3rd April 2024
We’re here in Innsbruck in the Tirol for a month or so – the ultimate Ski + City location in the Alps. 13 ski areas around the city with 23 attractions off the slopes – all on one pass. NEW
Since arriving at the beginning of March we’ve skied Stubai, Kuhtai, Axamer Lizum, Muttereralm, Oberperfuss, Glungezer & Schlick 2000.
Read all about it in our blogs:
They detail all that is on offer on the Innsbruck Ski+City Pass and we also have extra information at the end of this latest article.
Now we’re spreading our wings further afield in the Tirol.
Two of its major resorts – Ischgl and St Anton.
They are not on the Ski+City pass, but they are about an hour away and day tickets can be bought for €72 and €75 respectively.
Ischgl
The resort needs no introduction and is one of the most popular resorts in the Tirol for the British.
It is known for its full-on apres ski.
Its marketing motto “Relax. If you can…” tells its own story.
However, there is much more to the resort that partying.
It perhaps lacks much challenging terrain for advanced skiers, but it’s an intermediates paradise.
It is much larger than the resorts on the Innsbruck Ski+City pass, and it made a good change from the smaller resorts we have been skiing these past few weeks.
We were fortunate enough to hit Ischgl after a snowfall, so we had a few powder turns.
At certain points of the day it was full-on winter despite it being the start of April.
Like many resorts Ischgl is trumpeting its environmental credentials:
The lift company operates all lifts, mountain restaurants, snow-making using 100& eco-electricity from Austria.With solar energy and heat recovery 233 tonnes of CO2 emissions are saved annually.Each year 300 tonnes of manure from local farmers to fertilise and green the pistes.It has 26 piste bashers with GPS height measurement systems to save energy and maintain efficiency.The pistes are mown and mulched in the summer months which has a positive effect on the species composition of the vegetation and landscape.
Time for an apres ski beer for the PlanetSKI gang before heading back to Innsbruck.
Next up it’s St Anton and we’ll be posting about our visit shortly.
It was quite a day.
INNSBRUCK SKI+CITY INFO:
On the Ski+City Pass there’s the high-altitude glacier resort of Stubai, the ever-popular resort of Kuhtai + the hidden gems of Axamer Lizum and Schlick 2000.
Then some little-known ones off the beaten track:
PatscherkofelGlungezerBergeralmMuttereralmHochetzOberperfussSerlesElferNordkette
13 ski areas with 296 kms of slopes, 50km of ski routes and all served by 111 lifts.
They are all within an hour of the city, some are under half an hour away and one, Nordkette, has its base lift station in the centre of Innsbruck itself.
It’s a 5-minute walk from the front door of the apartment PlanetSKI has rented.
Nordkette is situated at an altitude of 2,000m with some gentle beginner slopes and a super steep descent on the ‘Karinne’ – it’s a 70% gradient and for experts only.
You wouldn’t want to be in some of the resorts for a week-long holiday, but you don’t have to be on the Innsbruck City and Ski Pass – just a day will do, thank you very much.
Then there’s the 23 attractions on the Pass including the Bergisel ski jump, The Imperial Palace, Ambras Castle, the Golden Roof museum, the Alpenzoo, the Swarovski Crystal World in Watten, the Hofkirche and many, many more.