Freeride Guide in Innsbruck

Nowhere else in the Alps puts a city of 130,000 people directly beneath amazing powder, off-piste descents and glacier runs like Innsbruck.

The real advantage of Innsbruck is choice. Within half an hour there are half a dozen distinct areas facing every direction, from the broad open bowls of the Axamer Lizum, the high glacier terrain of the Stubai or Sölden, and the reliably snowy Kühtai. A guide looks at the overnight weather and the avalanche bulletin and takes you to whichever area will deliver.

Transceiver, shovel and probe are required every day (can be hired), checked before the first lift. Book several days and a guide can widen the net to the Arlberg, Ötztal or Zillertal. Request a guide, tell them your level and dates, and they will build the days around your level and the snow.

There are world-class incredible ski resorts and off piste lift accessed terrain within 1 hour of Innsbruck.

The Stubai glacier reaches above 3,000 m and holds cold snow later into spring than anywhere else in reach of the city, while Schlick 2000 lower down the valley gives shorter, more sheltered terrain when the glacier is closed by wind.

The Zillertal, an hour east, is incredible: Hintertux with its year-round glacier, plus Mayrhofen and the Zillertal Arena, covering a wide range of aspects and altitudes across one long valley.

Sölden in the Ötztal, around ninety minutes away, has two glaciers and high lift-served terrain that comes into its own in early and late season.

The season runs December to April, with the Stubai and Hintertux glaciers extending it if needed.