 Poster: A snowHead
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The first snow came a little bit later this season than the last few, so I didn't get my first turns in until 29th September, up at Stubai. Other than glorious sun and being the first turns of the season it was pretty miserable: bare rock everywhere, and 2cms of 'snow' on mute glacier ice:
Fast forward a couple of weeks and things got a lot better, with just about enough snow to head off the sides and engage in a spot of shark dodging:
Last weekend it started snowing properly. Adidas Eyewear invited me up to Stubai to try some goggles, but the skiing sucked (no vis due to storm, storm had only just started so pretty icy everywhere) so we went to play in a crevasse instead. This is metres away from a piste, in the middle of a slope lots of people ride early season (and it's definitely not the only one there...):
Tobi Tritscher drops in anyway (photo by Patrick from at http://www.freeride.center/en/):
On Monday the storm abated, and the sun started coming through in the afternoon. I went for a quick skin up to the Hoadl lift in Axamer Lizum (2340m). Quite a few other people had had the same idea, all going up/down the Damenabfahrt. I used their skin track going up, but skied down the other side of the resort: 30cms of powder on grass all for me! Hit the bottom once or twice, but all grass so no problems.
More snow fell on Thursday and Friday, but more in the west than the east. Given Stubai had some ski test event on and would inevitably be rammed, we (an international group of one Austrian, one German, on Frenchman, and I as the token Brit) decided to go to the Arlberg for another skitour. Started from St Christoph we climbed up to the top of the Zammermoosbahn, which is only about 450m vertical metres. Which was a good thing, as first my gf forgot her skins then a friend broke his binding - somehow the whole toe piece fell off (he managed to fix it enough to ski, but not to skin). Happily the piste bashers had been at work on that side, so they didn't sink into the snow too much.
Skiing down Kandahar was interesting - really nice powder in places turned into miserable crust wherever the bloody snow cannons had been on, but overall can't really complain! Here Kris drops into one little stash:
There's pretty solid snow cover everywhere above 15/1600m, and unless we get a really extreme thaw I expect it to last until the season really kicks off.
Looking forward to Obergurgl opening next Thursday, as it's an excellent excuse to visit the Aquadome spa/sauna/hot salt water pool heaven!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 21-11-16 19:39; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@clarky999, top work and happy birthday too. Hoping to get into hills next weekend weather depending.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@nozawaonsen, thanks! Give me a shout if you want to make some turns - I probably owe you a beer or two for the excellent weather info!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Warmer and föhny the last couple of days, with a bit of rain. 2.4°C at the top of Lizum now. All the peaks around Innsbruck are still covered in snow, but the bushes are starting to show through again. Note this isn't a bad thing particularly - with significant early snow, unless it keeps snowing, it's better to warm up and melt/consolidate. If it stays dry but cold any snow lying around tends to rot and transform into faceted crystals, which can form a weak layer persisting for most of the season.
Looks like potentially some more snow for the southern valleys/glaciers in the next few days - Ötztal/Obergurgl, Stubai, etc.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Obergurgl opened on Thursday, so we drove up to check it out on Friday. Weather wasn't great with a strong föhn blowing, but we had a lot of fun and it was certainly much better and less crowded than Stubai! Couple of phone shots of snow cover:
I'm not sure how many lifts/pistes were open but it seemed like the majority of the resort. Offpiste was very crusty and rocky, but there was excellent coverage on all pistes, with firm but nicely grippy and chalky snow. As the weather looked worse on the Obergurgl side we stayed in Hochgurgl, mostly lapping the long reds and blues from the top of the Hochgurglbahn gondola down to the valley. The snow was getting a little soft and almost slushy on the last section, but really nice to ski long runs to stretch the legs after mostly skiing the shorter pistes at Stubai lately.
Looking up the valley a little and Obergurgl was pulling a good Mordor impression:
Given the strength of the föhn and some snow from a small system in the west, skitouring in the Arlberg was the plan for Sunday. Not much had fallen in St Anton, but St Christoph and Stuben had both had about 10-15cms - though there'd been considerable melt since I was last there a week before.
In the end we decided to skin up from Alpe Rauz to Schindlerspitz. In places, particularly in the more sheltered spots on the piste, the snow was still really nice powder. However mostly the strong winds had been hard at work, and the rising warmth took its toll as the day went on.
The girls skinning up under the couloirs:
The blue sky is deceptive: the winds were absolutely howling once up on the ridge, and rather than suffer the constant snow strafing we opted to turn around there - the last 150m or so were wind blasted to ruin anyway. Given the huge amounts of snow transport and warm temps we skipped the couloirs this time.
I traversed high skiers' right on the way down hoping for something nice to ski, but in a game of hide and seek powder easily won: crust and rocks were much easier to find:
When we arrived back in Innsbruck at around 2-3pm it was 14°C in the city - and the föhn was raging hot and hard all day today too. It looks like Stubai got some snow today from the storm pounding the southern Alps, and both Stubai and Obergurgl are forecast to receive more this week - however even now at 8pm it's currently 5°C at 2000m in Obergurgl and +1.3°C at ~2500m (Stubai is colder, showing -2.9°C at Eisgrat at 2900m)...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oh, couple more resorts will open soon: Ischgl, this Thursday (24 Nov), Kühtai this Friday (25 Nov) Arlberg 2 Dec, Axamer Lizum 2 Dec, Glungezer 17 Dec. I assume Schlick 2000, Nordkette and Patscherköfel will open (for skiing) in the first week of December or so.
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Great thread. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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@clarky999, Can you reccommend a nice restaurant or two in the city, not looking for michelin* just nice food with wine and ambience?
We're staying their for a couple of nights later this week, looking to take in the xmas markets etc.
Cheers, Greg
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Good pix.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Really useful thread...got my fingers crossed this is going to finally be a good season. Do you buy the Tyrol snow card? I'm arriving in early January, with transport and two sets of safety kit including avalanche airbags...very keen to meet up with local skiers for touring - happy to do the driving out to resort! Cheers, Tom
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Really useful thread...got my fingers crossed this is going to finally be a good season. Do you buy the Tyrol snow card? I'm arriving in early January, with transport and two sets of safety kit including avalanche airbags...very keen to meet up with local skiers for touring - happy to do the driving out to resort! Cheers, Tom
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@thatwhit, thanks! Could really use some more snow now though!!
No I have the Innsbruck Freizeitticket (it's cheaper and runs all year). Sounds good! Will you be based in Innsbruck?
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You know it makes sense.
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Ah the Free time ticket is just available to locals right? It does seem like a great deal with access to the themes too. I spent the last two years trying pretty much every resort on the Tyrol snow card in a converted panel van...got fed up with that so this year converted a large horsebox to carry a fiat panda 4x4 cross in the back instead of horses (or 98 horses) and as many skis as possible- once the car is out the garage is a pretty useful ski waxing workshop too. So I'll be based around Innsbruck but up in resort when the snow is good. So logistically I now have a good set up but just looking for ski buddies really...got a separate private over cab guest bed too so can drive up for early starts etc..
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@thatwhit, yeah that's the one - you have to have registered as living in Innsbruck to get it.
Woah that sounds like an awesome set up! Would love to check it out at some point! Definitely give me a shout when you're here - I also have wheels and plan to chase snow where possible.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The clear skies broke and allowed some clouds in last night, bringing a little snow to the peaks around Innsbruck. I'd guess 5cm (max 10 in places) - Axamer Lizum looks like it got a slight dusting too.
Crappy iPhone photo of Nordkette from the city today:
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thank you for update. Heading to Obergurgl Nee Years day.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@clarky999, Hi mate.
Thanks for the resto recommendations unfortunaltely we got kind of way laid on the Gluwein at the xmas markets and plans all fell apart in the evenings!!
We did however have a cracking 3 nights in and around the city. The menfolk(3 of us) did escape for the day on Thursday and took the bus journey from hell up to Stubai, 1 hour 15 minutes, but we were rewarded with a truly beautiful days skiing with bluebird skies and fantastic views, even over as far as the dollies. Skiing was fine just the odd icey bit here and there with good cover down to mid-station so plenty for us to play on. What was great for us is the ski hire shop is way up the hill so no carting and real ski conveneience.
Greg
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Aaaaaahhhhnnndd FINALLY it's snowing again in Innsbruck! Hopefully we're in for some decent snow most of this week!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Fingers crossed!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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looks nailed on now - and Austria is the main recipiant . I always make note before I go of lots of the weather websites and compare directly their predictions when I am actually there, and without doubt , there are 2 that stand out as being spot on as to what actually occurs - but must be within the 3 day threshold - Bergfex and wetter.at (as opposed to snowforecast, BBC etc) they are both predicting a lot of snow and I am now a believer for my trip from the 15th You can believe to, Noza we love you, but surely you can tell us to uncross our fingers now!
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Ended up with 10-15cms windblown snow in the right spots at Stubai yesterday, but seriously cold (-12°C in the valley at the end of the day). Some old uni friends of mine were in the area, so I was stoked to be able to find them some fresh tracks. Have to be very careful though - much of the terrain up there is still to rocky, icy, or crevasse-y; you really need to know where to go if heading offpiste. Pistes themselves varied from fairly grippy to sheet ice...
Woke up to light snow in the city early this morning. No longer snowing and probably a cm tops, but should start again soon. Looking at webcams it's snowing both west and east of here atm (e.g. Wurzeralm in Oberösterreich is getting DUMPED on!).
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Went up to Axamer Lizum today. Snowing well, but not as much on the ground as I'd hoped - probably around 30cm by the time we went down at the end. Pistes are in vastly better condition; offpiste is still too rocky. Snowing hard as we drove home, and still going.
Some other areas seem to have got a lot more snow than Lizum - Nordkette in particularly looks to have been plastered!!
FREEEEEEZING cold too, and getting colder: potentially -20°C at 2000m tomorrow.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@clarky999,
That's the spirit!!!
It was a long time ago, but I think I had to tape a carrier bag over my cast. Seem to remember having a bobble hat over my hand for warmth. The Hestra's look much more suitable.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Great attitude clarky999, if the glove fits.........
I also like the "Mick Fanning' attitude of punching sharks - try a quick google.
Hope it heels up soon.
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Ow. Hope you make swift recovery.
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You know it makes sense.
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@clarky999, feel for you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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@clarky999, Good to hear. Heal well.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@clarky999, oh that was you?! Saw it on FB earlier but didn't realise. Ouch! Maybe wait till there's a bit more coverage...
The Plan is still going to plan, btw 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@cad99uk, thanks!
@Scarlet, haha yep! Noob move, but actually actually it was rejoining the piste that caused the problem! Good to hear - did you decide which area yet?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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In weather news, it's been snowing hard most of today down in the city. My gf says Nordkette was pretty epic today, and I imagine most of the local resorts will be good to go as of now. Caveat being that higher more exposed areas are pretty wind-scoured in places (this works in Nordkette's favour, as the snow blows into the lift-accessed area).
This is what's accumulated on my car since Thursday evening, at 600m altitude:
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Had a great first two days in Obergurgl.
Snowing when we arrived on Sunday, can't remember flying into an airport with so much snow around.
Yesterday and today have been clear blue skies, snow on piste is in excellent condition, particularly high on the Hochgurgl side. A few more cms forecast for the rest of the week.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@narbs, looks great!
Woke up to more light snow here this morning too, though the sun's out for now. Should be more tonight, and potentially another ~30cm over the weekend.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@clarky999, Alpbach sounds interesting.
Conditions in Arlberg similar with sun taking its toll on exposed south facing slopes. Quite glorious weather mind you, haven't seen a cloud in days. Just deep blue skies.
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FAQ
). Will be back on skis in no time (touch wood etc) 
