Ineedsnow ski holidays blog » powder

September powder heaven on the Stubai Glacier

mat — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:18:05 +0000

This September just gets better and better. I waded through over half a metre of new snow to get to the Stubai Glacier viewing platform to film the latest video snow report. The amount of snow that has fallen over the last few days was huge – I estimate that there was 50-70cm of new snow on the peak. Conditions on the slopes of the Stubai Glacier were as good as any time of the year and it is still September! More snow is forecast for the coming days – I am guessing October might start with pretty special conditions as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3fdLiWhpgI

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!

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.

Look back at 08/09 likened to a MASH re-run :(

mat — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:49:27 +0000

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.

…and another great shot from a great day…

…..and one last one of mine, from a few weeks ago in Stuben (so no “already seen that” complaints please)

April in Stuben am Arlberg – perfection

mat — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:27:15 +0000

I lost a film camera today but also skied past the roof of what in summer is a house – sometimes life evens things out pretty quickly. There aren’t many areas that get the snow Stuben am Arlberg gets anywhere, whilst for off-piste skiers and snowboarders Stuben has to be top of the list.

March powder skiing in Innsbruck

mat — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:00:44 +0000

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:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lebk2cSZut0

The clouds clear after several days of snow in Innsbruck to give great powder skiing

mat — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:44:38 +0000

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqjnr9i6azQ