General consensus seems to be that last year's trip to Kitzbühel was a success, so we're going back again for 2010. It's actually in Aurach, a small village 5km from Kitzbühel in the Tyrolean Alps. Join the skigeek mailing list for more information, and register your interest by sending email either to the list or to the Cabal <skicabal@infradead.org>
Aurach has a ski shop (which is where we can hire equipment) and bar, as well as two or three places to eat out. It's easy to get into Kitzbühel itself by bus (which is free, with a ski pass) or taxi. It takes about 10-15 minutes, and we'll probably do it en masse a couple of times during the week for dinner/entertainment.
We'll book rooms at Heike's Pension again.
We will mostly be skiing, but expect a few snowboarders in the party too. You don't need to be competent at either; in 2009 we had a fair number of beginners, all of whom enjoyed it sufficiently that they are threatening to return in 2010.
The atmosphere is usually relatively quiet and civilised, rather than the rampant piss-up that occurs at certain conferences where we might meet. Despite the name of the event, excessive geekiness is generally discouraged — the trip is intended to be (and usually is) suitable for couples and families, and for everyone from complete beginners to expert skiers/boarders. Or even those who just want to wander about and relax.
We have no Internet access in Aurach, except for what you can provide for yourself with a mobile phone.
Dates
We'll arrive on Saturday February 27th, ski from Sunday to Friday
inclusive, and leave on Saturday March 6th.
We don't have dates
for FOSDEM in 2010 yet, but we're
hoping that it'll end up being the previous weekend so that people
flying in from further afield can do both.
Travel
Kitzbühel is 75km from Salzburg airport, 97km from Innsbruck and 165km
from Munich. It is well-served by trains; see the
ÖBB web site for information.
We usually let people sort out their own transport, although a bunch of people will probably arrange to hire a car from Munich again.
The ski bus service is free with a ski pass, and timetables (for 2009,
but they don't seem to change from year to year) are available online
from the Bergbahn
web site. You want the Kitzbühel
- Jochberg - Paß Thurn - Mittersill timetable, and the "Aurach b. Kb. Hechenmoos" stop.
Rooms
Last year, we started off by provisionally booking space for 13-17 people,
across two apartments
each with two double beds, three single rooms
(#2, #16, #25), and three "twin" rooms
(#11, #14, #21).
We'll probably do something similar this year, once the initial level of interest has been measured.
When the rest of the pension is full and Heike is getting further
enquiries, she'll contact us. At that point we'll start relinquishing
rooms and anyone who hasn't paid their deposit will lose their place
— although they may be able to stay at the Wiesenegg next door
at a higher price. Conversely, if/when we end up with more deposits
than we have space, we'll ask Heike for more rooms.
Prices
It should work out around the same price as for 2009: €550 per person,
(not including equipment hire or tuition). The basic prices are
something like this:
| Accommodation: | €350 |
| 6-day ski pass: | €180 |
| Ski hire: | €100-€150 (depending on level) |
| Lessons: | See Sport Noichl web site. |
In 2009, collecting €550 per person gave us each an extra €20 in the kitty, which paid for taxis into Kitzbühel and for drinks on the Thursday night, as well as covering sundries such as tourist tax, ski pass deposits, etc. This arrangement seemed to work, so we'll be doing it again.
Accommodation prices may vary slightly for those who request apartments to themselves or single rooms. Although we didn't bother with that in 2009.
Booking (deposit, contact details)
To reserve your place, please pay a deposit of €100 (or equivalent in
any currency) as soon as possible to the following account at Citibank
International PLC:
| Account holder: | David Woodhouse |
| SWIFT BIC: | CITI GB2L |
| IBAN: | GB86 CITI 18 5004 8612 3932 |
If you prefer, you can also pay the full amount (approx. €550) immediately.
As well as letting us know that the deposit is paid so that we can confirm that it arrives, please also provide the following information. You don't have to send it to the mailing list; you can send it to Jes, Ben and Dave alone at skicabal@infradead.org:
Until Heike starts asking about the rooms and we start saying that we need them, the deposit should be refundable if you need to back out — at this stage we need them mostly to tell the difference between people who "might" make it, and those who are serious.
In 2009 we had someone pull out about a week and a half before the trip. They
were refunded the full €550 they'd paid. We aim to be that flexible as long
as we possibly can.
Insurance
We expect you to sort out your own insurance. In Avoriaz,
we included insurance in the cost of the apartments. We
are not doing that this year, since we expect that most people will
have travel insurance of their own anyway.
Besides, the cost of the group cover for this one week isn't much less than the cost of a decent annual policy — so it seems to make more sense for people to do it that way.
Please ensure that your personal cover includes winter sports, including emergency transportation (i.e. helicopters) and preferably also theft and damage to rental equipment (although the latter should be possible from Sport Noichl at a small premium).
If people really want us to arrange group insurance rather than having their own policies, we may do it for those who need it. Discuss it on the mailing list — but beware that the first to request it may be volunteering to arrange it all.
Pistes
Aurach is fairly centrally located in the Kitzbühel ski area, and
served by a free ski bus service which runs up to the lifts at
Jochberg and Paß Thurn at one end of the resort, as well as into
Kitzbühel and beyond in the other direction. The bus stop is on the
main road about 50 metres from where we'll be staying.
There's plenty to do for everyone, from the board park and beginners' slopes on the Kitzbüheler horn to the set of lovely black runs on Steinbergkogel and elsewhere, and plenty of opportunities to play silly buggers off-piste.
You can see the Hechenmoos marked on the piste map below, just above (which is south of) Aurach itself, at the bottom of run 33 (the Giggling) which can bring us directly down into Aurach from Steinbergkogel when the snow is good.
The Bergbahn also provide an online listing of lift and piste status as well as their own weather forecast