Finally Some Powder Near Vienna

by helmut on February 5, 2010

It has been a long waiting. December and January were horrible months for powder-seeking skiers in Eastern Austria (and in almost the whole Northern Alps). However, a significant dump during the last two days satisfied all our desperate needs for powder. About 50-60cm of fresh new snow turned the hills of Eastern Austria into a winter wonderland. It was a pleasure riding the long awaited snow and enoying being back on the planks.

Fresh powder and winter sun - ingredients for a great outing

Fresh powder and winter sun - ingredients for a great outing

Our chosen location, the Niederalpl proved to be a good spot for harvesting the fresh powder. No crowds whatsoever and a fine combination of open runs, treeskiing and some bushwacking. Of course, due to the high degree of avalanche danger we had to stick to mellow terrain or fairly thick woods.

Powder in the woods around Niederalpl

Powder in the woods around Niederalpl

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Rax. A Fairy Tale of an Epic Powder Day

by helmut on November 17, 2009

Imagine a small village deep in an alpine valley. A single cable car going up high into the mountains. No groomed runs leading downhill. Only off-piste runs, perfect for the days after a big dump. And, of course, a huge alpine backcountry with gnarly couloirs and all this stuff.

“Bingo!”, you’ll say, “that’s La Grave in France, for sure.”
“Hold on”, I would say, “that’s Hirschwang at the Rax, just some 80 kilometres south of Vienna”.
And I would be laughing at you for your ignorance and I would tell you my fairy tale of an epic powder day.

Rax massif, seen from the valley around Reichenau, the cable car area is seen in the right part of the picture, photo credits see below

Rax massif, seen from the valley around Reichenau, the cable car area is seen in the right part of the picture, photo credits see below

The Rax is a huge mountain massif forming a plateau just above 1500m and peaking in the Heukuppe (2006m) in the westernmost part of the massif. Steep walls surround the whole massif offering some of the best possibilities for alpine climbing in the Vienna region. Hirschwang is located at the easternmost part of the mountain.

Rax cable car near the valley floor, Hirschwang, Lower Austria

Rax cable car near the valley floor, Hirschwang, Lower Austria

The Rax cable car was built as early as 1921 and thus being Austria’s oldest cable car. The total vertical of the cable car is about 1020m! The terrain around the cable car is rather steep with some chutes and couloirs leading down into the woods. At the mellow plateau itself there is a single T-bar offering some beginner slopes and some terrain for park-oriented skiers.

There are various downhill runs which have been skiing for decades now (Schöllergraben, Lahngraben, Seilbahngraben, Maschingraben). All these runs offer fantastic off-piste skiing if the snow is fresh and deep enough. Add some touring possibilities from the top of the railway station (for example Grosser Kesselgraben for the beginners or Grosser Wolfsgraben for advanced skiers) and you get a quite versatile off-piste ski “resort”. Of course, there are dozens of other ascents and descents around this huge mountain but most of them do have different starting points.

Skiing deep powder in the Maschingraben, Rax

Skiing deep powder in the Maschingraben, Rax

Skiing deep powder in the Seilbahngraben, Rax

Skiing deep powder in the Seilbahngraben, Rax

However, there is one significant caveat. Due to the minimal elevation of the valley floor (just about 520m around the valley station of the cable car in Hirschwang) the snow is only plenty and good enough at certain times during the winter. So the 1000m vertical runs in the vicinity of the cable car are to be enjoyed only a few times during a winter. So you have to be lucky enough to be there in the right time …

Photo credits Rax, view from the valley floor

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Scott USA Inc. versus ON3P? Another Big Corporation Gone Wild Regarding Trademark Issues

November 3, 2009
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After the Jack Wolfskin incident, which was by the way a huge PR disaster for Jack Wolfskin, another big corporation wastes its energy and its reputation within the community with law issues concerning a possible trademark issue with ON3P. Scott USA Inc, known for its ski, ski accessories, bikes and other related stuff, is [...]

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Stuhleck. Birthplace of Alpine Ski Touring in Austria

October 31, 2009
Summit of Stuhleck

There is nothing spectacular about the Stuhleck (1782m), the highest mountain of the Fischbacher Alps in Styria at the easternmost corner of the Alps (the flat plains of Hungary are just a stone’s throw away). Indeed, at the first look the Stuhleck resembles more of a hill than a real mountain, especially if looking up [...]

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Early Ski Touring Opening In The Vienna Region

October 17, 2009

Due to the heavy snow falls this week we were happy to enjoy an early opening of the ski touring season around Vienna. I was studying various weather reports and data, webcams, internet forums etc. for the whole week to determine the location for our opening ski tour. Finally our decision was on the [...]

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Onset of Winter Results In First Avalanche Warning Report Today

October 14, 2009

The Styrian Avalanche Warning Service issued its first regional avalanche warning report of the new season 2009/2010 this day. The northern parts of Styria (Ennstaler Alpen, Obersteiermark) now have an avalanche danger of level 1 (meaning low risk).
The influx of wet and cold air masses from the arctic North has already resulted in a [...]

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The First Glimpse of Winter In the Vienna Region

October 12, 2009

After a long period of mild weather with too warm temperatures it finally started to snow in the mountains. The higher areas of the Schneeberg were already white with some snow and the temperature at the summit (see Schneeberg webcams) dropped well below zero Celsius during the course of the day. And it is forecast [...]

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Skiing the Narrndattl Couloir (Schneeberg)

October 7, 2009

The Schneeberg (literally translated: Snow Mountain) is remarkable in many respects.
First, with an evelation of 2076m it is the Easternmost 2000er of the whole Alps.
Second, it is the highest mountain of Lower Austria, the province surrounding Vienna (and, btw, the largest province in Austria).
Third, it offers a splendid view from the two summits which [...]

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Dogs Love Snow

September 30, 2009
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The last winter was a pretty good one in the Vienna region. Continous dumps guaranteed a series of epic powder days. However in the short run it affected the range of possibilities negatively since avalanche danger in the region stayed at level 4 for quite a long period of time.
That resulted in some [...]

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Mathias Zdarsky. Grandfather of Modern Alpine Skiing

September 23, 2009
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If Hannes Schneider was the father of modern skiing then Mathias Zdarsky should be regarded as the grandfather of our sport. The skiing technique developed by Mathias Zdarsky (known as Lilienfeld ski technique) and his path breaking binding system were instrumental for the propagation of skiing in alpine terrain. As early as 1905 he initiated [...]

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