 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Thanks both - for some reason Zell had slipped under my radar but looks like it hits the spot, will have a closer look at Hochfugen as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@clarky999, I did enjoy your video thanks. Looks like you had a great time. Personally I’m a sh&t scared skier but persevere because I love my ski holidays. We’re off to zell am see beginning of march and hoping they keep hold of some of the recent snow. According to crystal APL temperatures there could reach -22 on Thursday - yoiks!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
Hi all, I’m planning a non skiing holiday with my partner for January 20th next year, I’d like somewhere pretty, snowy and with plenty of things to do such as walks, tobogganing,sight seeing,swimming, spa etc, I’ve found a hotel in Igls that would suit the latter requirements, would this resort be a good choice?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
A question for the locals if you know.
What sort of race clubs are there about, particularly for adults? I've googled some stuff but nothing coming up.
Just dreaming of my potential future life depending on how tomorrow's interview goes!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Masters racing at a few of the valley hills. Glungezer seems to have a very active geezer set up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
@rizzotherock, perfect, lovely mountain village with loads of options and not too far out of the city for Innsbrucks' attractions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@northantsred, thanks for the reply, yes it sounds exactly what we’re after, roll on January
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hello everybody, this is my first ever post here as had only started skiing this year (only that it was melted halfway through the holiday in the alps during christmas  ) We are planning to go to Austria and based ourselves in Innsbruck early march this year, we dont have much time off work, only around 3 full days of skiing. Planning to go around Innsbruck for some blue or easy red routes. Might go as far as Stubai Glacier or Obergurgl. It will be for the two of us (husband and wife.. both beginner-intermediate)
My questions are:
1. Not sure if it is wise to rent a car and have the flexibility to drive or if the trains/public transport are frequent (as in easy for us to plan our travels).
2. what would be your suggestions as to which areas to go skiing for nice blues?
Thank you so much for your help and yes.. I have been bitten by the bug!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Lots of nice cruisy blues in Obergurgl and Hochgurgl, plenty for 3 days. About 90 mins drive from Innsbruck, longer using train to Oetz and then bus to Obergurgl, probably 2 hours...
For 3 days I would probably hire a car for the flexibility and to maximise ski time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@bellpresser, Hi and welcome 
1. If you base yourself in the city centre with easy access to the Hauptbahnhof, you will be able to catch the buses and trains, which do run regularly. Download one of the local transport apps from ÖBB or VVT, and always book your tickets through from start to finish, even if you're using both bus and train, for the best price. Also, some buses are free for skiers, or I think if you have a special Innsbruck card from the hotel, but ask them or the tourist office about that.
2. Lots of blues at Stubai, and Seefeld is nice. Also Schlick 2000. You can see most of the local areas on this interactive map https://winter.intermaps.com/innsbruck , and turn the slope colours on/off.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
ol_smokey and Scarlet, thank you so much for your help. This is going to be our first city plus skiing break, there's so much to learn, so exciting and feeling nervous as well. Plus we never been to Innsbruck, so hopefully it is going to be a nice adventure!
Thanks again for your help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Hi, I’m planning on taking my partner to Igls next year for her first ever visit to the mountains, it’ll be a non skiing holiday for her but she’s already dreaming of enjoying snowy days out there, I know no one can predict the weather that far ahead but historically would 3rd week of January or last week of February be the better bet on achieving this? Thanks in advance
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Snowlover66, I hate to break it to you, but if you want a snowy village you probably need to look a bit higher than the 870m you get at Igls. It’s completely pot luck and it might work out for you, but I would only expect to see snow in the villages around here for a total of a couple of weeks a season. However, by the end of Feb, it usually starts to feel a bit more spring-like, so I would expect January to be more reliable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
| bellpresser wrote: |
ol_smokey and Scarlet, thank you so much for your help. This is going to be our first city plus skiing break, there's so much to learn, so exciting and feeling nervous as well. Plus we never been to Innsbruck, so hopefully it is going to be a nice adventure!
Thanks again for your help. |
Innsbruck is blooming brilliant!
Covid apart, I've spend at least a day or two there every year for 10 years.
A little group and I are heading there later this week.
Can't wait!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| Scarlet wrote: |
@bellpresser, Hi and welcome
1. If you base yourself in the city centre with easy access to the Hauptbahnhof, you will be able to catch the buses and trains, which do run regularly. Download one of the local transport apps from ÖBB or VVT, and always book your tickets through from start to finish, even if you're using both bus and train, for the best price. Also, some buses are free for skiers, or I think if you have a special Innsbruck card from the hotel, but ask them or the tourist office about that.
2. Lots of blues at Stubai, and Seefeld is nice. Also Schlick 2000. You can see most of the local areas on this interactive map https://winter.intermaps.com/innsbruck , and turn the slope colours on/off. |
Just spotted this. Might be of interest to anyone who may be considering combining skiing the Innsbruck area alongside other activities
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/holidays/article-11739401/Innsbruck-travel-review-Ski-city-two-holidays-one.html?ico=mol_desktop_money-newtab&molReferrerUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fmoney%2Findex.html&_gl=1
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Spent a couple of hours in Innsbruck yesterday on the way back from the Dolomites. Absolutely lovely place but my it was warm, felt like June not Feb and the snowline looked very high to me though I'm not familiar with the area.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@T Bar, It was very warm and the snow line is high. I think a lot of people went hiking or biking this weekend. It's no June though, June gets waaaaay hotter than this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| Scarlet wrote: |
| @T Bar, It was very warm and the snow line is high. I think a lot of people went hiking or biking this weekend. It's no June though, June gets waaaaay hotter than this. |
Yes I was probably exaggerating slightly but I bet you get days in June that are colder than yesterday as well. Thing that surprised me most was the wind actually felt warm which is pretty unusual at this time of the year.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
@T Bar, Ah no, that warm wind is the Fohn, the snow eater. It’s a regular visitor and I believe is always warm. It can give you a headache, too. Doesn’t tend to blow as hard in the valleys in winter as in summer though, when I regularly have to tie down everything outside.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
And a foehn wind is dry - just sucks up the moisture. After a couple of days foehn the depressed tracks made in snow by skis (off piste) are sometimes left standing up above the surface, like railway lines, because being more consolidated they resist the wind more than the untracked snow does.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
@Scarlet,
Cheers I'd guessed it was probably a Fohn but hadn't appreciated they were that warm so early in the season.
@pam w, Hadn't realised that was why ski tracks sometimes stand up , I'd guessed it was something to do with the compression but there you go. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sorry, been a bit busy to keep up with this thread!
| Snowlover66 wrote: |
| Hi, I’m planning on taking my partner to Igls next year for her first ever visit to the mountains, it’ll be a non skiing holiday for her but she’s already dreaming of enjoying snowy days out there, I know no one can predict the weather that far ahead but historically would 3rd week of January or last week of February be the better bet on achieving this? Thanks in advance |
January is most likely, but it's definitely not a guarantee. Igls is on the south ie north-facing side of the valley so does hold snow much longer than the Nordkette/south-facing side, and there are nice winter/snow walking routes around there. For example this January we spent a fair amount of time walking around that plateau by Lans and Igls with the little guy, and even in this exceptionally snow-poor winter there was mostly snow on the ground. But obviously it first needs to snow to the valley...
If you really want to be sure of snow, then around Innsbruck I would say Seefeld is by far the most 'snow sure at village level' village in the area. It's also pretty and has a fair amount of non-skiing things to do.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Thu 23-02-23 11:35; edited 2 times in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| T Bar wrote: |
| Spent a couple of hours in Innsbruck yesterday on the way back from the Dolomites. Absolutely lovely place but my it was warm, felt like June not Feb and the snowline looked very high to me though I'm not familiar with the area. |
Yep, got up to 21°C - a new February record! Crazy stuff, and on top of the driest/least snowy winter I can remember. Nordkette was only able to open for skiers for about a week this whole winter...
The Tirol Avalanche Commission posted today about the lack of snow. While their colleagues in Switzerland report historically low snow (https://www.slf.ch/de/lawinenbulletin-und-schneesituation/wochen-und-winterberichte/2022/23/avablog-22-februar-2023.html), apparently in Tirol it's only 'almost historically low' but not quite there yet.
This image shows the situation at Seegrube (effective the mid-station on Nordkette though it's about 3/4 the way up):
The greyed out zone shows max and min snow depths (not snow fall!) since 1973, the grey line average snow depth, and the pink line snow depth this winter.
Quite interesting that even on the totally south-facing (ie gets aaallll the sun) Nordkette snow depths still generally peak in mid-late March.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@clarky999, thanks for the info, yeah I see that Seefeld is quite a bit higher so will look into that
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| Snowlover66 wrote: |
| @clarky999, thanks for the info, yeah I see that Seefeld is quite a bit higher so will look into that |
Probably a good choice! It's not so much the altitude though, more the topography. Everyone focusses on altitude but IME other factory frequently have a larger impact...
Seefeld is both a 'schneeloch' (snow hole - tends to get more snow than surroundings, especially when it comes from the north) and is quite sheltered so holds on to it better than villages in the wide Inntal, whereas Patscherkofel (the mountain above Igls, but also Igls itself to a lesser degree) is/are directly in the firing line of the Föhn winds discussed above and always take the brunt of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@clarky999, aah very interesting, didn’t know that, I’ll see if there’s anything in my price range in Seefeld then, thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
Finally, it snowed again! Another Nordstau, so best bet was to head north or east. We didn't know whether Nordkette would reopen (they've been closed a lot recently, and mostly only been running the park) and didn't hear any blasting this morning, so Seefeld seemed like a safer bet. It worked out well – we found 10-30cm from mid mountain, and the cloud cleared off so we could see reasonably well, despite the continued snow.
One great thing Seefeld has going for it – they don't always bash the pistes when there's fresh snow  It's also more of a family/learning centre than freeride mecca, so not too much competition either. We did a run on the chair and then headed up to the top of the gondola. The very top was a bit blowy and the snow a little bit wind pressed, but it was lovely and buttery smooth under the lift line. We got a few runs in before it became really clumpy, then headed further down.
These were taken fairly early on:
And these were around midday:
We were still finding fresh lines at this point, which was pretty good considering how busy it was up there today
Over on the Reitheralmbahn side, the snow was very light, but there was a very hard packed lumpy base that we kept bottoming out on. On the Rosshütte side, the snow was a little deeper, but it appeared that there was pretty much no base at all away from the compaction of the pistes. We were up there 3 weeks ago, at the last big snowfall, and it's amazing that all that snow had gone, but it has been very warm over the last couple of weeks. Luckily, Seefeld is all fields, so hitting the grass is not a big deal. I was just a little bit surprised to be hitting the grass at that altitude 
It got a bit warm around lunchtime, and all the snow had gone from the car park by the time we got back there. Lower pistes were very thin, artificial sugary mush, so best to stay high right now.
A little more snow is due overnight and tomorrow. I'm not sure yet where is best to head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Looks good
Arrived in Kitzbuhel this afternoon and it was snowing on arrival at Salzburg airport.
No snow on the roads but big snowflakes coming down now at 6pm, the ones that get in your eyelashes and there’s about an inch of fluffy snow on the railings/car rooves.
Will be up early tomorrow as it’s probably a powder day with a bit of luck. Hopefully there won’t be delayed opening but I’m expecting some depending on how much comes down up high.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Loving the reports from Seefeld guys! My wife and I are doing our now usual 2 day weekend trip to Innsbruck Airport (previously stayed in Mutters and Fulpmes- always with the great tips and advice from the fine people on this thread) in 3 weeks and have booked into Mountains Hotel, Seefeld. We aren’t too bothered about off piste but just hoping pistes hold up/ improve.
There is a chance our daughters may be off school due to strikes the days before we leave. I’ve ruled out trying to bring them (too expensive and frankly they don’t deserve it) but if grandparents can look after them we might get 2 extra days in. Could easily find extra accommodation in Seefeld but not sure there’s enough to ski for a longer period. Considering either Zillertal or Garmisch for the extra 2 days/ nights. We won’t have a car but train links look pretty good. Any thoughts or alternatives from the experts/ locals?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@VolklAttivaS5, looking forward to some reports as I'm at Kitz in three weeks and have been sweating seeing all the snow land over here...hope its fab
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
@Scooter in Seattle, it was mighty fab this morning yes! It was deeper than forecast I think, managed to get some shin to knee deep fresh tracks in this morning on several occasions just to the side of the piste so no effort needed. It was sunny here and there after midday, but snowing hard again by late afternoon. Very cold today, -13C in places.
The pistes needed the new snow from what I could tell as there was some very hard boilerplate underneath the new snow. Could hear it underneath the skis. Off piste was cold light snow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
@VolklAttivaS5, was the hochsaukaser lift open?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
@VolklAttivaS5, sweet, may it continue...
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
@EdYarker, It would make sense to try somewhere else for your extra 2 days, but it's not high season so I'd wait a couple of weeks to decide where. As well as the places you've mentioned, it's also very easy to get to the Arlberg, Skiwelt, and I think Alpbachtal, and probably others, or you could stay in Innsbruck itself and ski a couple of different local areas, with no worries about getting back to the airport.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gotta love a surprise powder day, and I definitely loved that one!
The forecast was for another 10-15cm, in roughly the same locations as yesterday. It was totally clagged in first thing this morning, so after a fairly leisurely breakfast, we decided to head to Axamer Lizum for a couple of hours and some lunch. When we arrived, the carpark was about half full, but was still actively being cleared by a guy in a digger who looked to be enjoying his job this morning, but possibly wishing he'd started a couple of hours earlier!
We spent the first run going “WTF? This is ridiculous!” as we headed down a red run where apparently you could only see my head and arms! It was super light powder all the way from top to bottom, and with the new 6 minute gondola, lap times were really quick. Quite a few of the official ski routes were open, and with the combined weekend snow, the rocks were covered a lot better than previous visits, which opened up a lot of off-piste terrain.
This is me, and a train from 1976:
There was a (very) short discussion this morning about whether race skis might be the best choice after getting beaten up by the snowboard yesterday. Thankfully, some sense prevailed:
And he was happy with his decision:
We also went in some trees. It was deep there too:
My only regret (apart from the casual breakfast) was that my skis could have been fatter, but that is after a series of regrets about my skis needing to be thinner All I can say is that it's been a while since I've seen this much snow. “So Geil!” as the locals would say 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
slight off thread question. Will be in the Innsbruck area next week (other half's major birthday)
When she lived in Germany her favourite food was "Ziguener Schnitzel or Jager Schnitzel"
Does any know or can recommend any restaurants in Seefeld or Innsbruck that have these dishes on the menu (I appreciate that most have Viener Schnitzel but am looking for the above dishes for her birthday meal)
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
