ineedsnow for ski / snowboard holidays
Deep December snow, Finkenberg – image © ineedsnow.com
Huge snow pack in Brixen, 28th feb 09 – image © ineedsnow.com
Whilst the rest of the Alps were in Autumnal mood, these hard core boarders were walking for their turns in Gerlos, a resort in the Zillertal Arena. I was their to shoot some images of the resorts of the Zillertal Arena and saw these guys waste deep in snow trudging up the back of a dam. I am not sure of the legality of it all but the turns they had were well worth any repercussions – awesome conditions!
Lift-off, Gerlos - image © ineedsnow.com
So as the season winds down (unless you are thinking of taking advantage of some of the outstanding glacier skiing that is on offer or plan to ski tour into any of the medium high ski areas that will be great for another month or so) then I thought about a ski photo series to accompany the closing lifts would be worth doing. First up then is a picture courtesy of Finbar over in Donegal, Ireland who had a near miss with an avalanche. This crossed moments before his group were set to ski this section of the piste. An avalanche team were on the scene in seconds with a rescue dog bounding down the piste but luckily nobody was caught.
View from inside the rescue pisten bully – image © Finbar / ineedsnow.com
Remember that all the glacier ski areas will be open long into what we think is the summer, the Arlberg and Ischgl will stay open until the end of April / start of May. Even of you miss the end of the season, the glacier skiing in the Tirol starts in October – I managed to get some great powder skiing under my belt on the 5th October last year. Endless winter – almost!
I have to admit that spring skiing is not for me – I miss the short days and biting cold of the glaciers in November and December. That said (and not for the first time) I am widely ostracised when I air my views on Spring skiing. And if it weren’t for the dread that I feel each spring, imaging our mid winter climate in the Alps in the not too distant future then I would celebrate the great aspects of spring skiing more – the firn snow skiing that I have to accept is next in the pecking order after powder, the days with mates on sunny mountain hut terraces and the stunning views across endless ranges.
But this year where did the spring skiing go in the Alps – it went from winter to summer skiing? Here in the Tirol I was skiing powder on the 1st April in Stuben and since then it has been close to 20c each day and perfect sunshine here in Innsbruck. The snow pack has assured that patches in the ski areas around Innsbruck are almost entirely absent whilst the glaciers will offer sensational skiing and snowboarding for very many weeks – just pack the sun block !
The Skigloo – check google earth to see it still standing in August – image © ineedsnow.com
One casualty of the warmer temperature has been the Skigloo – still standing and sure to be seen the next time a google commissioned satellite maps the area this summer but starting to take the brunt of the warmer conditions. Not sure if it will be ready to host another bash before the lifts at Axamer Lizum stop running next Sunday but if not, then it has been fun. Time out of the office digging, a back injury, hospital bills, some large entertainment expenses landing on a desk at HMRC and some fairly challenging mornings can all be ascribed to the Skigloo. Was it worth it? Yes!
My run home, luckily after the avalanche and not during – image © ineedsnow.com
Plenty of wind, sun and snow in Innsbruck today with great spring skiing conditions. Although the avalanche danger is low at present there have been many slides over the last week or so and several of the connecting pistes have been dissected by avalanches especially between Axamer Lizum and Mutters / Gotzens, high above Innsbruck. For those who enjoy spring conditions then the snow pack is sensational at present and the high pressure pretty sustained here in Innsbruck. For the coming month or so then the glacier skiing around Tirol is very likely to be outstanding. I will be spending much of my time dealing with maternity wards – very exciting if also terrifying.
The ski holiday resorts of St Anton, St Christoph, Stuben, Zurs and Lech go to make up the Arlberg ski region. Individually the ski holiday resorts generally offer excellent quality and variety and access famous ski areas. Collectively the resorts of the Arlberg could be reasonably rated as producing one of the best ski regions in the world but how does it compare with The 3 Valleys or Les 4 Vallees? Having skied extensively across the Alps (and beyond) I rate the Arlberg as generally the best ski region in Europe.
Stuben powder – image © ineedsnow.com
Snow – let’s start with something that goes beyond the subjective, snow fall histories. Zurs am Arlberg is rated as having the second highest snow fall accumulation of any ski region in the Alps, only beaten by the Bregenzerwald ski area of Warth-Schrocken located just in the next valley. Statistics are banded around for Stuben claiming it has the 3rd highest snow accumulation of any resort in the Alps – for anyone visiting between December and April any year they are almost certain to see near unbelievable snow depths around the village. The same can be said for Lech and St Christoph whilst the Valluga peak above St Anton ensures that the ski area is often deep in snow.
Lech am Arlberg & Arlberg gets snow – image © ineedsnow.com
Resorts – St Anton is a true alpinists resort with hard core riders and hard core après skiers, St Christoph is stylish and upmarket, Stuben is really atmospheric, Zurs is ski-in, ski-out, whilst Lech has style, fine hotels and real refinement. Amongst the resorts there is almost something for everyone
Zurs am Arlberg ski-in, ski-out luxury - image © ineedsnow.com
Ski terrain – St Anton steeps, Lech – Zurs and St Christoph intermediate cruisers or Stuben off-piste. The variety of skiing in the Arlberg is absolutely superb and really covers the entire spectrum of abilities, not all comparably sized ski regions can boast that.
St Anton steeps – image © ineedsnow.com
OK, the downsides……
Costs – the Arlberg can be more expensive than many other Austrian ski regions. That said I skied in Courchevel 1850 last year and saw lunchtime menus in mountain huts that featured dishes at over €100 and bottles of wine for €9000. We had a client contact us recently saying they bought 2 glasses of orange juice (200ml and not freshly squeezed) in 1850 for €32 – nicht gut!
Crowds – popularity leads to crowds and whilst Meribel pistes (in The 3 Valleys) can seem like Liverpool Street at 17:30, the Arlberg does have some issues with crowded pistes just above St Anton and traffic on the Lech roads. To get away from either head to Stuben.
Glacier skiing – one thing that the Arlberg does not have is glacier skiing and whilst it is not for everyone it does extend the ski season hugely. That said there are Austrian resorts that are 750m higher than Stuben that don’t come close to their snow fall levels.
Generally though I think I have to say that I have yet to find a ski region offering more than the Arlberg. I will keep skiing and looking though – feel free to add your favourite region…..
Following a council meeting in the Stubai village of Telfes yesterday evening, a majority of the votes are now in favour of proceeding with ski lift connection between Axamer Lizum and Schlick 2000. The combined area would eventually bring together Mutters, Gotzens, Axamer Lizum and Schlick 2000 and complete the biggest ski region in the Innsbruck region. According to locals the project to link the Axamer Lizum and Schlick 2000 ski areas has been under discussion 20 years and deep divisions have existed between the towns of the Stubai valley as to whether to link into the Axamer Lizum ski region. The vote paves the way toward the start of the consultation and financing of the project.
Proposed ski lift link between Axamer Lizum (top) and Schlick 2000 (bottom) - image © ineedsnow.com
powder, sun and snow showers, Innsbruck - image © ineedsnow.com
Intermittent blue skies and snow showers today in Innsbruck – the off-piste was excellent. I have two clients (also great friends) over from London who wanted to see my home ski area of Axamer Lizum- having skied Kitzbuhel, Verbier and St Anton regularly I was very interested to see how they found the smaller ‘locals’ ski area of Axamer Lizum – so far they seem to be having a great time but I am sure that they will add their own views upon their return. Snow report from today:
Spring has definitely arrived in Innsbruck with plenty of fresh snow over the last few days followed by warmer and clearer weather today. The off-piste was heavy but there was a good deal of new snow, although by today most of the off-piste at Axamer Lizum was tracked out. The avalanche danger for the Tirol today was 4 which implies some extreme danger in certain areas with the new snow and the warmer temperatures. Warmer spring weather together with snow flurries are forecast for the coming days.
Frejn’s Freeride Inferno, Ischgl – image © ineedsnow.com
With plenty of new snow over the previous day or two, the Freeride Inferno, Ischgl took place in epic snow conditions. It was not a day for sun block or spring clothing though, it was biting cold at the top of Ischgl and intermittent snow, great conditions to keep the powder in good shape.
Long hike into the first route – image © ineedsnow.com
The first run took place over in Samnaun on the Swiss side of the connected ski area with Ischgl, whilst the second route was beneath the Palinkopf on the Ischgl side of the ski region. Mass starts ensured some classic pile-ups in the tight sections and around the first gates in the courses.
Mass start Freeride Inferno, Ischgl – image © ineedsnow.com
The after race ‘grill and chill’ took place in its usual location next to the Schwarzwasserlift with a fire, beer and food and a DJ tent. Great location and great event – Ischgl really know how to put on some epic events.
Tough routes through the rocks – image © ineedsnow.com
The endless winter continues up at Hochsolden with light snow over the last few days and heavy snow forecast for the coming days. I have been up in Hochsolden skiing with a corporate group from L’oreal and their clients – great skiers and even better people, although I have been kept in the bar too late too often 
The light was mixed but there were some periods of clear skies and the skiing above the clouds yesterday on the Teifenbach Glacier was superb with outstanding snow and wide, crowd free pistes.
One of the clearer periods over the last few days in Hochsolden – image © ineedsnow.com
Huge snow pack in Brixen, 28th feb 09 – image © ineedsnow.com
The last day of Feb 09 delivered blue skies in the Ski Welt Wilder Kaiser and more than snow there than I have ever experienced over the years. This was my first trip of the 08/09 winter season to the Ski Welt Wilder Kaiser region and heavy snow had fallen in the preceding days. The snow was also heavy on the pistes as the first mild spring weather has hit the Tirol. The snow was not slushy even at the bottom but was very sticky and toward the end of the day the pistes could be pretty cut up, but genuinely the most snow I have experienced in the Ski Welt Wilder Kaiser region.
Westendorf, 28th feb 09 – image © ineedsnow.com
And if you still have some energy left after the Frejn’s Freeride Inferno on the 7th March, there is a huge event in St Anton at the Rendl area Snow volleyball the following day on the 8th March – yes the beach is snow for the day at the Rendl. On the same day the Fly-In Rendl-Park is hosting the Ski Club Arlberg 2009 Newschool championships. For those not wanting exert themselves too much there is also the ‘Arlberg Rendl Cocktail-Cup’ organised by the Austrian Bar Persons Union – should be competitive and fun 
Mass start Freeride Inferno, Ischgl – image © ineedsnow.com
7th March 2009 – over 70 of Ischgl’s snowboarders and free skiers line up for a mass start downhill run. The 1 km decent is all off-piste and subject to last minute inspection before the race starts. The Frejn’s Freeride Inferno is followed by the “Grill & Chill” with video presentations of the race and a party round a fire in the high alpine. One of the better Freeride / off-piste events of the winter!