Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Finally Skiing in the Alps

Our skis finally arrived on Monday night.  Tuesday was bluebird, so we took the bus up to the Axamer Lizum ski area to get in some laps.

For some bus and train lines here, if you are carrying skis, there is no charge.  It's a nice concept and a good way to encourage transit.  No scanning of cards either, which makes life easier when you are getting on and off the bus. 

Axamer Lizum is in the mountains southeast of Innsbruck.  From near the summit, one looks over the Inn Valley, Innsbruck, and the Nordkette range. 


Elsewhere on a day like yesterday, views were a dime a dozen, with incredible terrain in all directions, as seems to be the case throughout the Alps.  If you look closely in the picture below (click to enlarge) you can find a mountain hut just left of center near a patch of sun. 


Axamer Lizum is a modest sized resort by Austrian standards with several lifts, perhaps 10 or 15 major pistes, and about 2500 vertical feet.  I'm not sure what the acreage is, but if include off piste, it's probably a smidge smaller than Alta. 

The resort's Olympiabahn is an iconic funicular that is ancient, but has no problem racing up the mountain (pictured below through the window of the summit restaurant).


Conditions here are good, but a refresh is needed. 

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