Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Half-day fun near Innsbruck

6th March 2011, by Chris Gill

The long blue at Axamer Lizum on Saturday 5 March

After two days pounding the pistes of the big-name Arlberg resorts, Axamer Lizum provided a relaxed morning’s skiing. Just twenty minutes from Innsbruck, and close to the airport, it seemed the best place to slip in a few more hours before my late afternoon flight home. And with the sun ablaze, the mountains looking swell and the snow keeping reasonably well, there was no holding back – wobbly legs or not!

Axamer Lizum (1580m) is a purpose-built station and former Winter Olympic venue. The 40km of runs are mostly red-graded, although at the easier end of that classification and all fairly similar. Problem is the slow chairlifts; with only a few hours to spare it’s best to do laps using the funicular railway (Olympiabahn). But I chose to use the chairs, edging my way across to one end of the slopes then back towards the other. Saturday was busy with local day trippers, and the snow firmer and faster than elsewhere this week. But there was some good between-the-piste snow to bounce down, and some testing moguls forming.

A delightful long blue run skirts beneath stunning crags back to the resort, which I loved riding fast down. Lots of people were out ski touring and taking advantage of the off-piste opportunities too. One or two lower runs were worn and lacking snow cover, but generally the conditions were OK as it had snowed there last weekend.

Axamer has skiing on both sides of its valley, with lower runs treelined; the Götzen side connects eventually with Mutters but the only way back from there is by ski bus. And the black run on the Axamer side was closed. So it was the main area for me. But there was a neat little terrain park and compact nursery slope open that families seemed to be enjoying. There was time for a quick lunch at Cafe Liz (spag bol at 8.90 euro), one of several eateries at the lift station, before driving back down the valley to the airport. 

It was a very enjoyable morning, Axamer convenient and ideal for a day or half-day visit. I had just three hours, but could have spent longer there. Taking off from Innsbruck a few hours later the mountains looked spectacular – it’s got to be the best-placed airport in Europe for Alpine views. As we swung west then north, I could pick out the slopes I had skied and then a full-on bird’s eye view of the Zugspitze and its Arena resorts.

If you don’t have a hire car, there are ski buses that go to Axamer from Innsbruck. And the resort is one of nine or so covered by the Olympia Pass. You can buy this as a flexible pass of three resorts in six days, for example. And use it at leisure to explore locally, or head off to major resorts in between – St Anton is about an hour and fifteen minutes away if day-tripping from the Innsbruck area.

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