skiing in niederau
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Niederau is a favourite spot for beginners and school groups and it's easy to see why with the welcoming and easy selection of gentle slopes served by draglifts at the base of the valley near the main road. There are no less than six lifts where skiers who are just starting can practise their turns close to their accommodation.
Heading up the mountain will, for most people, mean taking the Markbachjoch gondola to the top of the ridge and some beautiful views out over the surrounding mountains. Off to the left are the Kropfraderjoch and Mittermoosjoch draglifts which serve easy intermediate runs. A long red or "black" run heads back down to the drags at the valley floor or the return via the gondola.
Another option is the red run closer to the gondola, which joins onto the previous run about halfway down. This also accesses two black ski routes which, if they are open, actually do deserve that label more than the marked black runs (which, as so often in Austria, appear just to be the harder red runs).
Off to the right from the top of the gondola is the area under the Lanerköpfl, which can either be reached by a "flat" blue run which involves some poling, or via the ancient Lanerköpfl single chair from the valley. The Gipfel draglift accesses yet another easy black run and the Anton-Graf Hütte at the base of it is a pleasant place for lunch. The black extends all the way to the valley floor (confident intermediates should have no problems with it).
skiing in auffach
Auffach is perhaps the most challenging ski area in the valley, with a wide range of red runs on the ridge above the village and some interesting off-piste possibilities in good snow.
The Schatzberg gondola takes skiers up to the central meeting point at the top of the ridge (there is also a middle station). From here two chairlifts to the left and a few draglifts tot he right offer a selection of pleasant intermediate motorway pistes and the odd selection of bumps or powder snow between the runs.
The way the lift system is laid out can lead to bottlenecks at busy periods but it is normally possible to ski all the way to the valley floor at the end of the day.
skiing in oberau
The pretty village of Oberau in the middle of the Wildschönau has a selection of draglifts close to the village suitable for beginners and the Riedlberg drag lift which somewhat implausibly claims to be a black run (short and moderate red would be more precise).
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