Many of the lifts are now closed over here in Innsbruck although there are a few ski regions that are still open including Ischgl which will be hosting a Kylie concert at the start of May. The glaciers over here are in absolutely superb shape. We had clients recently at the Stubai Glacier and they described the conditions as the best they had ever experienced. For me it is a short break between the end of the season, some glacier skiing and the start of planning for the coming winter. Plans that are currently a bit on hold as I await the arrival of my first child – currently 6 days overdue. The current names in the hat are Franz Bode Brown for a boy and Renate Brown for a girl. During the wait I am designing some new camera accessories that I intend to utilise in the filming of the ski areas over the next year. There are some great online resources that I am currently modifying to fits our needs, I am really hoping for some great results from the new gear.
There have been rumblings of disquiet regarding the look back at some of the images from the 08 / 09 winter. More precisely the blog entries have been compared to a re-run of MASH in terms of allure. Apologies for that, although I would quote the wordsmith Pat Butcher in this case “bit ‘arsh innit?” Ever one to keep the blog readers happy I will draw this theme to a close with three images that I think are worthy of a show. One I took and the other 2 were the work of a skiing obsessed Swede. I have to confess that he has the beating of my image in my opinion but I will let all you MASH fans be the final judge of that.
Ok, firstly the images taken by Petteri Koste. I was at Axamer Lizum, Innsbruck the same day as Petteri but whilst he took a series of shots that I rate as some of the very best I have seen, I moved between a plate of spare ribs and a few powder routes. You can find more of these at Petteris’ youtube channel.
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 !
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!
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.
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.
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.
You kind of know something is amiss when a bloke dressed as a caveman beats the bar in front of you with a raw pigs’ leg. At one point the leg even hung from a shrieking mouth – I trust it was very fresh? In a country that on the face of things can be pretty conservative, Fasching offers Austrians the best chance to get a bit crazy for a few days. And in the run up to the biggest party of the winter the small ski holiday resort of Gotzens sees a weekly event each Thursday, with Fasching dancers and musicians trawling the bars in the hope of free schnapps and a dance with a stranger. Funny and without question very random, the Thursday night mayhem has now ended and preparations are in place for Fasching Tuesday or Fasching Dienstag as it is known in Austria. That is always an almighty party down in Innsbruck, with excess on a grand scale being the order of the day.
After some delay due to great snow conditions, a back injury and work commitments we have set the opening party for the Skigloo for this weekend, Sunday 15th Feb 2009. Conceived in the days of falling share values, rising unemployment, weak £ and a very dodgy KGB guy with his hand on the EU’s gas tap, we decided to create a piece of heaven in the mountains above Innsbruck. It is a place where skiers and snowboarders can hang out for an hour or two after skiing to share a few stories and forget about the current (and hopefully temporary) problems with the world. The location of the Skigloo is private as it is an invitation only experience but it is buried deep in the woods of Axamer Lizum. Invitation only maybe but far from exclusive, if you are in Innsbruck and fancy hanging out at the Skigloo on a Friday or Sunday then just drop us a line on the blog and we will let you know when and where we meet – it promises to be a lot of fun. The theme will be serious skiers and snowboarders not taking themselves too seriously – this will be obligatory.
Axamer Lizum, Innsbruck served up some great powder skiing today, with clear skies and clouds down in the valley. Views along the Innsbruck valley suggested that the great conditions were available in most ski areas in Tirol with the cloud lingering around 1500m. The break in the weather seems to be just that with the cloud and snow set to return tomorrow and last well into next week. Great for the ski resorts but less good for the organisers of the Hahnenkamm race weekend which is set to have a lot of snow to clear from the course over the next few days.
The Leuchtturm, Gotzens offering possibly the best après ski in the Innsbruck region once again delivered with a freestyle bag jump event featuring local pro riders from Austria. Taking place just above the Gotzens lift station and the Leuchtturm après ski bar, the event attracted locals and guests to the slopes and the bar terraces to watch a combination of ski, snowboard, mountain bike and ski bike freestyle aerials onto a huge inflated landing bag. As usual the party in the Leuchtturm was impressive with a good crowd and great atmosphere.
– image © ineedsnow.com
