Skiing in Innsbruck

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Winter is finally here!

If you like winter sports, then Austria is a great country for you. There are a multitude of regions offering top notch quality ski resorts. One of these ski regions is around the city of Innsbruck. 

While there are many points of interest in the historic city itself too, let's focus today on the winter sports offerings surrounding it. Innsbruck’s Olympia Skiworld is comprised of nine different ski resorts offering avid skiiers and snowboarders plenty of space to indulge themselves. 

All nine resorts can be visited by using a single ski pass. Of course it’s not only experienced skiiers who can enjoy a holiday here, since there is a broad selection of skiing schools offering lessons for people of every experience level. Parents also don’t have to worry about losing sight of their children while skiing, as there are specialised ski schools for children and even ski-kindergartens that can look after children as young as two years old. 

As an example for the ski schools in the area you could look at the “Skischule Schaber” (http://www.skischule-schaber.at).  Located by the village of Obsteig just outside of Innsbruck, this school offers courses for adults and children. Adults can take part in group courses lasting for 2 hours each. For the first day of such a class you would pay 45€. If you decide to take classes on multiple days, then the rate per day becomes cheaper with 5 days costing a total of 125€. If you would rather have private lessons, then that is also possible at the school. Rates for a teacher for 1-2 people are 55€ an hour. For children there is an extra area which is created especially in order to safely teach them how to ski, while also offering fun activities. Snowboarding lessons are also offered at the same rates as ski lessons.

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Making skiing in Innsbruck even more comfortable is the so called Ski Bus (www.innsbruck-pauschalen.com/en/service/free-skibus.html). This bus connects several hotels in Innsbruck to the ski resorts and is available to be used free of charge with a guest card provided to you by the place of accommodation you are staying at. 

If you feel like taking a break from regular skiing and want to enjoy the winter landscapes with others, then you can always take part in a ski tour. There are many different routes to choose from with varying starting altitudes and lengths of the tour. Usually you should expect such a tour to last around three hours, but of course there are shorter paths for beginners and longer ones for those who really seek to challenge themselves.

Other activities you can do in the area include taking Bobsleigh rides down the Olympic track or if you are feeling especially adventurous, you can trade in the Bobsleigh and try out the more bizarre Wok Race created by TV host Stefan Raab.

Certainly also for the more adventurous individuals are the numerous ice climbing possibilities in the area:

Ice skating

Curling

Winter hike

Cross country

Night sports

Indoors

Horse drawn sleigh rides

Toboggan/rodeln

References:

 http://www.innsbruck.info/en/experience/winter-sports.html

http://www.ultimate-ski.com/ski-resorts/austria/tirol/innsbruck.aspx