Nowhere else are there so many different types of slopes, events and family…
Tips for Skiing in Innsbruck
Innsbruck skis. It’s a place where riding a bike through the city with a pair of skis strapped to your backpack is a common sight. Students skip classes at school or university when the snow is good. Workers with flexible office hours take the afternoon off to hit the slopes. Teachers take their pupils out into the mountains for physical education lessons. And penioners make the most of their retirement by clocking up the kilometres in the resorts around the city. After moving to Tirol's regional capital a few years ago, I have become one of these snow-addicted Innsbruck locals. I lock up my bike a snowball’s throw away from the historic oldtown, at the bottom of the futuristic and eye-catching Hungerburgbahn funicular railway. A ski instructor dressed in a striking red uniform stands next to the escalator and we have a chat about how convenient it is working as a ski instructor in a city like Innsbruck. His ‘office’ is the Nordkette ski resort, one and a half kilometres above the city, where the sun is already bathing the slopes in shades of red and orange as Innsbruck awakens.
08:00 // Starting the day at the base of the Hungerburg funicula railway
Innsbruck’s most eye-catching pieces of contemporary architecture are ski-related – the strangely beautiful stations of the Hungerburg funicular and the Bergisel ski jump were designed by world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid. The funicular's four swooping, spaceship-like stops dotted between the city and the settlement of Hungerburg have been my personal “Stairway to Heaven” ever since I moved to Innsbruck in 2012. If snow conditions are good, I hop off at Hungerburg, skin up my skis and start the climb up the mountain towards the ski station of Seegrube. Today, I opt for the less exhausting and more convenient option of riding the Nordkette gondola. Enjoying a bird’s eye view of Innsbruck below, I wonder what the snow will be like in the steep "Karrinne" couloir.
09:00 // Riding the first gondola of the day up to Hafelekar
Today I really want to hit the heights, so once I have reached Seegrube, I switch straight to the next leg of the cable car which will take me all the way up to the top of the resort, a craggy ridge known as Hafelekar perched at 2,300 metres above sea level. Between the sheer rockfaces I see narrow ribbons of snow where bold skiers have left their tracks. It’s a nightmare for the average skier – but a dream come true for experienced freeriders. I turn on my avalanche beacon, a small electronic device that gives out a radio signal. Although I know that ski patrol has been blasting avalanches early in the morning and that today the risk level is low, it is a good feeling to know that should something happen I have the best possible chances of being found. Freezing winds greet me as soon as I get off the gondola. And although I’m wearing my warmest gloves, my fingers are ice cold as I make my way to the top of the local couloir known as the Karrinne. With a gradient of 70%, it is one of the steepest ski runs in the world and certainly not for the faint-hearted. This steep chute high above the city is the reason why many a university student ditches the books and swaps lectures for leisure on a fresh powder day.
Well. Not today. That might have something to do with the poor conditions. A touch of fresh pow on a hard, crunchy base makes for conditions that are not easy to navigate. Well, it could be better but now that I am here with a photographer I can’t be picky and go home having not done it. The poor photographer has a tough time navigating his way down this testing field of ice-capped moguls on a snowboard. I try do my best skiing for the camera. However, the undisputed highlight up here is the jaw-dropping view of Innsbruck below. I’ve seen it from every angle, but its beauty is never lost on me. I stop frequently to gawp down. Right opposite is the Patscherkofel, Innsbruck’s other local mountain. That's next on my list – a box I want to tick this afternoon.
10:00 // Terrain park, igloo bar and ski lessons at Seegrube
The Karrinne couloir eventually spits me out at the Seegrube ski station in the heart of the resort. Tiny children slide down the practice slope with ski instructors. Just a few metres away I spot the shaped kickers, jumps, rails and boxes of the legendary Nordkette Skyline Park. One daring freestyle skier speeds down the hill, rockets up the ramp and pulls off a flurry of twists, flips and spins before landing like a cat and cruising away. On his way back to the chairlift he passes a giant igloo, the Cloud 9 bar. Lounge music drifts out from this al-fresco snow bar. "We have a DJ here every Friday night," the barkeeper tells me, before adding "only on Fridays" – sounds to me like he wouldn't mind a few more DJ sessions.
11:00 // Top-to-bottom run and coffee break at “Hitt & Söhne”
From the Seegrube at almost 2,000 metres above sea level I ski all the way down to the settlement of Hungerburg, perched above the city of Innsbruck at 875 metres. There are plenty of hidden secret ways down there, but if I told you where they were, they wouldn’t be secrets, would they! Nordkette is one of few ski resorts in Tirol that uses 100% natural snow (there are no snowmaking facilities), which means that the official top-to-bottom run to Hungerburg is only open when snow conditions permit. Today is one of those precious days.
After the long, thigh-burning descent I treat myself to a cappuccino at the Hitt & Söhne café. Located next to the base of Nordkette gondola, this place is a cool combination of café, bar and shop that is popular among both locals and tourists alike. It is run by Leo Baumgartner and takes its name from a rocky outcrop at the western end of the Nordkette known as "Frau Hitt". According to local legend, many moons ago a giant-queen by the name of Frau Hitt was turned into rock for all eternity after offering a poor beggar nothing but a rock to eat.
12:00 // Direct bus connection from Nordkette to Patscherkofel
My day of skiing continues. I take a short walk to the bus stop just around the corner. The J Line runs every ten minutes and connects Hungerburg to the base of the Patscherkofel ski resort. The good news is that rides are free of charge for skiers and snowboarders. I gaze up at the jagged rock spires of the Nordkette before the bus pulls away and I can relax as we wind our way down into and across the city. I meet three American tourists on the bus. They too are heading to Patscherkofel. Not for skiing, though. They simply want to go up and enjoy the view. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me, especially considering the spectacular panorama that awaits at the top of the resort.
It's shortly after midday as my bus pulls into the bottom station of the new Patscherkofel gondola. This section of the resort is given oven to beginners and children. T-bar lifts echo with the laughter of children having fun and taking their first tentative turns on the gentle slopes. The bottom station of the new cable car, opened in 2017, also features a restaurant and café called Das Hausberg (‘The Local Mountain‘) as well as a large sports shop and equipment hire centre. I board one of the new gondola cabins that seat ten people and climb to an elevation of almost 2,000 metres in just 15 minutes. No more waiting in line for an hour on busy days, as it was usual with the old cable car. Up at the top I see a couple skinning up their touring skis for the short climb to the dome-shaped summit 300 vertical metres further up. There are several ski touring routes that lead from the bottom of the resort all the way up to the top. If you're building up your fitness or simply in a hurry, each can be shortened by completing a section using the gondola.
14:00 // The Patscher Alm, a hidden gem
For most wintersports enthusiasts, the Patscherkofel-Schutzhaus right next to the top of the gondola is the most popular place to take a break. This time, though, I opt for a lesser known on-mountain eatery, the quaint and rustic Patscher Alm. To get there from the top of the mountain, keep to the left and leave the ski run to the left shortly before reaching the middle stop of the gondola half-way up the mountain. Quieter and less hectic than the busy Patscherkofel-Schutzhaus, it's a place where weary skiers can soothe their aching legs and warm up again over traditional local food like cheese dumplings. Don't forget to leave a little space for the amazing homemade apricot cake. The hut is run by Heidi and her husband, who bring all the basic ingredients up here by car each autumn. In winter, fresh ingredients are transported up the mountain by rucksack and skis. The Patscher Alm is open until 21:30 on Thursday nights, when the resort welcomes ski touring enthusiasts keen to use the slopes after dark.
15:30 // Ski like an Olympian
It’s time to head down to the bottom of the resort. The most famous run is the three-kilometre-long piste where legendary Austrian ski racer Franz Klammer won gold in the Olympic downhill race in 1976. I'm in less of a hurry than he was all those years ago and cruise down the mountain for some ten minutes. That'll do me for the day. I've had my ski fix, but the night is still young. Both Nordkette and Patscherkofel are so close to town that you can easily combine an epic day of skiing with an epic night out. I catch the bus back to Innsbruck and hop off in the centre of the city.
17:00 and later // My favourite bars for a night out in Innsbruck
At home, I perform a quick costume change: off with the ski boots, on with the sneakers. I head straight out for a quick beer and a bite at Moustache. Or to Kater Noster to enjoy a decent Innsbruck Mule. Or two. Machete is the place to head if you want to eat the best burritos in town. These are my three favourite spots to eat, drink and relax in Innsbruck. All located within five to ten minutes’ walk of each other. And as you sit down at your table you may well find guys and girls still wearing their ski gear discussing the quality of the powder at the Karrinne or the amazing last run of the day on the Kofel. Now you'll know what they're talking about! It's as normal here as riding your bike through the city with a skis strapped to your back. After all, this is Innsbruck!