Temperatures have been roller-coasting during the last couple of weeks. Warm periods with significant melting have been interrupted by some colder days and even some snowfalls down to lower regions. Thus the spring skiing season around Vienna is surprisingly fine again this year. After the somewhat disappointing winter and some really warm periods in March we were quite nervous about the subsequent development. However, our fears have not materialized and everything is o.k. Most of the classic spring lines in the various higher mountain massifs (especially at the Schneeberg, Schneealpe and Veitsch massif) are good to ski. The avalanche situation is quite relaxed.

Again, our goal for the last weekend was the Niederalpl. A perfect spot not only for lift-assisted powder runs during the winter but also for some ‘classic’ ski touring in spring (the small ski resort is closed since April, 4).

We skinned up the northern slopes of the Kleiner Wildkamm (1757 m) which gave us a 500 m descent in fine spring corn. Just a small outing but enough for reminding us that the skiing season is still in swing here and there are more than enough possibilities worhtwile to harvest.

Northern slopes of the Kleiner Wildkamm, Veitsch massif, Styria.

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

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

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 from Mürzzuschlag, the town at the foot of the Stuhleck.

However, it was here where alpine ski mountaineering started in Austria in the late nineteenth century. In those days the usability of skis in alpine terrain was still very much disputed. Though the long Norwegian skis were recognised as a useful tool for travelling through snowy woods and flatlands they were regarded as unsuitable for the higher, steeper terrain of alpine mountains.

Nevertheless, curious people started to experiment with these Norwegian skis. Among them a group from Styria led by Toni Schruf, a hotelier in Mürzzuschlag were especially keen to adapt the idea of skiing for alpine terrain. Together with Max Kleinoscheg from Graz and Walther Wenderich he started to experiment with Norwegian skis at the mellow meadows around Mürzzuschlag. Finally, in 1892 they ascended the very first real mountain with their skis and they chose the Stuhleck for this endeavour. Hence, the Stuhleck got its place in the history of ski alpinism as first alpine mountain conquered by skiers. One year later, they organised a skiing race in Mürzzuschlag, which became the very first skiing race in central Europe. Soon the Stuhleck area got popular among the increasing crowd of skiers in the Vienna region. In those days the direct accessibility of the Stuhleck area by train (from Vienna over the famous Semmering pass) was an important advantage of this area. As early as 1898 the first ski hut (Scheffelhütte) was established using an old barn from a small farming hamlet at the slopes of the Stuhleck.

Today, a museum dedicated to winter sports in Mürzzuschlag honours these early skiing pioneers and informs about the manifold skiing history of this region. This museum features among the many exhibitions a reconstructed full scale model of the Scheffelhut.

Alpine region around the summit of the Stuhleck

The Stuhleck has been a popular ski mountain since these early days. The first ski lift was constructed in 1948 at the meadows of the Schieferwiese near the mountain village of Spital am Semmering. The first chair lift (a single seater) followed in 1960. A total number of 80.000 transportations were counted in the first year. Since then, the Stuhleck ski resort has been expanding continuously and today it is the largest ski resort of the entire region counting about 3,9 million transportations (2008). Four modern, detachable chair lifts and five ski lifts (t-bars) serve a total of 24 kilometres of groomed pistes and a modern man-made-snow system guarantees the skiing between late November and about mid April. With the opening of the Eastern European countries the Stuhleck resort established itself as the most prominent ski resort for the growing number of Hungarian and Slovakian (Bratislava is just around the corner) skiers.

Despite the technical infrastructure of the ski resort the Stuhleck remained popular among ski tourers and mountaineers as well. It is a prefect training ground for easy touring in almost all conditions (the storms can get quite nasty around the exposed summit region) and there are several ski runs in almost all directions.

Tree skiing in the Stuhleck area

The Bettelbauer run, which is probably the route chosen by Toni Schruf and his friends for their first ascent in 1892, is almost 10 kilometres long and goes down to Mürzzuschlag (though it is fairly flat). The most popular ski tour goes down the backside of the Stuhleck to the small village of Rettenegg where the restaurant Ebner serves fresh trout in many variations.

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 Niederalpl pass (1220m) in Styria (about two hours car ride from Vienna). There is a small ski resort on the pass and we thought that using the grassy pistes would be the best option for the limited amount of snow (30-40 cm).

October snow at the Niederalpl, Styria

The skinning was straightforward, just following the piste below the pylons of the chair lift. Since the snow fall was associated with heavy winds the region above the tree line was not really skiable. Most of the snow was blown away into the woods. Hence, after one disappointing excursion near the summit of the Wetterin (1530 m) we stuck to the piste.

Gerhard skinning at the Niederalpl, Styria

Given the time of the year conditions were quite good here and we got some nice turns in fresh, but somewhat wet snow. It was a real pleasure to be on skis again after four long months without the planks.

Fun with early ski turns in October at the Niederalpl, Styria

Plus, seeing first hand the arrival of winter was awesome. This early winter experience will help us for sure to get over the period of warm autumn weather which is forecast for the next week.

Winter Idyll in October at the Niederalpl, Styria

There are several hundred backcountry skiing tours around Vienna. To be honest, only a handful of them do have a somewhat ‘alpine’ character. Most ski mountains close to Vienna are below the tree-line (about 1500 metres in this region) and thus are covered by sometimes dense forests and do have a somewhat hilly look. However, some mountain massifs are standing out over the crowd of hilly mountains. These mountains reach altitudes close to 2000m and thus their relative elevation to the surrounding environment is significant (in the case of Schneeberg it is about 1500 metres relative to the surrounding valleys). The peaks and summits of these mountains are well above the tree-line and, due to their geologic structures (steep limestone walls and cliffs), they have a considerable alpine character. As a downside their summit areas are extremely exposed to the usual storms (measured maximum wind speeds are well over 250 km per hour). So more often than not the snow at the slopes close to the summits is heavily influenced by the winds. Powder is often to be found only in some basins protected from winds and in the woods below the tree-line.

Here is a list of these mountain massifs close to Vienna (about 1 to 1.5 hour car drive from the Vienna city centre) and a short description of their skiing potential.

Schneeberg (2076m):

The highest mountain of Lower Austria (the federal state around Vienna) is also the Easternmost 2000er of the entire Alps. In clear air this outstanding mountain is visible from some points in Vienna as well as from western Hungary (around Sopron). This mountain offers extremely versatile skiing options for the whole winters. The standard ascent “Fadenweg” from Losenheim (small ski resort with a detachable chair lift which shortens the ascent) is straightforward and relatively safe (except after massif snow falls). The number of ski runs (including variants) goes well above hundred different options from easy to extremely difficult. The maximum vertical is 1500 m which is the maximum for the whole region.

Rax (2007m):

The Rax is a mountain massif South of the Schneeberg. A cable car gives access to the Rax pleatau (a relatively flat alpine plateau about 1500 to 1800 m ) the East of the mountain massif. This cable car departs in Hirschwang and was the first cable car built in Austria. There is a small drag lift near the top station of the cable car but the routes down to the valley are ungroomed and offer some of the best lift-assisted freeride possibilities (if conditions are good) of the entire Vienna region. The vertical is about 1000m. There are some dozens ski touring options at the Rax. An important starting point is the Preiner Gscheid (1070m) a mountain pass of the road leading from Hirschwang over to Styria. The Heukuppe (2007), the highest peak of the Rax massif is accessed via Preiner Gscheid – Karlgraben, one of the busiest ski tours of the entire Rax (though this route is not safe under certain conditions).

Ötscher (1893m):

The Ötscher is the defining mountain of the region West of Vienna. It towers well above all its neighbouring mountains and offers extremely interesting ski runs (from intermediate to difficult) both at its north as well as at its south sides. The ski resort of Lackenhof (several chairlifts and drag lifts, 16 kilometers of groomed pistes) eases the access to the summit considerable (1 h hike or skin to the summit from the top station of the double chair lift). The maximum vertical is about 1050m.

Schneealpe (1903m):

The Schneealpe is a mountain massif in Styria south of the Rax massif. Its highest peak is the Windberg (literally Windy Mountain). Like most of the mountain massifs of this region there is a fairly large and flat plateau just below the peak from which several ski runs of different difficulties are leading down in all directions. Though offering quite interesting terrain and runs the Schneealpe is somewhat overlooked by many skiers. Thus, for those looking for a solitary ski adventure the Schneealpe is probably a good bet. The maximum vertical of the ski runs is about 1000 m.

Hohe Veitsch (1981m):

The Hohe Veitsch is a huge mountain massif stretching from West to East. There are small (but interesting) ski resorts directly in the North (Niederalpl Pass, 1100-1450 m) and South (Brunnalm, 1000-1500m). Ascents to the main peak of the Veitsch start from both of these ski resorts. Some secondary peaks of the Veitsch offer interesting runs, which tend to hold powder fairly well (somewhat protected from storms). The classic approach is from the South via the Brunnalm / Schallerrinne and the Graf Meran hut. The classic ascent (and descent) from the North is the Rodel (starting near the tiny hamlet of Niederalpl at about 950m), a fairly long skin with some interesting slopes and one small step to scramble over (short iron ladder and wired ropes). The maximum vertical is about 1000m.

Photo credits Rax

Alpenostrand is the German word for the eastern fringe of the Alps ranging from the Vienna region in the North-East to Graz and Maribor (Slovenia) in the South.

Some time ago Wade, an American student on his nouveau grand tour in Europe, sent me an e-mail asking for some beta on skiing possibilities in Austria. He was honest, explaining that he initially wanted to go to Switzerland for his university studies because he expected to find better skiing there. However, he missed a deadline and ended up in Vienna.

Of course I was happy to assure him that going to Vienna would not lead to a dead end skiing wise. When the storms got rolling in again in late March Wade, my buddy Gernot, Wade and myself left Vienna early in the morning for a skiing outing near the Semmering. We intended to use the new powder snow for some ski touring and lift-accessed freeride.

Wade was with his Bros from PMGear, a widely acclaimed independent ski manufacturer based in Reno. We were pretty sure that it was a world premiere for Bros being skied at the Alpenostrand near Vienna. Our day started with a skin up over the backside of the Stuhleck (1782m). We got in some really nice turns in fresh March powder before noon. The runs around the Stuhleck were fun. Some steep and open slopes, some treeskiing and some hidden gullies guaranteed a great variety of skiing.

Skiing powder near Vienna

However, the initially cold but sunny weather started to turn sour – rising temperatures and beginning rain quickly turned the snow into ‘mashed potatoes’. It was time for a change.

Skiing in a gully, Stuhleck

We left Stuhleck and headed towards the Niederalpl, a rather small and somewhat overlooked ski resort with nice tree lines. The snow was rotten here as well, but we managed to enjoy the resulting slush fest anyway. The rising temperatures were a sign that the corn time was near and soon we would ski the many couloirs in the limestone massifs of Eastern Austria.

Recently, Japan has been receiving growing attention from powder hounds all over the world. Indeed, Japan offers incredible possibilities for tree-skiing in bottomless powder. Due to its specific climate (the pacific ocean is just around every corner!) the snow is accumulating continuously rebuilding virgin slopes virtually every night. At least so goes the saying. A growing flood of incredible amazing videos is proofing this hype.

I have never been in Japan. However, this winter I’ve had my personal Japan-like experience, just some 200km west of Vienna. How comes that? In February the European gods of snow started to deliver and they delivered big time. Storms rolled in from the Northwest virtually nuking non-stop. What a crazy dump. And we happened to be just in the centre. Thus, the combination of the picturesque little Salzkammergut village of Altaussee with tons of powdery snow in the trees around the Tauplitzalm gave me my own personal Japan-experience.

Many thanks to Sabine, Kathi and Gerrit for their kind hospitality in their cosy little refuge in Altaussee, which was a perfect base-camp for hunting the fresh powder.

Kathi in deep powder (Tauplitz)

Deep powder (Tauplitz)

Sabine plowing through Tauplitz powder

Gerrit enjoying Tauplitz powder

Photo credits: Gerrit