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Yesterday, I got home from Kaprun where I spent 4 days hanging out with really cool people. BTW, the Cosmopolitan ski opening for women hosted by Mountvacation.com was also taking place. You can imagine what was going on mostly… Or not. Anyway, I tried to find the first pow in the season to draw some lines. I found it for sure but, unfortunately, there was a lack of base snow so the ‘reef sharks’ peeked out of the snowy cover almost everytime in the steeper parts. There were only couple of lines, but that was all I needed to start the season in Europe. Only freeriders know this feeling and what it can do for you for the rest of the day.

Laughing at one of the lamest and easiest short lines…but it was just so cool!

The line in the middle was rough to my skis, and the next one was rough to my body after falling from a rock 4m high to other rocks.

I just love these ends of day

Two days ago at 3 o’clock in the morning I was partying pretty hard and I got news from Innsbruck where my friend Marko Grilc won the Air & Style competition… I couldn’t believe it and i still can’t really tell how cool it is to hang out with my friends who achieve so much in their lifes and inspire me every single day, no matter where we hang out. Every single one has done so much in this season already and it hasn’t even started yet. Trust me good old YUGO’s will rock this year everywhere. No matter where and how we gonna kill it!

Marko invited us for a dinner tonight

This week, it took us less than 5 minutes to make up our minds and leave for Austria to spend the week. Some of you would call that a ski holidays, but I call it practice time and dialing new tricks just before the season starts over here. Because of really bad snow conditions all over the Europe, we couldn’t go anywhere else but the Dachstein ski resort has lots to offer anyways. Besides comfy apartment in the Kielerhof lodge and warm sunny afternoons, there are loads of medium sized jumps at the top of the glacier.

On the first day, I was kinda’ disappointed by how small the jumps are in comparison to the one we built at the Kanin resort last spring, but everything went smoothly. Started warming up my ankles and knees on the icy landings. Hard landing weren’t really good to my body but sometimes, you just have to be on it.

There were many of my skier buddies from all over the Europe, who were practicing for the Winter Jam in Stockholm. This event in the world’s biggest tour event, it stops in major cities to display man-made jumps. Ten of the world’s best skiers are invited to the series and they throw down the biggest tricks on the ski market at the moment. What has been happening in our industry for the past year is just plain crazy! Double corks improved so much that no one is throwing any other tricks in competitions. It is so dangerous to do the 3 or 3 ½ full rotation of the body with a combination of two flips over the head in the same trick, all that while grabbing your skis!

Photo by Daphne Levac Cornelissen

I wasn’t doing doubles on Dachstein but I sure had fun to practice natural (left), unnatural (right), switch (going backwards) spins on every jump. Definitely, I am ready for some slopestyle events from now on: I have my run dialed.

On the other hand, hanging out with my friends in an apartment and cooking food for them was best. We laughed so much when I was telling them stories from my summer in Down Under and Indo. We fell asleep after that, and woke up every morning ready for some action.

I am home now and I plan to do some photo shoot and interviews. Then, I’ll head back to snow and some waves.

After surfing, staying at home and do nothing (well, not nothing, but just feeling that something is happening out there and I am missing it) wasn’t really all that cool. That’s why I called my friends Nejc and David, from Bled, to go to the Soriška Planina ski resort to check what were the conditions like out there.

Thirty centimeters of snow are always better than ten, so we managed to get some pipes and rails and had a cool jib session.

My Skullcandy team mate Nejc was just killing it on his snowboard. Threw down so many tricks I was impressed, maybe because I haven’t seen him for a while now. But as a rebel I always try to find something else to hit. I found a sick sculpture of a bear in the middle of the ski resort and I decided to handplant it over. Got some cool shots with my 4frnt manager David after just 3 hits. Great work for a Sunday’s afternoon!

On the other hand, that kind of skiing wasn’t quite the one I wanted at the moment so I decided to check the weather forecast and drive to the nearest glacier: Dachstein, in Austria. It has to offer one of the best snowparks at the moment. It is definitely not THE best one but it is always cool to meet riders from all over Europe who come here to practice at the beginning of the season. The crew of snowboarder buddies and me, as a skier, filled up two cars and we cruised to ‘Jodl land’. Bluebird, a few riders and us did laps for four hours on Tuesday.

People often go to work on weekdays… but we did a good job as well.

I’m not one to say that one ski resort is better than another. I think places like Courchevel and Chamonix have much to offer whether one has more slopes or more après ski parties than the other. When one person or family is looking for a quiet escape from crowds, another is looking to ski late and party hard. People take their ski holidays (like their alcohol) the way they like them, searching out one ski resort over the other for various reasons, sometimes a mix. I’ve picked three countries and several resorts to help you skier or snowboarder avoid having any merrymaking, pleasure or amusement of any kind this ski season.

Austria: If you like night skiing and incredible slopes, avoid hitting the Austrian ones ’cause then you might not have a bad time.

Bad Gastein (Sportgastein) is one of my favorite Austrian ski resorts because it’s so diverse and has so much to offer skiers of all levels. The hotels are fairly priced too. I often come here with a group of friends (when we don’t venture to France) and can find chalet accommodation that can easily fit us all. Plus, we can all come and go as we want, stay up late to party or enjoy some night skiing, but still plan activities—like watching the FIS Snowboard World Cup in January—together. Bad Gastein is set up to handle large crowds without getting backed up or feelings of claustrophobia. If you don’t like big crowds, then Bad Gastein is still a good choice but can get busy around the Christmas-New Year ski season. If you want glacier skiing this year, try the Solden Glacier resort just 100 km from Innsbruck. Avoid either place if you don’t like night skiing, a must try if you never have.

France: To have a lousy ski vacation, avoid skiing in France if you like good times and great selections of slopes

I’m not sure we’d have après skiing venues if it wasn’t for France (perhaps not the word anyway). So, among other things, like snails and Bordeaux wine, we have much thanks to give to France. Plus, we can thank them for the wicked skiing and wicked-er resort package deals. Isola 2000 (we can also thank them for putting the altitude after resort names too) is jammed packed with pistes. If you like to ski on a wide variety of greens, blues, reds and blacks, then avoid Isola 2000 at all costs, as there is 120+ km of skiing and over 20 lifts to choose from so you might just have to have a good time. Brides Les Bains should definitely be avoided if you want to hit the slopes early, as these tend to open in December, but the wait is worth it if you’ve planned a later ski holiday (especially for the high ski season) with 150 km worth of ski slopes.

Italy: For a terrible holiday, avoid snowboarding in Italy if you wish for some of the best riding experience in your life

Italy is iconic for having unsurpassed slopes, affordable accommodation and criminal snowboarding parks. If you hate any or all three of these, then it’s best to avoid Italy skiing all together. Be sure, too, to avoid Alta Badia, part of the Dolmiti Superski. The snowboard and freestyle park will really irk you if you don’t like boarding, as there’s a halfpipe, snowboard cross, jumps, humps and rails. Additionally, La Thuile in the Aosta Valley has an 11 km run that drops for a decent 1200 meters. If you hate long lasting descents, then La Thuile Espace San Bernardo is not for you either. Avoid these action packed places, moreover, if you hate life, parties, or the occasional all-nighter and tons of winter festivals.

The Mountainbiking World Games 2009, one of the most important mountain biking event in Europe, were held September 11th and 12th in the resort of Saalbach Hinterglemm.
About 150 participants took part in the downhill event, here are the results per category:

Masters
Frederic Abbou, from France, won the gold with a time of 3:44. Harald Prez and Werner Maier came 2nd and 3rd.

Experts (men)
Roman Lagler came first of his category, in 3:35, in front of Max Lietsberger (last year’s winner in the Funklass category) and Andreas Bichler.

Experts (women)
Moni Woderschek, from Munich, was the first woman to pass the finish line in 4:30, showing great technical downhill skills. Karin Pasterer and Katrin Meistring respectively won the silver and bronze medals.

Funklass
The hungarian Vitez Veres Marton got the gold, in front of Stefan Szigeti and Joannes  Steffek

Senior Masters
The 62-years-old World Games’ veteran Johann Leitsberger won gold in the downhill event

Check out the results or the Freeride Eliminator event and of the marathon that were also held as part of the World Games.

Bad Kleinkirchheim is known as a place to relax and get spoiled at every turn, on and off the slopes. Since the Alpine Skiing World cup is regularly held there, the resort has nothing to prove when it comes to skiing and Bad Kleinkirchheim is also famous for its numerous thermal spas (the German word Bad means bath). Wellness connoisseurs will appreciate that the resort has been awarded with a certificate from the Alpine Wellness International association. Also, the nearest airport to easily access Bad Kleinkirchheim (Klagenfurt) is only 50 km away, making stress-free mini ski vacations possible.

In Bad Kleinkirchheim, the skiing and snowboarding start at 1100 meters and rise to just over 2000 meters. There are just over 100 km of ski runs with 32 total ski slopes, and children get their own slope and lift. The longest slope, 4 km long, will keep most guests content. In fact, it is an ideal destination for intermediate skiers who want challenge, and families of good skiers. To get off the slopes and still be active, there are about 60 km of winter walking paths, a curling rink, a 500m² ice-rink and two toboggan runs: 4 km of floodlit toboggan run on the Kaiserburg and the 4 km Falkerthaus run. Couples can go on horse drawn sleigh rides through the romantic winter countryside, or forget all about skiing and treat themselves with a thermal spa package.

In summer, the spa complexes of course don’t close and there’s is a lot to do for those who wish for active vacations. If tennis is your thing, you can play in simple or double on one of the 25 tennis courts of the resort. If you are a golfing enthusiast, the 18-hole golf course Kaiserburg, designed by Don Harradine, is one of Austria’s most prestigious ones, and horse lovers will be glad to know that there are 2 stables in the resort. Last,  but not least, Bad Kleinkirchheim offers to its visitors 1,000 km of well-marked and well-maintained excursion trails, and 43 trails specifically designed for mountain biking.

Accommodations in Bad Kleinkirchheim tend to fill up quickly during special events, such as the open-air music festival in January, so book early if you want to participate in one event of if your vacation dates aren’t flexible.

…been there, done that, and loved it!

To get our share of fresh air, my companion and I spent four days in Innsbruck this summer.

On Monday, we arrive late and under pouring rain. After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we go to the tourist office to buy the 3-day Innsbruck card (€35/person) and 3 hours of wireless internet access (only €5,90: way cheaper than the one provided by our hotel). The Innsbruck card gives to its holder access to all public transport of the region, including the trams linking to neighboring villages, to all lifts (one ascent and one descent per lift) and all museums. This card is actually the way to go if you plan on using lifts because otherwise, it takes only two rides to spend more than €35…  We then find an appropriate restaurant and dine… In terms of dining out, Innsbruck has a dozens of restaurant to choose from, from Thai cuisine to traditional Austrian cuisine. Even though I’m not a big fan of Austrian cuisine, we always find something pleasant. Note that sadly, like in most of Austria, the city becomes very very quiet after 8 or 9pm.

Since clouds are low and rain is to be expected, we decide to dedicate Tuesday to the visit Innsbruck and some of its museums. Touristy and very well maintained, the older part of Innsbruck is interesting and small enough to easily be visited on foot. In my opinion, the museum of the Golden Roof is the only one really worth seeing, and a climb up the stairs of Stadtturm (the town tower) is definitely worth the sweat. If you cannot or do not want to go up all those stairs (140+), you can head to the 360° Bar. The view is not quite as nice as from the tower, but at least the climb to the 7th floor is done by elevator.

Wednesday, the clouds finally lift and we can admire Innsbruck under the sun, surrounded by majestic mountains. We take the tram from the city center to the village of Mutters, where we ride the Muttereralm lift up to 1,600m and then walk the Innsbruck Almenweg. I say walk instead of hike because it’s almost on flat land, cows and sheep are met along the way and many parts are accessible to strollers and wheelchairs. It was pleasant but not very demanding, and the poorly done marking of the trails made us at all time wonder it we were on the right path.

Thursday, we decide to discover the Nordpark so we take the cable railway from the Innsbruck Congress Center up to 860m (section Hungerburg), and then a cable car to 1,905m (section Seegrube) and a second one to 2,256m (section Hafelekar). The panorama offered at that height is breathtaking. We then ride the lift back down to 1,905m, where we have lunch in a mountain hut and hike down to 860m. There is some nice hiking to be done but to our greatest surprise and disappointment, here too the trail marking is confusing. From 860m, we go back on the cable railway and make a stop-over at the Alpenzoo. Mostly for kids, the Alpenzoo presents alpine animals (bears, wild cats, wolves, different species of birds, etc.). It is a clean zoo and animals can enjoy reasonable living space. One last short ride on the cable railway and we are back in the city.

Will we return to Innsbruck? I’m not sure we would go back in summer (after all, been there done that) but probably in winter to ski, admire a completely different scenery and meet a different crowd.

Get more information about sights and hikes in and around Innsbruck here.
Get information and book your accommodation in Innsbruck here.

In reaction to my previous post about summer skiing, some of you brought to my attention that  no Austrian resort was mentioned. My excuse (a bad one) is that it’s been years since I went to ski in Austria during the warmer season but you are right, Austria has the most ski areas to choose from in the northern atmosphere from May to October. Also, most glaciers are located close to very interesting and pleasant spots so you can ski in the morning, swim in the afternoon and have a taste of the city nightlife in the evening.

Here are the six resorts that first come to mind when thinking of summer skiing:

Möltaller glacier

The Möltaller glacier just opened for its summer season. This resort, close to the town of Villach, offers year-round pretty good skiing conditions.

Tux glacier

The Tux glacier is part of the Hintertux resort, that usually has the largest open ski area of the country. In fact, the high-altitude skiing (up to 3,250m) allows the snow guarantee to be in effect year-round. The charming city of Innsbruck is right by.

Dachstein glacier

The Dachstein glacier is near Salzburg, one of the most beautiful cities in Austria. It offers a snow guarantee that covers way more than the regular winter ski season. It is great for beginners and intermediate skiers.

Kaprun glacier

Also close to Salzburg is the Kaprun glacier, which is accessible through the village-resort of Zell am See. For family members or friends who are just not that much into skiing, Zell am See is a great golfing and hiking venue.

Pitztal glacier

The Pitztal Glacier offers the highest skiing in Austria, and the slopes are well suited for intermediate and beginners. Innsbruck is also close by.

Stubai Glacier

Still in the Innsbruck region, the Stubai glacier is ideal for families and spring skiing.

If you got tempted by a summer ski outing, think about booking your accommodation ahead. The above-mentioned resorts all hold events during the summer season and you could have trouble finding any available accommodation if you go while a popular one is ongoing. Oh, and don’t forget sunscreen!

Just because the winter is over, it doesn’t mean that you don’t want to still hit the slopes. Unless you choose to go up high, skiing in the summer can be difficult but it shouldn’t stop you from heading to the mountains.

Most resorts have accommodations for the rugged outdoor adventurer in lieu of ski and snowboard vacationers. Many resorts are open 24/7/365. Like suggested before, it’s best to make reservations and book ahead ‘cause you certainly won’t be the only one to think of mounting up and hitting the trails by bike. Here are some of the most interesting places to go mountain biking, once the snow melts and the ski bunnies pack up for home.

Saalbach, Austria: This area of Austria is a great place to off-terrain ride. The area is set up with an already-existing 700+ km bike routes and another ~500 in the mountains and the valleys respectively. Everyone agrees Austrians (and those who visit) are hardcore. The Saalbach Hinterglemm takes the number one spot because it encompasses several bike parks, cable car networks and mountains/valleys—five in all—into one ticket, aptly named the GraVity Ticket. It also presents the advantage of usually not be overcrowded.

Chamonix, France: Everyone knows the French are totally into hiking and trekking and road bike racing. However, there are plenty of places in France where the mountain biker is a respected athlete. I tend to hit up Chamonix before the hordes of Paris residents decide it’s time to take a scoot in the country come July and August. In fact, many single-track rides are only open before this summer influx of Parisians. That said, the French also love maps and making maps. They make some par excellence maps of the area. A visit to the local tourist office will get you hooked up. The gullies are great for beginners and the experts will have some technical challenges climbing out of the valleys.

Les Deux Alpes, France: VTT, translated means mountain biking (or Velo Tout Terrain), is a big deal in this part of France. There’s pretty much something involving a bike at each and every weekend juncture. I love to VTT ride all day and then settle down with a glass of merlot, bleeding steak and live renditions of 80s music (common at small town festivals for some reason). With Fifi (the poodle) never far off, we make small talk through the whole night. At any rate, there’s plenty of “official” and “unofficial” bike trails. The FFC has over 125 km marked, with 20 downhill and 15 cross-country rides. This is a fantastic replacement to a ski holiday. I often bring a helmet camera to capture the rides for You Tube and Facebook.

Trois Vallées, France: The Three Valleys in France include the known Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens, Courchevel, and et al. Of course, there are plenty of other villages strewn about the valleys too. When I’m beat but want to get out, I often catch one of the seemingly hundreds of lifts and head to the top for some panoramic downhill trails. I go home less tired but still content on an easier day’s riding. Reservations can be made at any one of the more central ski resorts but don’t be fooled: it is preferable to book in advance as hikers come from far and wide to soak in the scenery.

Any top European mountain bike destination missing from this list?