J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Innsbrucker

Last Saturday it was booked solid in a radius of 15km, including Pettneu, and there were a handful of overpriced rooms in back streets of the lacklustre town of Landeck 25km away. Every parking space and bar stool in St Anton was also occupied. I found St Anton a horrible resort with the main blues a mashup of patches of hard, icy snow alternated with mounds of spring snow, swarming with skiiers who were understandably, but dangerously, struggling with the conditions.

I much prefer small resorts with quiet well maintained pistes. But if you are there for the party atmosphere, St Anton would still be a good choice.

There is no sign OP has been back to read the ample advice in this long thread.

I went to St A Saturday for a day. I basically hated it. It was booked solid, overcrowded, and the piste traffic dangerous. The blacks I tried were pretty normal and in OK condition, the long red I skied (top to bottom of Rendl) was difficult, but the blue down from Grampel lift was seriously challenging by any standards (both I and the very experienced Austrian I was with found that blue significantly tougher than the blacks, a point perhaps deserving its own thread).

In the Innsbruck area I can recommend Seefeld, I think the main ski school on the piste is very good. Great pistes though the home run gets slushy in March. Nice smartish town.

Also for loads of wide easy pistes, Schlick2000 is fantastic. I know nothing about the instructors there; and would think you would need to base yourself in Innsbruck for much in the way of nightlife.

The big partying resorts tend to be tougher to ski IMO, partly because of the number of idiots "on the piste" (in both senses).

Boarders are fine in their proper place. It just annoys me the way boarders b****r up the pistes. But then real mountain men do not condescend to ski groomed pistes (or hang out on Internet ski forums). I do :shock:

In Austria some Loipe (cross country tracks) are free, some larger resorts with a lot of prepared Loipe charge a small fee (e.g. 3Euro). I have not come across any requiring lifts, as cross country is only possible on nearly flat ground, or with small hills for skilled Langlaufers.

Downhill pistes are free for those who walk up on touring skis (but ski resort car parks are often out of bounds, and I was once caught and charged a penalty for parking at a resort then pulling touring skis out of the car). Of course, that is ski touring, and nothing to do with cross country.

Sharonbeas (OP) , maybe you were hoping that learning to ski well was something you pick up in a few hours. It is not. If friends tell you it was that way for them, they are probably not as good as they pretend. Most of us take years. As a late starter, after 7 years I look around at teenagers who live in a ski resort and who started as toddlers and I know that the chances of me ever being as good as them after a lifetime's practice are close to zero. I can still enjoy being in the mountains. It is journey not a destination... Lessons and practice (and spending an entire season skiing, and doing ski gymnastics every day starting late summer annually, and become a great inline skater) will all speed up the process.

How was it? Axamer Lizum is the ski resort. Free ski buses from Innsbruck. You can stay at Axams, the village lower down the mountain. Good pistes and lifts, though not very sunny. I imagine rather little night life, just a guess.

I know some of the resorts around Innsbruck, recommendations for good snow depends on season. Laste season you might want to go to resorts which are out of the sun (e.g. Axamer Lizum). Or very high. I do not understand the point about 'expert', but probably it means plenty very long steep black runs, perhaps with quite a few moguls down the sides (like the big one at Mayerhofen)? Or it could mean you generally stick to powder skiing? Kuhtai has some pretty demanding runs and plenty powder (usually), and is near Innsbruck. It is high. If you are happy with a small resorts with a run for genuine experts (not just a so-called 'black' to amuse tourists but one which needs a sign at the botton of the lift saying "Falling means danger of death") you could do worse than Hafelekar in Innsbruck itself. In the same area there are couple of other very steep runs, albeit not graded black (not graded at all). Snow quality depends on whether there is fresh powder. It is called Nordkette. You do not hear much about it because it is too small, but also rather too difficult, for general tourist use. Popular with locals.

I was chatting to a ski teacher today on the piste who was saying how great Ischgl is with plenty of options at all levels of difficulty. But my own favoured resorts are pretty with gentle slopes and a few easy so-called blacks, and mainly blues and reds, so no point in recommending those.