September 2nd, 2010 by mat
2nd September 2010 – after 50cm of snow in the last days of August there was no choice but to head for the Hintertux Glacier – the only open glacier skiing area in Austria at the moment. I didn’t get the powder prize – that went yesterday with cooler temperatures and higher clouds. I could see the tracks though:( I did get fantastic weather today though with freezing temperatures at the peak and really impressive snow on the ski pistes. The open ski areas was really impressive – really a quite area with many lifts running. The weather is set to be seasonal so now more dumps over the coming days but with half a metre up there conditions should remain excellent.
September 1st, 2010 by mat
Well it is time to get the boots and skis in the car once again and head south to the incredible glaciers in the Austria Tirol. My season opening ski is happening tomorrow at the Hintertux Glacier and after half a metre of snow fell over the glaciers in the last couple of days the skiing looks set to be very impressive. So after tomorrow there will just be 9 months skiing left – no wonder the body aches each May 
August 22nd, 2010 by mat
Covering a total of 81 ski areas, offering a total of 960 ski lifts and boasting over 3100m of Austria’s best skiing and snowboarding the Tirol Snow Card is surely one of the best ski passes available anywhere. With skiing from 1st October10 through to the 15th May11 and including ski areas such as Kitzbuhel, Obergurgl, Stubai Glacier, Hintertux Glacier, Mayrhofen, Gerlos and Soll as some of the 81 covered ski areas, the Tirol Snow Card has some of the big names in Austrian skiing on it. The price is a jaw-dropping 608 Euros and for locals it should be around 450 Euros for over 7 months of unlimited skiing. Life is good in Tirol.
March 28th, 2010 by mat
Spring has been here in Austria for the last few weeks but temperatures have dropped again and my weekend in Gerlos has seen 2 consecutive snowy mornings and whilst the snow has been heavy late in the day at resort level the snow at the top sections of the Zillertal Arena has been powder. Check out the latest snow report from today in Gerlos:
March 22nd, 2010 by mat
Just back from heli skiing in the Austrian Arlberg with friends from Stuben am Arlberg and a world champion powder skier. What a day that was. The flight was incredible and our guide found some superb powder snow in the peaks between Zurs am Arlberg and Zug. We didn’t see another person on the mountain apart from a ski tourer who was heading up to where we had just been heli dropped. We certainly got a great day but there are very many in the Arlberg and the flight allowed us access to areas only reachable on touring skis. In many years of skiing that had to be about the best!
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.
