of the the Ski Juwel Wildschoenau ski region. The region is made up of 4 small villages Niederau, Oberau, Auffach and Thierbach. Your ski pass will cover the whole area.
Ski Juwel
If you take a look at the piste info card on the right you’ll see that the whole area has 109 km of skiing. The majority of which is ideal for intermediate skiers.
I stayed in the centre of Niederau and the ski bus service was very easy to catch to and from any of the 4 villages in the region.
What it’s actually like to ski in Niederau, Austria
I’ll be honest from the start, the skiing in Niederau for anyone thats a basic intermediate skier and above is limited.
There are a few steep ski slopes into the valley, but apart from that they’re pretty easy to navigate on skies.
The village is more about the ambience and I soon found myself skiing back down to the village to sit and have a coffee or beer and just relax in the sunshine taking in the alpine atmosphere. There aren’t too many ski huts on the mountain if I remember correctly.
Don’t let the fact the skiing is limited in Niederau put you off though. As I mentioned the ski bus service is one of the best I’ve come across. With busses running at least every 20 minutes throughout the lift opening times and beyond.
This opens up the opportunity to ski the whole are with ease. I enjoyed sitting on the bus heading to far side of the Ski Juwel area. At one point I actually looked on my phone to se how far away I was from the centre of Niederau, 20 miles was the answer.
This connection throughout the ski region made my week interesting from a ski point of view. If you ski to the most western part on the piste map your something like 3 valleys away from base. It gave the skiing a real sense of adventure. I loved it.
Alpbachtal, Austria
The video below I filmed skiing from one of the highest points in the region. A steep black run that was quite challenging due to the fresh snowfall on the piste.
Niederau for families
I’ll give a mention to my view of Niederau as a family ski resort for young families.
During my visit in late January, many families with very young children were enjoying the nursery slopes in the village. The ski school has a very good reputation for teaching pre school children how to ski by all accounts.
I’d certainly suggest taking a look at Niederau if you have a young family along with Almenwelt Lofer. They are probably the 2 best resorts to cater for a family just starting out their skiing life.
Final thoughts on the ski village of Niederau
The skiing in Niederau itself is limited. However if you take into account the whole Ski Juwel region then I would say that there’s plenty of skiing for most people for a week.
The apres ski is still very good in the village even after all these years. I’ve never seen so many bars packed into a small area. If your into apres ski and not too bothered about the local skiing, Niederau makes great choice.
Families with young children will enjoy the gentle nursery slopes and the excellent local ski school too.
Finally it’s fair to say Niederau is a ski resort that offers something for everyone.
Austrian Ski Resorts – Overview Guide To Popular Ski Resorts
My first visit to an Austrian ski resort was, it’s fair to say, some years ago now as a 10 year old boy
Saalbach Hinterglemm: Tips for your holiday
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Soll Austria: Tips for your holiday
At the time of my first visit to Söll, Austria I was a young man looking to ski as many kilometres during the day and party hard at night.
Table of Contents
Ski Juwel
Piste Information-
Easy - 26 km (23)
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Medium - 54 km (29)
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Difficult - 13 km (13)
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Number of lifts - 49
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Height - 828 - 2025 m
