 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We were up at Axamer Lizum today too. I'm probably in that queue in the last picture 
We went for the ski test (we both need new piste skis after changing our boots to GripWalk last season), and it was nice to see a bit of fresh snow in the morning rather than just skiing on cannon snow. We also did the test at Stubai last weekend, and for most of the day the glacier ice was showing through, which made it a bit of a challenging obstacle course, with a moving human slalom! Conditions today were much better, and actually pretty representative of normal conditions on this mountain – scraped to the base on the steep sections (except for the first couple of runs), small moguls that became big moguls, and some nice soft sections.
Agree about the lift situation – that was chaos, but I knew it would be fine once the train had cleared the backlog. The bubble got going after a couple of hours too, and it was all pretty good after that. We picked up the first set of test skis over an hour after arriving, and couldn't believe the blue run was closed (it looked pretty skied from the top and there were plenty of users), So we asked at the lift: “yeah, it's fine”. It became clear pretty early on that it wasn't really open, but we were committed and it was fine. Then the snow got quite deep, and our skinny test skis became hard work, though it was sort of easier than I expected. I mostly spent the run wishing I was on my Santa Ana 93s that were sunning themselves outside the restaurant! Nobody died, but we did stick to the officially open red run for the rest of the day, but that was more because it was a better test for piste skis. Had we not been doing that, we'd have been lapping the powder!
The day was a success though – my new skis will hopefully be the Atomic Cloud C14, which were the only one of the test skis that I could really get good edge hold on the scraped off hard bits. That will partly be down to my crap technique (with the race-oriented skis) and partly down to the skis (with the wobbly noodly ones). The only other pair that did this was my Santa Anas when I took them out on the last run of the day, which just shows how f*king solid they are 
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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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Some colleagues of mine were up at Axamer Lizum today too, not sure if they bailed early and didn't bother, because I also saw on their instagram stories they were up at Nordkette walking the dog!
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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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| swskier wrote: |
Is this somewhere up above Sistrans/Igls/Lans sort of area? We walked the dog the other week in the woods up behind Sistrans and it was beautiful. |
Yep, somewhere between Glungezer and Patscherkofel 
Kühtai will also open this Friday 29th Nov, with hopefully a bit of snow to fall before on Thursday
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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We had a team event last night and spent the evening in Igls playing EisStockschießen. The Innsbruck locals will know what it is, but for those that don't know it's basically curling, with an element of lawn bowls to it.
Good fun, and worth playing one evening if you're over on holiday and looking for something to do after you've skied. It seems to be available in most villages, I've certainly seen it being played in Mayrhofen too.
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@swskier, In winters when the local lake freezes a corner of it turns into a temporary Stockschiessen area. There is a local club but most of the time no ice!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@munich_irish, before moving here we were on holiday in Saalbach and I noticed they had a rink there specifically for it, not just the ice rink sectioned off.
Mayrhofen is similar to Igls in that the tennis courts have been turned in to an ice rink and there's a section for Stockschießen.
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@swskier, I believe there's also a summer version, played on a hard surface. There's a pitch at the local sports centre, and as you say, looks like a cross between curling and lawn bowls.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Scarlet, exactly, here only on ice on the odd occasion (now!) when the lake freezes.
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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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Few centimeters of fresh snow overnight to ~800m
Next two ski resorts - Patscherkofel and Muttereralm - open on Saturday, and there should be more snowfall over the weekend too
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Glungezer and Seefeld Rosshütte are apparently also opening this weekend. Bergeralm has opened already (I hadn't realised).
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You know it makes sense.
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| swskier wrote: |
We had a team event last night and spent the evening in Igls playing EisStockschießen. The Innsbruck locals will know what it is, but for those that don't know it's basically curling, with an element of lawn bowls to it.
Good fun, and worth playing one evening if you're over on holiday and looking for something to do after you've skied. It seems to be available in most villages, I've certainly seen it being played in Mayrhofen too. |
From what I have seen in the UK, lawn bowls is just used as an excuse to go out drinking! The yearly competition in Skegness is chaos from what I have heard...
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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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Yesterday we tested our new skis out at Axamer Lizum. Pistes were pretty hard but well covered. They are still only running the bubble, so skiing is limited to the two main runs off Hoadl, but it wasn't too busy so not a problem. I saw a few tracks off-piste, but it appeared that their creators had regretted their choices along the way Looked pretty rocky, not recommended.
Today, there was a bit of snow overnight (about 1cm in the village) but the low cloud meant vis was pretty poor. We headed to Seefeld because it has lots of trees. They were running the chair by the carpark, the train, and the other chair that runs parallel to the train but starts part way up (and a few drags etc.), but none of the higher lifts, and unfortunately not the piste connection between the two sides. The bottom of the red run (below the mid station) was also closed, so the only way down was the flat blue. Snow coverage on the open pistes was good, but you could see that there wasn't enough on some of the other sections which explained the closures. It was mostly man-made, so a bit crunchy, though the fresh snow falling this afternoon should improve that. Cannons were running higher up.
We haven't really had a big dump of snow yet this season, just a few cm here and there, so outside of the pistes coverage is still a bit thin. Hoping that will change over the next few days, but weather forecasts are a bit erratic at the moment.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Super deep at Stubai this morning; one of the deepest days I've ever had there. Most resorts only picked up 10-15cms from the last cycle, but the most southerly resorts in the main alpine ridge got a lot. Stubai, Sölden, Obergurgl, presumably also Hintertux, Pitztal, Kaunertal, etc. Whole Stubai valley was looking really nice and wintery on the drive up.
There is little base, and especially offpiste coverage was more like what I'd expect in October than mid-Dec... Plenty of sharks so you really had to pick your stashes. But a good 40-50cms of surprisingly quality, cold, dry snow. Sun came and went: never properly bluebird but good enough visibility. Pistes were in good condition and fun to ski too.
We didn't stop much but a couple of photos:
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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, Nice! Good to see it's not just a huge pile of rocks and bare glacier ice like it was a couple of weeks ago!
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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 wrote: |
| presumably also Hintertux, |
Yes, but not to the level those pictures look like!
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| Scarlet wrote: |
| @clarky999, Nice! Good to see it's not just a huge pile of rocks and bare glacier ice like it was a couple of weeks ago! |
Still LOTS of rocks!
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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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@clarky999, Got it! Piste skis it is
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If you're thinking, what will I spend my Monday evening doing? Perhaps you might fancy getting in to the Christmas spirit in the Haus der Musik
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Has anyone skived the SkiWelt in the last few days?
Looks OK on cams erc
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I'm in Oberösterreich for Christmas and here we only have a few cms new snow (maybe 20-30 on the hill though), but apparently it's DUMPING in Innsbruck with ~20cms to the city. Should be great skiing all across Tirol the next few days!
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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, 20cm is probably at the top end of a guesstimate so far  but it's still coming down pretty hard. There's been blasting on Nordkette all morning, though I don't think they've opened much (hard to tell from the website – Seegrube cam is a grey rectangle and Haflekar looks pretty empty).
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We were in Innsbruck last night for our Christmas concert in the Haus der Musik. We came out after finishing and i'd say probably 5cm or so at that point, 9pm ish, and maybe another 5cm when we left the Weisses Rössl at 11pm.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hi guys, just been catching up on this thread about early season conditions. Great to see all the news. I hope January has been good so far.
There have been some new Innsbruck flights added for April this year, which opens up the possibility of bringing my family over for a shortish trip during the school Easter holidays.
I see that Axamer and Glungezer stay open at the start of April. Am I being naive in hoping that either of these could work for eg 4 days? My children are beginners so would have to check lessons but if the area is open presumably ski schools will be operating?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
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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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@EdYarker, It's not too bad, but we really need some more snow – it's pretty rocky and icy out there.
Glungezer is small. If you look at the piste map, you can only really guarantee that the combi-gondola Glungezer I and II will be running, and you will only be able to ski back as far as the top of I (it's a mid-station, but there is about 50m gap between the two lifts). Maybe with one of the small drags just below, but you can't ski any further than that. The old chair, Schartenkogel at the top, may or may not be running, but that is very slow. Realistically, you can only guarantee access to the red run that goes under Glungezer II, and this gets boring after a couple of hours. In addition, half of this is a race piste for the local clubs, so you could be competing with them for space too.
Axamer Lizum will definitely still be open and should have at least the main two pistes off the top of Hoadl open. These are both very steep for beginners, even the blue – both are race pistes, but you can get off at the gondola mid-station to avoid the steepest sections at the top. I think the park and the chair that serves it will still be open too, and maybe Pleisen but that one is more prone to closure. Birgitzkopfl is rarely open, so don't rely on that at all.
I would also look at Stubai.
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That’s for your swift response @Scarlet. I thought the Glungezer looked limited but am prepared to make sacrifices for the kids first ski trip. But it sounds like too much of a sacrifice!
I know Axamer reasonably well having learnt to ski there many many years ago. The old ladies downhill run was the first I did after the nursery slopes and the first few turns seemed incredibly steep for a blue! I’ve been back since and really like the area but thought it might be a bit low for April so thanks for the info.
I’ve been looking at Pitzal as well, which lacks the convenience of Innsbruck and the short transfers but should at least guarentee reasonable snow!
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You know it makes sense.
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How are the smaller resorts around Innsbruck like during the European half terms this month? Unfortunately I had to cancel a trip in January, so I'm looking for a long weekend somewhere in Feb where I can somewhat avoid crowds, while still being accessible by train. I'd be looking to Ski Patcherkofel, Axamer, and maybe Nordkette if snow conditions aren't great and I just want to do park.
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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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@captainslack, it's not normally too bad, as a lot of people go to the bigger resorts. However, they will be busier overall the whole week, rather than the usual Fri-Sun. If the sun is out, Nordkette park can get busy anyway, but if you like that kind of thing it's worth going up – the standard is pretty impressive. The biggest park in the area, I think, is Stubai Zoo. Axamer Lizum and Stubai both have decent webcam setups that can help to assess how busy they are. Maybe keep an eye on them during the week and see if the crowds are picking up.
I was at Ischgl today and it was definitely getting into high season crowds. I probably waited max. 8 min for a lift, but I know where to avoid the worst ones Off piste was totally tracked and pretty choppy, not very deep, pistes were rock hard, Ischgl standard. No fresh snow in the forecast.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Ah great, thanks @Scarlet! Great feedback - sounds like the best option for me
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Scarlet, Surprising to hear about Ischgl. The Arlberg, which is only in the next valley, had no sign of hard park generally soft powdery pistes, off piste was pretty tracked (but then it is 30 mins after the lifts open in St Anton!) and queues were not too bad all things considered. Scrum at Madloch but other than that not much waiting. Some of the pistes were crowded though. Perhaps its just the Arlberg being a snow magnet as ever.
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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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Glungezer looking nice last Thursday when I flew home for the weekend.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is anyone currently at any of the Tirol glaciers (Stubai, Hintertux, Pitztal or Kaunertal)?
If so, I’d be grateful to hear if they get at all crowded as other Tirol resorts wind up for the season.
I’m in France in Les 3 Vallees for the 2025 season, staying at Val Thorens. I was unpleasantly surprised by large crowds that arrived in Val Tho last week (5-12 April 25 > UK, French & German holidays) . And while Val Tho is crowded, the rest of the 3 Vallees is very quiet with literally no queues at all.
I’m planning my 2026 season in Austria, and one of my key criteria for April skiing is empty pistes and skiing straight onto lifts without any waiting…. So any intel would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
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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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@jenkins000, No hard and fast answer to this as so condition dependent. In general all of the larger areas seem busy most of the time now. If conditions are good then people will be there. Austria has much more "local" skiing than in France, so a combination of good snow & sunshine will bring out the crowds, mainly local people. The glacier areas only really attract "keen" skiers (often clubs and the like) and race/instructor training. Somewhere like Ischgl is almost always going to be a better option than the glaciers until the end of April.
My own experience in the Arlberg is that outside of New Year (which should be avoided if possible) the crowds really arent too bad and except for a few bottlenecks lifts queues are not a big issue, only really late morning.
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@jenkins000, I was up in Hintertux today, and this week is a school holiday for the local Austrian kids. I think we had a group of 4 ahead of us at the chairlift queue on one occassion. Quite the inconvenience
During the week it'll be close to deserted.
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Would anyone know of good runs for doing shorts, longs and moguls in Hintertux please? I'll be going there next Thursday to ski by myself for 3 days before the 4 tech but don't really know the area well enough.
Thanks
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@garricw, this thread linked is specific to the Zillertal,
https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=170407
But I'll answer your questions here anyway. This is the BASI 4 tech right?
Here's the piste map for Hintertux
https://www.bergfex.at/hintertux/panorama/
Run 11b shows as a black run. It's not marked but that's a good start for variables, likewise 2b, again not marked as a run this year for some reason, but I skied it on Sunday. Just be wary of avalanche dangers etc.
Red 8 you'll get to know very well, you'll be doing longs and shorts down there I'd expect. I know one of our trainers in IASI did his L4 there with BASI years back and he said they created a bumps zipper line off piste skiers left of Red 8 the other side of the t-bar. That will hopefully make sense when you get there.
I'll be up in Hintertux on the Saturday the day before your course starts, so keep an eye out and give me a shout if you see me. I'll look something like this.
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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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@swskier, Brilliant, thanks! Yes it's for the BASI 4 tech.
Sorry didn't know it was the wrong thread.
If you're about then maybe we could have a ski together?
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FAQ
