Latest posts for the topic "summer skiing"

summer skiing

pommelhorse — GMT

I am looking for advice for options in summer skiing in Austria.Not just summer but September or October. Two years ago I have been in France for summer skiing Glacier Girose Mont de Lans Glacier nearby Les Deux Alpes and it was great.Any adviace would be appreciated.

Re:summer skiing

bandit — GMT

Zermatt and Saas-Fee expect to be open. I skied Zermatt in September/October last year and it was really good with powder conditions. Some photos here.. http://picasaweb.google.com/bandit2106/Zermatt07

Re:summer skiing

bennyboy — GMT

Hintertux and Stubai are the 2 main summer glaciers in the alps. The Dachstein is another good one as well. Hintertux is open all year round, not sure about the other 2, think they close for a bit between winter/summer and summer/winter. Skied Hintertux in the summer and its pretty good for summer glacier stuff. Cant remember much of it though it was 7 years ago when i was 13!

Re:summer skiing

AB — GMT

Kaprun is also open all year round apart from a short time in June for lift maintenance. It's not the biggest area but is pretty good and it's right by Zell Am See which is beautiful for a summer holiday anyway. Lots to do in other sporting activities on the lake, Golf, biking etc. It's only 1 hour from Salzburg with Ryanair doing £20 return flights inc taxes for some dates. My apartmant in Zell is available through a lot of the summer still.

Re:summer skiing

tino_11 — GMT

This is something that really interests me as quite frankly I can't wait until next season and my plans for S.America in summer look shaky due to work. However with so many public holidays coming up in Germany, 4 days in May seem feasible aws long as it is reachable by train form S. Germany (Austria preferably). So I have some questions.... Is there enough to do on the glacier off season to keep me busy for 3 full days? Which glacier has the highest proportion of chair lifts versus pull lifts? Which glaciers are open and when? Who has personal experience who can tell me a little about the conditions to be expected. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Re:summer skiing

IceGhost — GMT

bennyboy wrote:

Hintertux

cough death trap cough cough. I'm sorry I had to it was open for a laugh. Tux is bloody gorgeous and it's open year round with great prices. I spent from May 07 to July 21 07' on Tux site looking for updates and it's mostly grainy icy snow ( if you want to call it that) I know from experience it goes to hell around eh, eh *grunt* 12 noon 30E for the day. Best of luck to you and for god sake be careful 8)

Re:summer skiing

pommelhorse — GMT

Many thanks to all who has answered me.Every advice is of great help.

Re:summer skiing

chaletslovakia — GMT

Tino_11: I think you are overestimating what summer glacier activity is all about. They are not vey big. They are pretty featureless unless there is a park there. Normally there are no chairlifts installed because a glacier is a moving mass of ice and hence there is no chance of installing the engineering required. Drag lifts are a lot easier to install. The conditions are ice in the morning turning to utter slush by about 11am... They are okay for a day or two as part of a summer holiday. But you'll probably be a bit let down expecting days of good riding / skiing.

Re:summer skiing

Tony_H — GMT

chaletslovakia wrote:

Tino_11: I think you are overestimating what summer glacier activity is all about. They are not vey big. They are pretty featureless unless there is a park there. Normally there are no chairlifts installed because a glacier is a moving mass of ice and hence there is no chance of installing the engineering required. Drag lifts are a lot easier to install. The conditions are ice in the morning turning to utter slush by about 11am... They are okay for a day or two as part of a summer holiday. But you'll probably be a bit let down expecting days of good riding / skiing.

Maybe you havent taken a closer look at Hintertux, Dan.....

Re:summer skiing

ise — GMT

chaletslovakia wrote:

Tino_11: I think you are overestimating what summer glacier activity is all about. They are not vey big. They are pretty featureless unless there is a park there. Normally there are no chairlifts installed because a glacier is a moving mass of ice and hence there is no chance of installing the engineering required. Drag lifts are a lot easier to install. The conditions are ice in the morning turning to utter slush by about 11am... They are okay for a day or two as part of a summer holiday. But you'll probably be a bit let down expecting days of good riding / skiing.

that's correct in every single way. I'd only add that they're useful for technical training of course, teams, instructors etc. Probably all fine if, as you say, there's a park and you're into that sort of thing.

Re:summer skiing

tino_11 — GMT

Well, I'm back and I can share my experiences (and some piccies) to help settle the debate. First of all I had a fantastic time. There was 78km of piste open on the Hintertux Glacier (it will not stay like that all summer of course) the weather was good, with cloud at the top and blazing sunshine at the bottom. I needed not to use a single drag lift during the three days I was there, only cable cars and chair lifts. To the conditions, well you are on a glacier in spring, so you can't expect fields of fluffy powder or the piste to stay in the same condition all day. At 8.30am it is hard, groomed and bloody fast, by 3pm you can be skiing/boarding a 6km field of 3ft moguls, but hell if you can't deal with these conditions you should probably think twice about being on a glacier in the first place. I like the fact that no two runs on the same piste were the same, it challenges you and teaches you how to handle a variety of conditions. All that being said, between 9.30 and 11.30 it was absolutley fabulous!!! Busier than I expected, late vactaion for a lot of Eastern Europeans it seemed, but still great Apres-Ski, the facilites are good enough not to be too crowded at lifts and cable cars, a little too busy on the piste in late morning, but if you are there just after 8am it looks like this...... I really was pleasantly surprised to have it so good in May, would heartily recommend it to anyone, with the proviso that if you are not confident a glacier is possibly not the best place to find it, but I've only been at this game for 18 months and I loved every minute of it...... I even got some ad-hoc rock-climbing in (came off on the flat and couldn't be arse to wak to the lift, seemed easier to climb a 25ft steep angle and board down the other side) :) So here are some photo's and you can make up your own mind...sorry about the quality, they were taken onm my phone (was travelling light!) The album can be seen here.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/26386569@N08/ tino

Re:summer skiing

tino_11 — GMT

Hmmm, pictures don't seem to work, but the link to the gallery is working :)

Re:summer skiing

ise — GMT

tino_11 wrote:

Well, I'm back and I can share my experiences (and some piccies) to help settle the debate.

err.. you do realise it's not actually the summer right now? :D

Re:summer skiing

tino_11 — GMT

ise wrote:

err.. you do realise it's not actually the summer right now? :D

Try the third paragraph again ise, might pay to get them eyes tested before you go out the hill again :)

Re:summer skiing

ise — GMT

tino_11 wrote:

ise wrote:

err.. you do realise it's not actually the summer right now? :D
Try the third paragraph again ise, might pay to get them eyes tested before you go out the hill again :)

the point being you're not going to settling any debate about summer skiing as you opened with, you've not been )

Re:summer skiing

Tony_H — GMT

ISE, you are very aggressive with your posts, and it seems to me that you think you are always right, too. Give the kid a chance. I wouldnt call May winter, would you? Anyway, looks like Tino had a great time, and is trying to suggest that skiing OUT OF SEASON ie on a glacier where there is snow most of the year round, is a good idea providing you are prepared for it not to be like a pretty little resort with great conditions all day long. I was thinking about going to Hintertux either mid June or early July to celebrate mine or my mates 40th. Is it worth it for a couple of days SUMMER skiing?

Re:summer skiing

ise — GMT

Tony_H wrote:

ISE, you are very aggressive with your posts, and it seems to me that you think you are always right, too. Give the kid a chance. I wouldnt call May winter, would you?

me and the ski station would call it their winter season, gee, I guess that does make me right doesn't it? :roll: give it a rest would you please? it's just tedious.

Re:summer skiing

Tony_H — GMT

ise wrote:

me and the ski station would call it their winter season, gee, I guess that does make me right doesn't it? :roll: give it a rest would you please? it's just tedious.

I rest my case.

Re:summer skiing

tino_11 — GMT

Really unsure what it will be like at that time Tony. At the moment the have between 60-80km of piste open, but I think they normally reduce that to about 20km around this time of year. Take a look at thier website...... http://www.hintertuxergletscher.at/en/schnee_gletscher.html?topmodul=schnee&chosen=schneebericht&topmodul=schnee I guess if you are going for a couple of days celebration anyway, then anything is better than nothing :)

Re:summer skiing

Scotch — GMT

Im with Tony on the aggresive posts........ Anyway......... Cheers Tino, think il make it over to Kaprun this summer, finance willing ( as usual ) and of course gaining a 'pass' from the Mrs. xx

Re:summer skiing

Tony_H — GMT

Whats Kaprun or Stubai likely to be like mid June or early July on the glacier? What about Les 2 Alpes? I dont really mind where I can get to, as long as I can get a couple of days half decent skiing in.

summer skiing

Geoff Smith — GMT

Tony, I spend a lot of time, Summer and Winter, in the Oisans and Ecrins areas of France. I know Les Deux Alpes quite well. The glacier is large and it is invariably open for Summer skiing. Conditions are usually very good. However it is very popular with Italians and for the last few summers it has been very crowded. So good news and bad news! Geoff Smith

Re:summer skiing

bandit — GMT

Tony_H wrote:

I dont really mind where I can get to, as long as I can get a couple of days half decent skiing in.

If it's half decent skiing that you want, then I suggest Saas-Fee or Zermatt would fit the bill.

Re:summer skiing

Tony_H — GMT

bandit wrote:

Tony_H wrote:

I dont really mind where I can get to, as long as I can get a couple of days half decent skiing in.
If it's half decent skiing that you want, then I suggest Saas-Fee or Zermatt would fit the bill.

Not Les 2 Alpes, then?

Re:summer skiing

bandit — GMT

Tony_H wrote:

bandit wrote:

Tony_H wrote:

I dont really mind where I can get to, as long as I can get a couple of days half decent skiing in.
If it's half decent skiing that you want, then I suggest Saas-Fee or Zermatt would fit the bill.
Not Les 2 Alpes, then?

By all means go to Les Deux Alpes. When you book try and ensure that the ski area will be open, as it's not open throughout the year. From the reports I have read, the glacier was in poor condition last year, so you may have to walk in your boots to access the skiing.