Hello from Europe!
It is more precisely from the heart of Austria that we are writing to you this morning to share with you our unexpected discoveries on the occasion of this first day of skiing in the Innsbruck region.
After a peaceful flight from Montreal to Munich , followed by a little over two hours by car, we arrived in Innsbruck to discover this mythical place, renowned for its mountains and winter sports. Olympic city (1964 and 1976), it has all the classic infrastructures, whether for skiing, Nordic skiing, ski jumping at Bergisel , luge or bobsleigh
The 1964 Olympics were also the occasion to build an airport directly in the city, which allows you to fly there directly from most major European cities to practice your favorite mountain sports.
While we talk a lot about winter sports in our column, you should know that mountain activities are available all year round here. You can go mountaineering, mountain walking, trekking or mountain biking as much as you like.
Innsbruck is a city of about 130,000 inhabitants, 200,000 when including its suburbs, and there are nine major ski resorts nearby, all within an hour’s drive. No matter where you are in the region, no matter how deep in nature, you will always be close to the city. Innsbruck knows how to give winter sports a certain urbanity, and it is very pleasant. A holiday here allows you to have as much fun as you can wish during the day, and to enjoy the city life and Austrian culture at the end of the day. There really is something for everyone!
Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol, one of the nine Lands of the country. Tyrol is a bit like a province in Canada. And Innsbruck is its capital. At the time of the Austrian Empire, which was very large at the time, Innsbruck was its metropolis and political seat. Its geographical location is strategic, among other things, because it is the only passage to the south towards Italy from the north of the Alps.
After our first night in our hotel Grauer Bar in the heart of the historic part of the city, a bit like Old Montreal, it is towards the Axamer Lizum station where we headed.
The average temperatures are definitely milder than at home, and the road conditions are more like the end of March in Quebec. In the city, like in Innsbruck, it’s even more obvious. So don’t stop yourself from renting a car if that’s what you prefer, you obviously have all the winter driving experience you need, believe us.
We are very lucky because a good 30 centimeters of new snow has fallen in the last few days and they are predicting « a big dump » for the coming night.
But we are told that before this last storm , the cover was still thin and that is why the Birgitzkopflhaus slope is not accessible today. But no matter, we will have our fill of discovering Mount Hoadl .
The facilities at the base are relatively simple. Near the parking lot, you will find the main building with the shop and administrative offices, including customer service and the departure point for the Hoadlbahn 1+2 gondola, as well as the Hotel Olympia 64. You can feel that here, skiing and sports are the priorities, and not restaurants, hotels or shops. Axamer Lizum is known as a resort for sports enthusiasts, and we can feel it.
After our little preparation in the car according to our usual routine, we got straight into the gondola to tackle the beautiful slopes that awaited us. It’s 9:00 and the sun is bright in a breathtaking blue sky over these snow-capped mountains. If heaven on earth really exists, it must look like this…
Once at the top, the 360-degree view is breathtaking. We start by warming up in a blue one (1 and 1a), which goes all the way around the ski area. It’s majestic, and even though it’s a blue, the slope is similar in many places to any black Quebec slope. And the snow conditions are simply perfect. It slides, it bites, … it rolls!
After a few round trips up and down , hunger set in and we stopped at the very top, at the Hoadl-Haus panoramic restaurant.
The view from here reminds us of the best James Bond movies. It’s vast and bright, and a simple vegetable soup becomes an unforgettable mountain meal. From here we can see the gondola, 🚡 but also the frame of the mountain train which doesn’t seem to be operating at the moment.
The afternoon on the slopes was just as enjoyable, and since it’s our first day of skiing in the region, we didn’t want to « push the machine » too much, as we say in Quebec. The altitude is sneaky, and we still have to acclimatize before feeling completely in control.
Personally I always feel a little less energetic and slightly dizzy during the first day… So we were careful, and packed up around 3:30 pm to go back to the hotel and enjoy the other attractions of the city.
On the way we also had another idea! Since our ski pass was valid for the whole day, in all nine resorts, we decided to take advantage of it and go up to the top of the Nordkette that leaves from the city center, a stone’s throw from our Hotel Grauer Bar , through the same parking lot. Because yes, it is possible to go to the mountain from the city center of Innsbruck!
So we took the surface train that takes us to the foot of the cable car 🚠 Nordkette . The climb is done in two stages, towards the summit for skiing and then towards the top of the mountain. The best as they say in the advertisements!
It is once again simply incredible! It is quite windy, probably due to the storm announced for the next day which is slowly arriving. But what a view! To see the city set in the valley surrounded by all these mountains, it is almost moving. It is majestic and it was definitely worth the trip, even with our ski boots on.
It was a thunderous first day which allowed us to better understand the dynamics of the place.
Tomorrow the weather forecasters are predicting more than 40 centimeters of new snow in the mountains, and a lot of rain in the city. We will see what we do depending on the weather, but certainly the next day will be unique for the conditions.
Happy skiing from Austria!
Helene Racine and Philippe Laporte
