Obergurgl-Hochgurgl Austria to be exact. I spent the middle of January skiing with my daughter's family and my youngest (age 32) son. Chose this resort, south and east of Innsbruck, because near guaranteed snow cover due to higher elevation (base 6400 feet, top at about 10,000 feet). When arrangements made, Europe was suffering from a snow drought like in the US. I hope to submit a trip report with pictures, but some tidbits for now. O/H is at the end of a canyon housing multiple ski areas, the Oztal area in the Alps. Sort of reminded me of Big Cottonwood, but a lot longer. Quite steep up from the bottom of the canyon. Stayed at the Hotel Austria in Obergurgl, which along with their sister hotel, the Bellevue (connected by an under street tunnel) provided a most pleasant lodging/ culinary/swimming experience. Watched a lot of ice bowling (no, not curling) from our hotel window. Temps were mostly cold (10F at night, 20s during day). First few days full of sun, and amazing views from the top of the mountains, one could actually see thousands of treeless peaks in all directions. The tree line was at about 7000 feet, and all slopes above were just one giant blanket of white. Could only ski on "pistes" or trails, since a pre-arrival windstorm had blown most snow somewhere, exposing the rocky mountain sides. But no big deal, there were over 120 kilometers of groomed trails at the two areas. Lots of on-mountain "huts" for food, and "sun bathing". Mostly easy and mid difficulty trails, with a few blacks thrown in. The two ski areas are connected by a long gondola ride at about 7500 feet vertical. Upper slopes had best snow conditions; especially with the sun shining, lower slopes were a bit crusty, especially when afternoon shadows covered the area. Due to steepness of the slopes out of the valley, the bottom 20% of the trails tended to be long circuitous trails of reasonable width, but still a pain. We left in a blizzard that closed the slopes Friday afternoon (winds of 50mph, with copious amounts of snow (over 3 feet by departure on Saturday). Had a great time, albeit expensive. Would go again. The grandkids became accomplished skiers.
Thanks to all the DCSkiers and Epic sliders that answered my many questions about where to go and what to expect.
More later.
The Colonel
