Tag Archives: Winter

March 3, 2012 · 18:26

Great days … Skitouring in Montafon

The weather is momentarily just great, and this is why I do not write too long postings at the moment. Today I did a nice ski-tour and I thought it would be a nice change to show something personal for a change, as I did a lot of postings about Cities or holiday tipps in the last weeks. As the sun was pretty strong we had to get up, rather early and we started our skitour at 7.30 – reaching the top at about 10.00 … I have no photos of the way down – but the snow got pretty wet, in the last third and I was very knackered, when I arrived back home.

great view

me on the way up

view from the mountain towards the Switzerland

over the horizon

top of Wannaköpfle

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March 1, 2012 · 21:18

What a view …

Winter is slowly coming to an end … but there are still great days of skiing or other winter sports activity ahead. Here you can find one of my favorite pictures of the mountains in Winter in my region.

I hope you like as much as I do …

 

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February 22, 2012 · 19:47

Reality Check – Sonnenkopf

great view from one of the restaurants

“The Sonnenkopf is Arlbergs hidden powder paradise. Lech am Arlberg and St. Anton may be a lot more prestigious, but this smaller resort deserves some recognition, too!” This is what I told a lot of people over and over again, and for that reason I included the Sonnenkopf into my ski-resort list (link at end of text). But I believe to advise people about places you have to know them – and even if you know them, you have to put them to test over and over again. This is what I did today.

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February 15, 2012 · 12:02

March skiing will be great!

It’s snowing again – after weeks of arctic coldness temperature has risen to about zero degree Celsius (32 degree Fahrenheit) and at the moment it is snowing. According to the weather report this won’t stop until tomorrow, and there should be another 50 – 80 cm snow up in the mountains! are great news for people who consider to go skiing in March. This year you will be guaranteed loads of Snow.

View from Brandnertal Skiing resort

great days ahead - March 2012 will be a great month for skiers

March is one of the best times for skiing in my opinion – the high season is already over, meaning less people and lower prizes, its getting warmer already and the days are longer. Sadly in the last year snow was a problem in March – but this is just taken care of.

 

So if you have not booked your skiing holidays already, or are still considering whether to book, or not: Go for it! This March will be great!

Links to Austrian Skiing resorts:

 

 

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February 8, 2012 · 13:58

My top five winter activities

Winter is one of the best times in the year … in my opinion. There are some many great things to do – here you can find my personal Top 5.

5 – Reading

Winter time is reading time … when it is as cold outside as it is now, what better can you do than use a complete weekend to just read. We all have books we put away during summer or spring, as the weather outside was just to nice to read. Winter is the time to get back to this books. Put some firewood in your oven, have a nice cup of tea and take your time to read again.

4 – Tobogganing

For years I declined any offer to go tobogganing. It was so much part of my child hood, that I just felt too adult to do it. Little did I know – it´s one of the greatest social events to do ever. Hike up a long and winding run (taking the lift does not count), sit on a traditional hut, have some mulled wine and some delicious food – and then go for it!

3 – Hiking

Hiking in Winter is great … the snow covered landscape, the calmness of nature, the chilly experience of cold wind on your skin – and then the feeling of warmness, when you enter a small restaurant to enjoy a nice break. Starting in February it gets even greater, when the sun is getting stronger again and you can feel the coldness of the snow and the warming sun at once.

2 – Skiing

I just love Skiing. A great day in one of the best skiing resorts in my vicinity (you can read about them here) is just too much fun. With a group of friends, who are all good skiers it gives you physical exhaustion, you might go to your limits and it´s a great social event, too. Do not forget to visit a sunny hut in your favorite skiing resort, to indulge in good food and have a drink. Aprés Ski afterwards should not be missed either.

1 – Ski Touring

Ski Touring is my favorite thing to do in Winter. Enjoy nature off the beaten path, do something for your body and enjoy incredible views at top of the Alpes before doing some powder runs: it just perfectly sums up all the great things you can do in Winter. A day on a nice tour with a friend or a group of friends is just the thing I need to recharge my batteries. Best thing about it is, that the season is very long. You can start as early as November, and some of the best tours can be found at the beginning of May.

Of course there are other great things to do … visiting a spa, ice-skating.

So what are your favorite things to do in Winter?

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February 7, 2012 · 07:51

It´s cold outside …

After some milder Winters in the recent years, this year Jack Frost is having a unexpected comeback. Europe is currently suffering from a long period of coldness. In Feldkirch, where I live, we have -20 degree (Celsius) during nights and -10 during day-time (this translates into -4 to +14 degree Fahrenheit).

As it was way to cold for skiing and we still felt like getting out at least for some time, we made some hikes on the surrounding hills of Feldkirch. You can get some impressions from the pictures.

The pictures were taken on Saturday and Sunday – Saturday was rather cloudy, Sunday very sunny – but both days were equally cold. The deer-park is set up on Ardetzenberg and is one of the best recreational areas of the city (and its free, too).

Feldkirch is one of Vorarlbergs 5 cities – it was first mentioned 842, and was mentioned as a city 1218. The Schattenburg was the castle of the Montfort family, which ruled over Feldkirch until 1390 (and were also the Rulers of Bregenz (Vorarlbergs capital) and Tettnang in Southern Germany). Their coat of arms was later used as coat of arms of Vorarlberg. After 1390 the Habsburger ruled over Feldkirch – until the collapse of the Habsburg Empire in 1918 (there was a brief spell as part of Bavaria, during the Napoleonic wars).

Feldkirch is home to 32.000 people, and is famous for its great medieval city center, the castle Schattenburg and for a lot of activities, that are spread over the year. From the annual wine festival, to the indie-music poolbar Festival, there is a huge span of events. So make sure to check out what events are scheduled, when you consider to visit Feldkirch.

UPDATE:
If you are looking for a good brochure (in English) to visit Feldkirch and its most “legendary” places – you will find it in another blog entry – “HISTORYcal.Feldkirch”

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February 5, 2012 · 10:22

Skiing resorts in Salzburg

Next week I will visit my parents in law in the Zell am See region – therefore I decided it might be helpful to add to my article
“Great skiing resorts in Tyrol and Vorarlberg” which can be read here by giving some information about Skiing resorts I know in Salzburg.

Most people know Salzburg as a city – but there is also a province with the same name, as its capital. Famous for “Sound of Music” and for being Mozarts birthplace, the region has a lot to offer. In Winter they have some really great skiing resorts.

And by great, I mean huge – Ski Amadé is a cooperation by a lot of Salzburg (and some Styrian) skiing resorts – 860km of pistes for all levels offer plenty of great skiing. 2013 there will be the Alpine Ski World Championship in Schladming, one of the resorts that belong to Amadé.

There are also a lot of smaller resorts, that are worth visiting. I personally like Rauris – it is a small resort in a beautiful valley, which has some great runs and very traditional huts to have some delicious food with breathtaking views. Rauris is promoting itself for family friendliness, but if you just want to have a day of skiing fun, it is a great location, too.

A lot bigger is the Europasportregion Zell am See/Kaprun. The area consists of a bigger skiing resort (Zell am See), a smaller one (Kaprun) and a glacier skiing resort above Kaprun. Therefore you can go skiing almost all year long. The view to picturesque Zeller Lake is wonderful and you can spot a lot of Austrias highest peaks in the “Hohe Tauern”, including Austrias highest peak – the Grossglockner (3797m).

Further down the Pinzgau you can find Mittersill. Mittersills skiing resort has been connected with the Kitzbühel skiing area for some years now, and this part of the skiing resort, might not be as famous as Kitzbühel, but it provides you with a lot of great skiing.

Just around the corner of Zell am See, there is another huge skiing arena – Saalbach/Hinterglemm – which can also be reached from Leogang. This area is one of my favorite spots in the Alpes, as you find a lot of great runs not only for beginners and intermediates, but also for good skiers, who want to give it all.

Salzburg is definitely a great spot for skiing and if you are considering to come to Austria in Winter, you should not miss out on it. After all this is where the hills are really alive.

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January 25, 2012 · 09:52

Wintertime – unfortunate developments

Weather is clearing up and some perfect skiing days await us – but unfortunately I managed to fall down during my nightly run and now I am sitting in front of my computer with a ligament of strains at my ankle. Therefore I am ruled out of skiing for the next 10 days 😦

This is especially unfortunate, as a group of my friends will enjoy 4 beautiful days of skiing in Warth. Look at this live cams – and you can see what I will miss.

One of the interesting things about the Arlberg region is, that it is the only region in Austria, where you can do heli-skiing. This will be done on Friday, with a famous Ski-Guide: Hubert Strolz, former Olympic Champion (Calgary 1988).

😦

On the other hand I am know free to do a lot of other stuff, for the setting up of my company, which would have had to wait otherwise.

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January 24, 2012 · 13:18

Wintertime …

After  a couple of years with only little snow, this year our skiing resorts have no reason to complain about the lack of supports from the clouds.

Zürs-Lech – one of Austrias most luxurious Skiing destinations is covered with up to 455 cm Snow – and while I am writing this posts skies opened again and there will be some more of it.

If you want to have a peak at the snow masses check out this link to the live cams in Zürs-Lech!

This weekend I will visit the area (its about an hour from my home/office) to check out the powder in the backcountries …

So just one short message to all fellow skiers: “Get your skis out and hit the Alpes!”

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