Skiing. Enjoying the Flow

September 19, 2009

A buddie posted the link to this teaser video a few days ago in a somewhat closed area of a ski forum. I thought this video does a real good job in telling the story of what backcountry skiing is all about. Now, that summer is slowly coming to its end it is finally time [...]

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Mountain Massifs Near Vienna And Their Backcountry Skiing Potential

September 17, 2009

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, [...]

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A Montana Yankee Visits Vienna and Skis the Alpenostrand

September 11, 2009

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 [...]

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Lahnsattel. An Avalanche-Ridden Village in Lower Austria

September 5, 2009

Avalanches are a part of the history of many alpine villages in Austria. There is quite detailed documentation of avalanche hazards in the high mountain villages of Tyrol for example. The late Franz Fliri (1918-2008) of the University of Innsbruck gathered old records of many natural hazards in Tyrol for the last centuries showing how [...]

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Mountain Huts Around Vienna

September 2, 2009

Practically all mountains in Eastern Austria can be climbed and skied as a day tour. So in principle there is no need for mountain huts. However, the whole region is scattered by uncountable mountain huts, some even really close to the valleys while others are near or even on top of the summits.
This is [...]

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Skiing in Eastern Austria. Tree Skiing Or Bushwacking?

August 28, 2009

Despite all the praise about the skiing in Eastern Austria there are, of course, some downsides associated with the (backcountry) skiing here. First and foremost the trees. Nothing against trees, indeed they usually serve perfectly for preserving powder against the sun and the winds. However, sometimes they just happen to be way too close. And [...]

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Deep Powder At The Tauplitz. Our Japan Experience

August 25, 2009

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. [...]

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The Vienna Region In Old Pictures. The Schneeberg Cog Railway

August 24, 2009

There is a lot of history to be discovered in the Vienna region. The legacy of the former Hapsburg Empire is everywhere. And of course, some remarkable stories of the skiing history have its origins here in the Vienna region. It was the transport infrastructure developed throughout the nineteenth century which opened up the region [...]

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Skiing In the Vienna region. An Animated Winter

August 23, 2009

Skiing around Vienna has many facets. It is definitely a challenge to do justice to the many different aspects of skiing experienced during a whole winter. From the early turns over barely covered meadows, to deep powder in mid-winter to the corn snow feasts of late winter. Not to mention the long hikes in search [...]

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Goeller. A Many-sided Ski Mountain

August 23, 2009

The Göller (1766m) is one of those mountains in the Vienna region which offer ski runs just in every direction. The summit of the Göller is high above the local tree line and surrounded by wide, open bowls with steep faces. Hence, the ridges offer relatively safe ascents during the whole winter while the descents [...]

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