Ineedsnow ski holidays blog » Glacier

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

Would you take your goat for après ski?

mat — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:25:14 +0000

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 – if so it worked and the Swiss took the opening men’s event today with Didier Cuche pipping Ted Ligerty of the USA to the opening GS race win of the FIS season. The party was in full swing as I left the glacier and conditions were really good for this time of the year. Here is the top 10 mens’ GS results from Solden, Austria:

1   CUCHE Didier     SUI     2:21.45
2   LIGETY Ted     USA     2:22.05
3   JANKA Carlo     SUI     2:22.40
4   BLARDONE Massimiliano     ITA     2:22.41
5   RAICH Benjamin     AUT     2:22.90
6   JANSRUD Kjetil     NOR     2:23.27
7   GRANGE Jean-Baptiste     FRA     2:23.87
8   SIMONCELLI Davide     ITA     2:24.03
9   ROY Jean-Philippe     CAN     2:24.08
10   RICHARD Cyprien     FRA     2:24.13

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

mat — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:58:42 +0000

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 coming in second and Italy third. The French managed a best place of 13th but were more obvious than most nations on the glacier. I am off to see what they were planning to do with two 5m wooden skis that a team of them were carrying through Solden this afternoon – bizarre. I will also keep an eye out for Bode to see if he is into his pre-race preparation tonight.

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

mat — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:05:03 +0000

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 09:45 am – 1st run and 12:45 pm – 2nd run. There will be some mega partying on offer over the weekend in keeping with the Solden après ski spirit. We will be there to see the action at the Rettenbach, Solden and will bring you some news and images of the weekend.

Still 3m of snow on the Stubai Glacier at the end of May

mat — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:59:46 +0000

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxtEcRr2tQ

Latest Pitztal Glacier – powder skiing again

mat — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:47:09 +0000

It was May 08 when I had my best powder day of the winter in Austria on the Pitztal Glacier. November served another superb powder day over the weekend although the off-piste terrain is more limited by the gaping crevasses that are very evident on the edges of the ski area. There were plenty of powder lines and for those sticking to the pistes there were excellent conditions as well.

Latest snow conditions from the Kaunertal Glacier

mat — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:33:43 +0000

The snowboard epicentre of the Tirol Oberland, the Kaunertal Glacier had great conditions over the last week and this weekend was no different. New snow and clear skies gave some excellent conditions. The run back to the base station car park is still being prepared but the entire main glacier area is open and it is possible to ski down to the chair lift mid-station beyond the glacier.