Ineedsnow ski holidays blog

Gerlos powder skiing

mat — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:26:12 +0000

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!

A minute of distraction and the Pitztal Valley is gone

mat — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:06:38 +0000

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

Captain Spock and the Titanic in the Zillertal Arena

mat — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:07:00 +0000

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

More powder, this time in Zauchensee

mat — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:54:36 +0000

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:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTJXO27-0OQ

Zell am Ziller opens with powder – 10/12/09

mat — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:09:04 +0000

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hYDgOF5IoI

Innsbruck delivers another top powder day

mat — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:06:12 +0000

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nwkc7FR9iY

So many lines on offer – image © www.ineedsnow.com

Powder weekend in Innsbruck

mat — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:23:47 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usB2l3OMjiI

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.

Heaving snow falling above Innsbruck

mat — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:53:41 +0000

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.

Freezing temperatures on the Stubai Glacier

mat — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:12:42 +0000

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDp2RgJ8Jhk

Zillertal Arena – opening day you’ll find me there

mat — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:06:28 +0000

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.