 Poster: A snowHead
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New season time!
Stubai has been open for a few weeks now, but since the very early dumps, which melted everywhere else, the weather has been fairly warm and sunny. I knew we'd be scratching around in the crowds on glacier ice, so we haven't been up there yet.
Then last week, it snowed quite a lot, just in time for Axamer Lizum's opening on Saturday. And almost unknown for opening day, they even managed to get the lift running 
Unfortunately, only the red side was open. It was pretty crunchy to start with, but started to soften after an hour or so in the sun. The temperature was on the chilly side.
After a few variations of the red run, we did something absolutely verboten in these parts: we skied past the fence and down the closed blue run  Who knows what dangers may have faced us: an active volcano could've sprung up in the night, literally anything could've happened. But it didn't. Fresh snow was about 20cm, but obviously no base yet, so there were a few rocks and lots of dips and holes that are normally smoothed out by the bashers. 70mm piste skis weren't exactly ideal either, but everybody remained upright (apart from the snowboarder, but she didn't seem to care!). The snow was soft and the sun was out 
BTW, I uploaded my images to a new host to hopefully get around the UK ban on other providers. Let me know if you can't see them.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 28-11-25 15:45; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This week, it continued to snow down to the valley until Thursday morning. Unfortunately, the week has been somewhat overshadowed by a huge avalanche at Stubai, where 8 people ended up buried (all okay, thankfully), but there was still a massive operation to check the debris in case anyone else was in there, and that involved about 250 people. It has been windy and there is a weak layer in the snowpack.
Some pictures in the news: https://tirol.orf.at/stories/3331746/
I believe it happened in the rock band to the left of the Daunscharte drag lift, which is visible in some of the photos. The piste between the lift and the avalanche is red piste no.9.
Instagram reel so I don't know how long it will be there, footage of avalanche: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DRkfba6jEiY/
The daily avalanche report starts tonight: https://avalanche.report/bulletin/latest
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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In case anyone fancies something slightly different this Sunday (14th Dec), a small group of us are playing Christmas Carols at Seegrube at 2pm.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| swskier wrote: |
| In case anyone fancies something slightly different this Sunday (14th Dec), a small group of us are playing Christmas Carols at Seegrube at 2pm. |
Ding dong merrily on high!! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Kühtai.
Very much low-tide conditions : but the piste skiing is still a lot of fun...
Youngest son Lewis practicing his "bendy bananas".
Cool spot, moderately busy with inevitable Austrian & German holiday crowds.
Though dont think we heard a single word of English all day.
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@Haggis_Trap, I’m in the UK so no first hand experience, but Axamer Lizum normally holds up pretty well. Otherwise, check the webcams. There’s also Obergurgl which might be better because of the height. If Kühtai was ok, there’s also Hoch Ötz next door. Ischgl is usually pretty good too, but I’ve not been recently. Sölden isn’t on my pass, so I’m not familiar.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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^ Thanks! Useful local knowledge
Piste skiing is still surprisingly decent - sharp edges help by end of day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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^ Good pix.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
| ^ Good pix. |
A rare compliment from the mysterious Whitegold
Happy 2026 when the bells arrive!
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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ÖBB App suggests that some trains between Innsbruck Hbf and Jenbach are still running and some are being replaced with busses.
Friend just messaged me from Innsbruck saying that all trains from Innsbruck Hbf to Jenbach are being replaced by buses.
Can anyone confirm which is correct?
Thank you 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Oceanic wrote: |
ÖBB App suggests that some trains between Innsbruck Hbf and Jenbach are still running and some are being replaced with busses.
Friend just messaged me from Innsbruck saying that all trains from Innsbruck Hbf to Jenbach are being replaced by buses.
Can anyone confirm which is correct?
Thank you |
Some are still running, you can check on the website if there are any at a suitable time for you. https://www.oebb.at/en/
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Due to the poor visibility and expected wind, we opted to spend the day at Schlick 2000, because it has lots of trees and is relatively sheltered. It had received about 15-20cm of fresh snow over the past couple of days, so most of the pistes were in nice condition (a couple of higher ones had been scoured by the wind and the coverage was a bit thin). The ski route we tried wasn't particularly enjoyable, but we found some nice powder in the trees and gullies between the pistes.
We decided to have a go at the bowl. The entrance was a bit scraped and rocky, but what we found beyond that in very poor visibility at this point, were huge ice boulders lurking just beneath the fresh snow. They were challenging to ski, and I lost a bit of top sheet to one of them, before escaping back onto the piste. The lower forest runs were starting to get nice, but really need another 30-50cm to bury all the nasty stuff.
We stopped for coffee and then skied a couple of top to bottom piste runs, which felt like a workout (it's pretty long!), among others, and then called it a day when the wind started to pick up and I was getting concerned about frost nip on the lift. A pretty successful day, really.
PS. They're charging for the parking garage now, with no discount for lift tickets, so park outside if the weather's clear and not too warm (it turns into a mud bath requiring professional extrication ).
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FAQ
Great pics. Can't beat a bonus (untracked) powder day at an off the radar ski area.
