Visited Nordkette twice in season 2019. The first time, snow was fresh, visibility rubbish & all the good slopes were closed due to avalanche hazard! Of course, the next day as we left Innsbruck, the sun was out, and it looked sensational from down in the valley (aaaargh!)
The second time was on my last day in Europe & it provided one of the most bizarre (but instructive) ski experiences I have ever witnessed.
A balmy, sunny Sunday on the last day of March, it was as though Nordkette was providing Innsbruck with the equivalent of what in Australia or other coastal nations would have been a day at the beach. By mid-morning, traffic snarls & cable car lift queues combined with a festive atmosphere at Hungerburg. Families & groups jostled in the lift line, all armed with deck chairs, 60cm long ‘big foot’ skis, sleds, spades, blankets & all the other accoutrements of a fun Sunday picnic in the outdoors. The number of ‘big foot’ style short skis had me utterly intrigued on the way up the first cable to Seegrube.
At Seegrube the mystery was solved. The entire ski area (compact that it is!) was covered in groups glissading straight down the couloirs & slopes or through waist to head-deep trenches on their short, non-edge, metal base big foots. Further up the mountain, big footers as young as 6 or 7yr were hurtling off cornices, lookout points & anything else, dropping into 50o couloirs & ski routes that are rated as some of the steepest marked routes in Europe. The sheer courage & audacity of the locals on these short wax-less skis was flabbergasting. The soft Spring snow allowed for some modicum of control. Some were even cranking out some impressive turns. They ALL made me feel soft on my big fat skis. (A bit of research reveals all this hedonistic pleasure to be an Innsbruck specific Spring snow pastime called Firngleiten or Figln for short.)
Away from the slopes, the scene was reminiscent of Australia’s famous Bondi Beach on a hot sunny day. The big Igloo & Cloud 9 ski bars were pumping. Families were reclining on loungers & mats, children (if not jumping off the terrace & skidding down the hill) were playing in the snow with shovels, shirts were off, sun tans were worked on, drinks were drunk to excess.
Those not straight-lining the couloirs on bigfoots, were getting air in the short but substantial park …….albeit on proper skis or snowboards.
It is clear that Nordkette has its place in the ski world. Perched magnificently high above Innsbruck, the mountain has deep snow, steep terrain, long descents in mid-winter, spectacular views & easy access via public transport. The north-aspect backcountry looks magnificent (we merely scoped it out). Skiing here on a powder day is fabulous, but so it is also fabulous in late March….
One of the most bizarre ski resort experiences ever; and we’ve had a few. Kudos to you Innsbruck – most instructive indeed!
