August 21st, 2009 by mat
What a year that was, it started with the chaotic and far from salubrious winter 08/09 opening party and reported on one of the very best winters in many years. The rest of the world was generally awful but the snow came and kept those lucky enough get some of it more sane than would have been. The season opened for us with a powder day at the start of October on the Stubai Glacier and closed with some great Spring skiing on the Hintertux Glacier. Injury free skiing for me for the first time in many winters and the skigloo were a couple of the highlights. And for the coming winter I have become a family skier with the arrival of Josh, so time to learn a whole new way of doing things. Looking forward to every second of it!
May 21st, 2009 by mat
Warm weather across the Tirol the last few days produced soft snow on the Stubai Glacier today and whilst the skiing was heavy later in the day, the snow pack up there is still something to behold – over 3m with May drawing to a close. Morning skiing on the glacier is superb with Firn snow offering effortless carving. Following overnight freezing the surface of the glacier is often hard and icy for the first couple of runs and then as the surface melts a wonderful melted depth of granular snow develops. Today I made a few turns with a blogger from Minneapolis, USA – Matt flew into Vienna last night and was on the snow this morning – highly committed! And for those who form stereotypes get this – I, the European had Ribs and chips for lunch and no beer, Matt from the USA took a salad and a beer.
Protective thermal / reflective blankets shield the south facing areas of the Stubai Glacier during the summer months – image © ineedsnow.com
The Stubai Glacier offers year round skiing and snowboarding one of the few places in the Alps to offer this. Remedial work was ongoing this week to protect some of the more exposed and higher areas of the Stubai Glacier from melting due to strong sun and warmer temperatures. The glacier deploys reflective thermal blankets at the upper reaches of the glacier, particularly on the south facing areas in order to preserve a thickness of the glacier that will over time feed the lower areas of the glacier. The north facing side of the Stubai Glacier that comprises the biggest ski area on the Stubai Glacier is open all summer down to the Eisgrat lift station. One thing I would be confident of, there will be one or two more powder days on the Stubai Glacier before mid summer sets in, there always is.
April 19th, 2009 by mat
For anyone else ruing the end of another winter season there is some solace – autumn glacier skiing. Why wait until Christmas to start skiing again – this picture was taken on the 5th October 2008, with great powder skiing on offer after several days of snow. The crowds were really absent as well making for a really sensational day of powder at the Stubai Glacier.
Powder the first week in October – image © ineedsnow.com