Tag Archive for 'austria'

22 days earlier than last year – the season starts for me at the Hintertux Glacier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbYV-eOifY

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 [...]

My season opener at the Hintertux Glacier tomorrow

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 [...]

Gearing up for winter 2010/11 with the Tirol snow card

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, [...]

New snow in Gerlos

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 [...]

Heli skiing in the Austrian Arlberg

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 [...]

A minute of distraction and the Pitztal Valley is gone

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 [...]

Captain Spock and the Titanic in the Zillertal Arena

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 [...]

More powder, this time in Zauchensee

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, [...]

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

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 [...]

Innsbruck delivers another top powder day

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 [...]

Powder weekend in Innsbruck

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 [...]

Freezing temperatures on the Stubai Glacier

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 [...]

Would you take your goat for après ski?

Well the Swiss fans this weekend at the FIS opening race event in Solden, Otztal Valley, Austria had a couple of goats in immaculate shape to accompany them to the bars after the race action was over. Maybe to was hex on the Austrian team after years of being some  way behind their neighbours – [...]

New snow on the Rettenbach glacier for the season opening FIS race weekend

With the start delayed by half an hour to clear overnight snow the lingering valley cloud cleared around 2800m to leave the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers in Solden pristine and sunny as well and along with the lapping clouds in the valleys Solden glaciers were quite a picture. The race went to Finland with Austria [...]

The race is on – the FIS calendar starts in Solden, Austria

The FIS ski race calendar kicks off in Solden this weekend at its traditional season opening venue on the Rettenbach glacier. Both the men and women will be in action over the weekend, with the Women’s GS on the 24 Oct 2009 and the men’s GS on the 25 Oct 2009. Race times will be [...]