Ineedsnow ski holidays blog » snow report

Auf Wiedersehen sun – snow clouds are approaching

mat — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:52:07 +0000

After the incredibly dry and sunny period that has existed across the Alps for the last month the snow clouds are developing and set to arrive possibly mid-week but certainly at the end of the week across western Austria. France is also scheduled to get snow, the first real snow there for many of the ski areas. Temperatures haven’t been as cold as seasonally expected but they haven’t been that far off in many areas – the issue has been the dryness and persistence of the weather system that has sat over the Alps. A number of big name ski holiday resorts have had to delay their openings including huge names such as Davos-Klosters due to a complete lack of snow. Hopefully with a bed of man-made snow and the natural stuff arriving later on the week we can start to see a good number of resort opening for the winter in addition to the glacier skiing areas – who have probably have had one of the best autumns in a long time!

Another epic day on the Tirolean glaciers, this time the Hintertux Glacier

mat — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:21:55 +0000

The sensational start to the winter 10/11 continues with fresh snow on the glaciers. Luckily for me I was up at the Hintertux Glacier today and whilst visibility wasn’t great it was for a reason – more snow was falling. The 1st October 2010 and there are 42km of ski pistes open at the Hintertux Glacier, indicative of the amazing start to the winter over here, surely the best in the last decade? I am gong to try for another couple of glacier visits next week, before they start getting seriously busy. Check out the latest snow report for the Hintertux Glacier today:

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

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

mat — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:52:12 +0000

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 see the tracks though:( I did get fantastic weather today though with freezing temperatures at the peak and really impressive snow on the ski pistes. The open ski areas was really impressive – really a quite area with many lifts running. The weather is set to be seasonal so now more dumps over the coming days but with half a metre up there conditions should remain excellent.

New snow in Gerlos

mat — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:09:33 +0000

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 out the latest snow report from today in Gerlos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca40ETX4vQo

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.

Winter arrives with snow down to Innsbruck

mat — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:44:10 +0000

Overnight snow reached as low as Innsbruck whilst the Hintertux Glacier has had a metre of snow over the last few days. Winter is here and the Hintertux Glacier, Stubai Glacier, Kaunertal Glacier, Kitzsteinhorn Glacier, Pitztal Glacier and the Solden Glaciers of Rettenbach and Tiefenbach have all seen heavy snowfall and impressive accumulations. The weather in Austria is set to remain wintry into next week. Conditions on the glaciers tomorrow could be incredible with breaks in the cloud forecast show off the deep powder.

Spring skiing in Innsbruck

mat — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:16:30 +0000

Spring has definitely arrived in Innsbruck with plenty of fresh snow over the last few days followed by warmer and clearer weather today. The off-piste was heavy but there was a good deal of new snow, although by today most of the off-piste at Axamer Lizum was tracked out. The avalanche danger for the Tirol today was 4 which implies some extreme danger in certain areas with the new snow and the warmer temperatures. Warmer spring weather together with snow flurries are forecast for the coming days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaZzlh9jzqA