 Poster: A snowHead
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A few notes on a weekend trip to Austria with fmott.
We arrived Thursday evening and drove down from Munich which was straight forward and took no more than two hours on good roads and we stayed at the Hotel Austrotel just off the Innsbruck Ost junction of the A12. The plan was to ski a different glacial resort each day we were there before heading back to Munich on Sunday evening. The location was great for our needs to be able to get to Solden, Hintertux and Stubai within around an hour but close enough to the city centre for a short cab ride in the evenings. We found a great bar just across the street, friendly table service with a big screen showing ski movies which was a bonus but I can't remember the name - you can't miss it as it is the only bar close to the hotel.
Friday - Solden
An easy drive got us to resort for around 8:45 and we found free parking right by the main Giggijoch lift linking us into the whole piste network. This was the perfect resort to start at to get our ski (or on fmott's case, his board) legs back and the snow was in really good condition IF you stayed above approx 2300m. The couple of time we went below this any areas not covered with cannons had bare patches and the man made was hard. That said, most of the terrain is above this altitude and with a clear blue sky we skiied ourselves silly until we barely had any energy left to ski the home run (14, 20, 22 - pistes are numbered rather than named) from the top of Hainbachjoch down to the car park. There were a few areas off the piste that looked really inviting but turned out to be hard and crusty even late after a full day in the sun - I kept trying but no joy to be found. There was a local band murdering covers of AC/DC, Blur, Black Eyed Peas etc. blasting out from around mid-afternoon but what they lacked in musical ability, they made up for in volume and seemed to please the crowd which also meant less people on the slopes getting in our way. All in all I was impressed with the size of the area, an extensive, mainly fast lift network and the variation in terrain and although it would not be enough for a week, I could happily spend a few days there.
Saturday - Hintertux
Up early again for the longest drive of the weekend at around an hour and ten minutes from the hotel. The drive up through Finkenberg (840m) and Lanersbach (1300m) showed just how bare the lower slopes are at the moment and confirmed a tour of the glaciers was a good move. We arrived at the free car park which was again right by the lift station and got kitted up. Be aware that for some reason, the lift pass office at Hintertux do no accept Visa cards and so I had a stomp across to the village to find a cash point. Eventually we made it up to the area above Sommerbergalm were we decided to do a few laps to warm up before heading up to the glacier. The pistes were hard and fast and perfectly groomed so a real hoot once the heads were clear of the night before. It was at this point, probably around mid morning, that the weather decided to throw a wobbly and the cloud rolled up the valley to completely obscure our visibility - so we went up high to clear the cloud, and soon after it followed. So we went lower to get below and it followed. It was a complete wind up as for the next few hours we did not get a complete run in with out being in thick cloud at some point, either on the glacier or in the area we started. Shame realy as the snow, particularly on the glacier was really good. Not so good was the limited nature of the runs and I felt a little cheated by the piste map which makes the area out to be more than it is - some of the runs being no more that tracks, particularly parts of 11 and 3 which really just join the other bits up. So being slightly disappointed by the weather and the amount of terrain, we decided to quit around 3ish and went for a quick coffee to warm up before heading down. We came out of the restaurant after no more than 10 minutes and would you believe it, the cloud had decided as we were going home, so would it - just shows how quickly the weather can change in the mountains. This did allow me to try a little off piste down the bowl in the Tuxerjoch area I had been eyeing up from the lift and although is was tracked out and a little crusty, it still raised a big smile on my face and a good way to finish the day before heading back to Innsbruck to find somewhere showing the rugby...
Sunday - Stubai
After celebrating a fine English victory, we amazed ourselves as we were up really early to get packed and be out of the hotel by 7:30 on route to the Stubai Glacier. We left this to the last day as this is the closest to Innsbruck of all the places we visited so keeping the drive back to Munich as short as we could. So less than 40 minutes after leaving the hotel we pulled up at yet another free car park next to the lift station. The previous 2 days had been pretty quiet with few people around but not today. It was not manic but it's close proximity to the city and easy parking made it a firm favourite with the locals and who can blame them. The excellent lift system had us up the mountain in no time and we were greated by a clear blue sky and well groomed pistes - the crowds dispersed quickly and although there was a little waiting at some of the pinch points in the network, nothing excessive. I really enjoyed this area and although there was nothing really taxing about any of the runs, after the sun had sucked the hardness out, the snow was exceptional. The run 5a from the 'Top of Tyrol' was a particular highlight and I had to do a couple of laps grinning like a self abusing ape bouncing out short turns just off the side where the snow had softened up nicely as did the small mogul field down the side of run 10. All to soon it was time to head down and the only minor critism I have is that there is no where at all to get changed which resulted in doing so in the middle of the car park - stripping off at sub zero temperatures was interesting.
The whole weekend was excellent and shows that there is an abundance of good snow out there if you are willing/able to put a little effort in to get there. The Austrians are well set up for this kind of trip as demonstrated in the ample free parking at each of the places we visited. A little surprising is that we could not recall hearing another english voice during our time at any of the places we skiied - a few Italians but the vast majority Austrian/German. For pit stops, I was impressed by the standards of the restaurants on the mountain. OK, there will never be awarded a Michelin Star but if you are like me in that you don't want to spend a long time sitting down eating lunch, they hit the spot for good, basic food at reasonable prices. Although this was my first trip to Innsbruck, it is a great city for a weekend and I doubt if it will be my last.
To try and rank the different resorts would be difficult as they offer different things. From a personal point of view Hintertux was my least favourite but I would go back, if not in a rush, but for no more than a day. The skiing at Stubai was fantastic and a definate must do next time I am in the area but it is still only a day trip - it has more skiing than Hintertux but no village base so lacks a little in atmosphere. That leaves Solden as my favorite, it has more varied terrain and other things going on which just adds a little someting, even if you are not staying there.
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