Snow for the Euros.

[Ripzalot]

snow down to 2300m tomorrow...


is it winter already?

[workinforturns]

subtle-shitty news. i wish you a quick recovery.

hope all you euro fools have a good summer and i hope next winter is better than this last one!

[verbier61]

cervinia/zerm tomorrow to test some boots

[patxi]

cervinia/zerm tomorrow to test some boots

Anything in a 28.5? In Genova now but heading North in a bit.

[Ripzalot]

i could use something like a factor in a 30.0....any deals?

[verbier61]

Sorry, only 27 available

[Marius]

btw.
some fresh snow and other things.


more here. just in case.

[verbier61]

summer ski on a sunny day is sex

[Franz Klammer]

btw.
some fresh snow and other things.


more here. just in case.

Eine eloquente, junge Dame, hier bei PG wohl bekannt, gab mir noch den Tipp „nehmt den Hin-Rueckweg uebers Skigebiet. Nicht den Weg untenrum. Der ist scheisse, richtig scheisse“ Nun, sie hatte recht, soviel wissen wir nun.

--> I don't even need to guess to know who this is.

[TeleAl]

Whoever that is should try wearing skis when skiing.
Poles alone won't do it, except for head plants.
Just sayin'.

[cyclerower]

I was just analyzing the snowpack. Safety first.

[TeleAl]

What's it look like down there?
Any rabbits?

[Marius]

yes, saw some rabbits. but mostof the animals are doing this "muhhhh" thing. tasty!

i am sure, you get the point

south of the line Chillan/LL there is a good base this year afaik. various pics...

[TeleAl]

It went from 30+C in Zurich yesterday,
to snow in the VD hills under 2000m last night.

[ZekeWolf]

Damn i need snow!

[Scottish_Skier]

Question for the Austrians please...
How cool / un-cool a place would Villach be to live ?

Not as a ski bum, but for a 32 year old engineer working in microelectronics. May have the option of going to work there for a couple of years. Villach currently one option of several being considered (others being Scotland or possibly CH if I could find a job near Lausanne area).

Kaernten is a region of the alps that I dont know anything about. From BergFex there seem to be loads of ski resorts in that area... Though are they any good ? Or is it mainly southern foothills that dont see much snow ? I dont mind small local resorts if they have fun terrain or trees - but if it was a 3 hour drive to find a decent mountain then its a different story.

http://www.bergfex.at/kaernten/

Thanks for your help!

D.

[herr_stoiber]

Question for the Austrians please...
How cool / un-cool a place would Villach be to live ?

I'm not from Kärnten myself, but I do have a little knowledge of the area. For snow you need to wait for low pressure systems coming from the Adriatic or the Med, which usually hit the hardest in the area around Nassfeld and into the Kanin (Triglav/Slovenia). Kanin apparently has some great runs but it needs a lot of snow to fill up the holes and caves in the rock. There ar some TRs flying around on TGR.
Nassfeld can be good but it is quite low elavation so the snow degrades pretty quickly.

Heiligenblut can be a really good place, it is high and there's plenty of terrain. Mallnitz is also interesting, and you can reach Sportgastein through the train runnel (or by skiing down from Mölltal Glacier .
Also, it's only a short drive to the Dolomites which offer lots of crazy runs (Cortina, Passo Pordoi,...).

Be sure to have a look at the topo maps on bergfex, it can give you a feel for the terrain around the lifts.

good luck

[Scottish_Skier]

Thanks Stoiber! TGR forum provides good info once more...

How reliable is the snow ? Given that it must come from a southern direction ? From further reading sounds like there is a few decent ski centres in the region that go upto 3000m (Heiligenblut / Mölltal / Nasfeld) with potential. Plus lots of small local areas. Could be a good corner of the alps to visit one day (even if I don't end up working there) as its off the beaten track. Also imagine *if* you got good snow Slovenia could be good value and a hidden gem...

[sqikunst]

^^ The south rocks a lot of the time. They can get tons of snow but they can also get none its the Alps its like that. If you want to get deep you have to chase it but there are always a couple pow days a year and there is great touring down there. Stuff is all really close together if you are an American or Canadian then the density of the resorts will shock you at first but its really cool like that. Do not worry about elevation and stuff like that the stuff between 1500 and 2000 also gets good snow as well. Kanin is cool but gets tracked faster than you think. The best thing you can do to get after it here is chase it for 3 days after a storm then tour.

[McDee]

I remember Herr Stoiber posted up a TR on Nassfeld last season? Or was it the season before? Last 2 years the southern region got a huge amount of snow when we were still waiting for it up here in triol. I reckon the skiing has been covered by herr stoiber and sqikunst, but what you'd also need to find out is if villach is a place you'd want to live in? I've never been so i can't say, all I know is its the centre for the truly aweful fasching comedy week with which austrian tv gets swamped every year! May be someone could chime in if its a cool place to live or not?

[Hicks]

Quite often spent some time around Villach before the millenium. There are a lot of worse places to live at in the Alps to say the least.

In summer you get all the activity around the Ossiach, Wörth and Millstatt lakes as well as really good biking, hiking ect. The town provides a nice laid back vibe and flair, the beer gardens are your friends. Trips into northern Italy, Croatia, Slovenia are almost mandatory. The high Tauern are a prime destination for mountaineering with challenging routes and developped network of huts high up.

For the winter hit up all the hidden gems short by (Gerlitzen, Afritz, Dobratsch ect.) and go to mentioned places like Spittal, Mallnitz (Glacier), Katschberg, Bad Kleinkirchheim, Nassfeld, Bovec/Kanin - all within about an hour and a half drive. About 2 hrs to the Dachstein region if snow is better north. During the corn season go to the southern High Tauern for some of the best ski touring the Alps have to offer.

Snow - as anywhere in the Alps - is a hit or miss but as Herr Stoiber said in a year with prevailing Adrian low pressure systems you will be fine.

Overall I'd say this is one of the most underrated regions in the Alps - worth going for it if you have the opportunity.

[Scottish_Skier]

Cheers guy Very much appreciated. Have the opportunity to go for an interview later this autumn - sounds like an opportunity that is worth considering properly. Even if I don't eventually end up there full-time its good to know / read about these parts of the alps (that often get over looked).

D.

[hop]

If you move there I will have to come visit!

[Orash111]

If any of you are anxious as me to get your Chamonix season/annual pass for 2011/2012, here is the finally available info:

http://chamonix-ski.fr/

Costs 20 euros more than last year for the season pass (at the early season price), so no biggie. Only thing that bothers me is that they have now put a cap on how many days you get at Verbier and the 4 vallees (8 days). Though last year I only went 7 days to Verbier and the rest to Chamonix since the snow was so bad in Verbier, so no real big deal if one keeps to that I guess.

[stantonbum1]

Question for the Austrians please...
How cool / un-cool a place would Villach be to live ?

Not as a ski bum, but for a 32 year old engineer working in microelectronics. May have the option of going to work there for a couple of years. Villach currently one option of several being considered (others being Scotland or possibly CH if I could find a job near Lausanne area).

Kaernten is a region of the alps that I dont know anything about. From BergFex there seem to be loads of ski resorts in that area... Though are they any good ? Or is it mainly southern foothills that dont see much snow ? I dont mind small local resorts if they have fun terrain or trees - but if it was a 3 hour drive to find a decent mountain then its a different story.

http://www.bergfex.at/kaernten/

Thanks for your help!

D.

Hey Doug, haven't skied in Kaernten but the impression that I have got is that there are significantly better places in Austria and the terrain is not great. At the same time there probably is no competition for powder.
Really not sure about living there, Kaernten is quite poor by austrian standards and the towns and villages are pretty small. I would probably rather live anywhere in CH than Kaernten. You will also make significantly more money in CH!
Have you looked into Southern Germany? Munich could be pretty cool!