March 10th, 2010 by mat
Great skiing conditions in Davos - image © www.ineedsnow.com
Just back from a trip to Davos and the ski conditions were superb, sunny days, plenty of fresh snow and cold, cold conditions. I was guiding a corporate group who were keen to take the route all the way down to Kublis. The top section was superb but the ski route down into Kublis was barely skiable with ice, ruts, grass / stones and many narrow sections. The group all made it to the bottom but the enjoyment was not immense. Great skiing down to Klosters and Davos though and whilst the off-piste was pretty tracked out after the heavy snow last weekend then the piste skiing was about as good as it gets.
February 7th, 2010 by mat
banks of powder in Gerlos - image © www.ineedsnow.com
Just back from skiing in Gerlos and scored a major powder day. The sun was intermittent but the visibility was good for almost all the day and the snow was sensational. There was so much un-tracked powder just next to the pistes and lifts it was bewildering. Maybe there were better secret stashes on offer for the locals but from what I could see there was several days good powder skiing lying in wait for anyone wanting it. Great day!
January 20th, 2010 by mat
Rifflsee - image © www.ineedsnow.com
Today I managed to miss the gargantuan Pitztal Valley – I was being tailgated by a car and watched in my mirror it got pulled by an unmarked police car who was tailgating it. A 20 minute round trip was enough to wipe the smirk away. Today I skied in both Rifflsee and Hochzeiger both resorts in the Pitztal Valley and part of the Pitztal ski region that includes the Pitztal Glacier. The weather was poor in the morning and much better in the afternoon. Hochzeiger had more young racers than I have ever seen on the slopes, possibly motivated by the fact that it is the home ski area of Benjamin Raich. Snow conditions were excellent, there was no real off-piste to go at but the ski pistes had a good cover of fresh snow.
Hochzeiger – image © www.ineedsnow.com
January 18th, 2010 by mat
The annual Stroh Juchee festival in the Zillertal Arena - image © www.ineedsnow.com
I spent the day in the Zillertal Arena yesterday and watched the Stroh Juchee event – a bit like a carnival procession on ski piste, with locals trying to stop their ‘floats’ from making a hasty decent into the Zillertal Valley. It was great fun and amongst the 7000 in attendance there were very many families. Titanic and the USS Enterprise were there whilst the music and après ski action went on all afternoon.
Raising the Titanic - image © www.ineedsnow.com
December 15th, 2009 by mat
Zauchensee powder skiing, December 2009 - image © www.ineedsnow.com
The superb opening to the winter in Austria continues with great powder skiing on offer in the Salzburger Sportwelt ski region. I was in Zauchensee over the weekend and the skiing was superb. I had to watch due to a season opening injury that I picked up at Axamer Lizum but there were blue skies, cold temperatures and tons of new snow.
A short video from the resort on Sunday:
December 10th, 2009 by mat
powder in Zell am Ziller and further snow systems arriving – image © www.skiingaustria.co.uk
The easiest way into the best Zillertal skiing – Zell am Ziller opened today with powder on offer and few crowds. Underneath superb skies of snow clouds and shafts of clear blue the snow conditions were excellent on and off-piste and due to the mid-week opening of Zell am Ziller there were few on or off the slopes. The links into the other Zillertal Arena ski areas are opening on Saturday and there should be some really excellent conditions. Snow was coming today in the Zillertal Arena just before I skied down and more snow is set for the coming days with very low temperatures into next week. Gerlos, a neighbour in the Zillertal Arena is set to host a big opening party tomorrow with DJ Moped set for centre stage – I will be there to see this epic performance.
December 10th, 2009 by mat
Short colds days of powder – image © www.ineedsnow.com
After several days of great skiing around Innsbruck, Axamer Lizum delivered another great powder day, this time under blue skies. With around 20cm of new snow that banked in places, adding to the already impressive off-piste then conditions for early December were excellent. There were few people on the mid-week slopes and so many fresh tracks to be had. Snow is set for the rest of the week and after a cold and reasonably clear weekend the snow is set to return early next week.
So many lines on offer – image © www.ineedsnow.com
December 6th, 2009 by mat
After heavy snow last week the transformation from patchy lower slopes to deep powder skiing has been fantastic over this weekend. High above Innsbruck, Axamer Lizum delivered a great powder day on the season opening day, Saturday 5th. Off-piste is never great this early in the season but I was either lucky with the choice of lines or the snow base was better than usual as I only hit 2 rocks, one that sent me over and the other I landed on – slow getting up for sure. In an autumn that has seen bare mountains (particularly in France and Switzerland) the arrival of winter cam very quickly – last week the lower slopes of Axamer Lizum were in a sorry state, this weekend the conditions both on and off-piste have been sensational, one of the best season starts here in Innsbruck for some years, even if it was 2 weeks late.
November 30th, 2009 by mat
So the Foehn winds stopped finally and as usual the skies opened with a deluge of rain in Innsbruck and snow in all the resorts around Innsbruck. The south and west of Austria is experiencing some very heavy snow and this is set to continue tomorrow and return later in the week after a couple of clear days mid-week. Snow is forecast down to Innsbruck later in the week. This current winter snap is dumping significant amounts of snow in the ski areas, certainly the heaviest falls of the season so far and enough to open many of the resorts for the coming weekend.
November 29th, 2009 by mat
The Stubai Glacier delivered some fearsome weather today as it was buffeted by extreme winds throughout the morning, forcing the closure of the glacier around lunchtime. Sitting on some swinging chairs today was a pretty cold experience, in marked contrast to yesterday where the sun made the frigid air temperatures more manageable. Snow is forecast any time now as the wind dies down – there should be some great skiing on the Stubai Glacier this week.
November 25th, 2009 by mat
It has been a great glacier skiing season this autumn, certainly the best conditions in the whole of the Alps on the Austrian glaciers and at times as good as any recent years. Painful as it is I have yet to score a powder day – I have friends in Innsbruck who have already got several under their belt. Not to worry, as soon as it opens I will be heading to the Zillertal Arena for some remedial action – I have only discovered this region over the last couple of seasons, with so much skiing in the Zillertal Valley I found it easy to stick with what I knew and always bypassed the Zillertal Arena. No more, this area is without doubt one of the very best ski region in the Alps. It has height, skiing to over 2500m, it has vertical, almost 2km above Zell am Ziller, great ski-in, ski-out resort living in Konigsleiten and for those needing après ski then Gerlos is the place to be. As soon as the Zillertal Arena opens then I am heading there and when I make that 2km descent down to Zell am Ziller I am going to thinking of sipping a Zillertaler Beer, metres from the brewery.
November 24th, 2009 by mat
There is much talk of rekindling the Skigloo for the coming winter – the swingometer has moved slightly positive again after I finally managed to get my health cover to pay for the couple of hours on a drip in Innsbruck hospital for a back injury sustained during construction of the Skigloo. I have no idea what the cost to productivity the Skigloo brought to the Tirol over the last winter, suffice it to say who ever entered the Skigloo paid a dear price in terms of health. It was a great addition to Innsbruck skiing and I really hope we can get something going for the coming winter. One thing that is for sure, if we can get the Skigloo up and running there will be some après Skidiots footage to be aired.
The Skigloo - the beauty of the exterior belie the inevitable health losses upon entry – image www.ineedsnow.com
November 20th, 2009 by mat
After a great deal of work over the summer and several weeks of testing the new www.skiingaustria.co.uk website is online. The site offers a unique perspective of skiing in Austria with 100% company content and images – gone are the days of cow boy hat and straight ski images that adorn too many of todays’ ski websites. You might not agree with everything that is written but at least it is based on experience, not a summary of a guide book – a bit of a broad side there for some of the online offerings.
November 19th, 2009 by mat
One of the closely guarded secrets of Arlberg skiing, the Rendl area above St Anton is set to begin welcoming very many more guests in the coming weeks. A completely redeveloped and relocated lift system is set to tie the skiing in St Anton together and offer better comfort and capacity for those wanting to access the Rendl side of the St Anton ski area. All good news, except for the locals who have had it their own way for years. Few guests ever ventured beyond the Galzig and Kapall ski areas leaving the locals to lap up all the fresh Rendl powder. That is very likely to change this coming winter with the convenience and volume offered by the new Rendlbahn ski lift likely to lead to encroaching on what was once a locals secret area. Great for the resort and the lift company who are able to enhance the visitor experience but I am sure that there will be many locals fondly looking back to the yellow cabins.
November 10th, 2009 by mat
skidiots - heroes on snow
The new portal Skidiots.com has launched and features ski and snowboard crashes that offer wincing smiles. The videos on Skidiots.com feature a lot of terrain park crashes and some big air shockers. Skidiots.com is not just about crashed, après ski mayhem or ski fashion transgressions are also included. Suggest a video, view crashes Skidiots by theme – the guys in the videos on Skidiots.com are supreme athletes who get their sums wrong – heroes every one of them.
