Skiing in Kaprun
Kaprun in Austria, together with nearby Zell am See comprise the "Europa Sports Region" Kaprun is an ideal ski holiday destination for those who do not want to go to a high altitude Alpine ski resort but still want a guarantee that there will be snow (and good quality now at that) when they arrive to start their dream ski holiday.
What reasons could there be for wanting to avoid a high Alpine ski resort? For one the village of Kaprun is at only 800 m and on any given day will be warmer than a village at 2 000 metres above sea level. People planning a ski holiday with children may be especially grateful for those few additional degrees of warmth.
The attraction of Kaprun is that it is situated at the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn which rises to over 3 000 m and good quality snow is assured on the glacier at the top.
Kaprun is especially suitable for beginner skiers as there is a nice longish nursery slope right in the village and easy blue runs to progress to on the Maiskogel whose runs finish right in the village.
Nearby Zell am See is a 10 minute bus ride away and on the Schmittenhohe mountain above Zell am See there are not only easy blue runs for beginners to progress to but also some testing reds as well as several slopes that are graded "black". Piste grooming in the Europa Sport Region is very good and even the black slopes are usually immaculately groomed.
A 25 minute bus ride in the opposite direction brings one to the gondolas at the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn which whisk one up to the Alpine Centre at 2 450m above sea level. The glacier is a huge bowl of great snow and the runs up here are for the main part wide, immaculately groomed and mainly blue in degree of difficulty with a few reds.
All in all there are 136 km of prepared pistes of which 42% are graded blue, 35% red and 23% black. Those accustomed to skiing black or even reds slopes in Val d'Isere may contest that the black slopes on the Schmittenhohe actually deserve the rating.
The region has won awards for its child care facilities and several of the hotels offer a child minding service where the children are kept interested in various projects while their parents have an opportunity to go and do some skiing.
Follow these links for independent assessment:
http://www.complete-ski.com/blog/life-in-kaprun.cfm
and
http:///www.complete-ski.com/blog/kaprun-area.cfm
