It has been a long waiting. December and January were horrible months for powder-seeking skiers in Eastern Austria (and in almost the whole Northern Alps). However, a significant dump during the last two days satisfied all our desperate needs for powder. About 50-60cm of fresh new snow turned the hills of Eastern Austria into a winter wonderland. It was a pleasure riding the long awaited snow and enoying being back on the planks.

Fresh powder and winter sun - ingredients for a great outing

Our chosen location, the Niederalpl proved to be a good spot for harvesting the fresh powder. No crowds whatsoever and a fine combination of open runs, treeskiing and some bushwacking. Of course, due to the high degree of avalanche danger we had to stick to mellow terrain or fairly thick woods.

Powder in the woods around Niederalpl

Imagine a small village deep in an alpine valley. A single cable car going up high into the mountains. No groomed runs leading downhill. Only off-piste runs, perfect for the days after a big dump. And, of course, a huge alpine backcountry with gnarly couloirs and all this stuff.

“Bingo!”, you’ll say, “that’s La Grave in France, for sure.”
“Hold on”, I would say, “that’s Hirschwang at the Rax, just some 80 kilometres south of Vienna”.
And I would be laughing at you for your ignorance and I would tell you my fairy tale of an epic powder day.

Rax massif, seen from the valley around Reichenau, the cable car area is seen in the right part of the picture, photo credits see below

The Rax is a huge mountain massif forming a plateau just above 1500m and peaking in the Heukuppe (2006m) in the westernmost part of the massif. Steep walls surround the whole massif offering some of the best possibilities for alpine climbing in the Vienna region. Hirschwang is located at the easternmost part of the mountain.

Rax cable car near the valley floor, Hirschwang, Lower Austria

The Rax cable car was built as early as 1921 and thus being Austria’s oldest cable car. The total vertical of the cable car is about 1020m! The terrain around the cable car is rather steep with some chutes and couloirs leading down into the woods. At the mellow plateau itself there is a single T-bar offering some beginner slopes and some terrain for park-oriented skiers.

There are various downhill runs which have been skiing for decades now (Schöllergraben, Lahngraben, Seilbahngraben, Maschingraben). All these runs offer fantastic off-piste skiing if the snow is fresh and deep enough. Add some touring possibilities from the top of the railway station (for example Grosser Kesselgraben for the beginners or Grosser Wolfsgraben for advanced skiers) and you get a quite versatile off-piste ski “resort”. Of course, there are dozens of other ascents and descents around this huge mountain but most of them do have different starting points.

Skiing deep powder in the Maschingraben, Rax

Skiing deep powder in the Seilbahngraben, Rax

However, there is one significant caveat. Due to the minimal elevation of the valley floor (just about 520m around the valley station of the cable car in Hirschwang) the snow is only plenty and good enough at certain times during the winter. So the 1000m vertical runs in the vicinity of the cable car are to be enjoyed only a few times during a winter. So you have to be lucky enough to be there in the right time …

Photo credits Rax, view from the valley floor

After the Jack Wolfskin incident, which was by the way a huge PR disaster for Jack Wolfskin, another big corporation wastes its energy and its reputation within the community with law issues concerning a possible trademark issue with ON3P. Scott USA Inc, known for its ski, ski accessories, bikes and other related stuff, is harassing ON3P, an infant Oregon-based ski manufacturer with a cease and desist letter. Scott Andrus, the founder of ON3P has labeled its flagship big mountain model “The Big Scott”, obviously after his first name (and its maybe also a reference to the “Great Scott Bowl“at Alpental, a ski resort in Washington state, US).

Honestly, that is starting to get annoying. Are the current market incumbents really so fearful of tiny, independent ski manufacturers? There is nothing wrong about protecting your intellectual property rights but naming your brand after a common name and then whining about possible trademark issues may be regarded as ‘uncool’. Such a behavior might be regarded as detrimental for the reputation within the skiing community.

Here is the post at the TGR forum by Scott Andrus from ON3P informing possible customers about the issue:

This post is meant to inform anyone who has to date purchased a “Great Scott” ski from ON3P, or those who are considering a future purchase. In late October, ON3P received a cease and desist order from SCOTT USA Ltd., and its affiliates SCOTT Sports SA and SCOTT USA Inc., demanding ON3P immediately cease commercialization and sales of all “Great Scott” branded skis for reasons of trademark infringement.

We are current exploring the legality of the use of “Scott” in the name of our ski “Great Scott” and should reach a decision in the near future.

Once we have reached a decision, I will post an update on the matter.

Scott Andrus

Some gear experts argue that ON3P skis are superior over Scott USA skis anyway. And ON3Ps are definitely more amazing from a design point of view. So it is probably quite good to get the word out about the ever growing number of independent ski manufactures who strife with all their heart and energy to build skis for dedicated skiers.

Update November, 30th, 2009: Scott Andrus from ON3P has now officially renamed the ski to Cease and Desist to avoid any potentially costly disputes.

There is nothing spectacular about the Stuhleck (1782m), the highest mountain of the Fischbacher Alps in Styria at the easternmost corner of the Alps (the flat plains of Hungary are just a stone’s throw away). Indeed, at the first look the Stuhleck resembles more of a hill than a real mountain, especially if looking up from Mürzzuschlag, the town at the foot of the Stuhleck.

However, it was here where alpine ski mountaineering started in Austria in the late nineteenth century. In those days the usability of skis in alpine terrain was still very much disputed. Though the long Norwegian skis were recognised as a useful tool for travelling through snowy woods and flatlands they were regarded as unsuitable for the higher, steeper terrain of alpine mountains.

Nevertheless, curious people started to experiment with these Norwegian skis. Among them a group from Styria led by Toni Schruf, a hotelier in Mürzzuschlag were especially keen to adapt the idea of skiing for alpine terrain. Together with Max Kleinoscheg from Graz and Walther Wenderich he started to experiment with Norwegian skis at the mellow meadows around Mürzzuschlag. Finally, in 1892 they ascended the very first real mountain with their skis and they chose the Stuhleck for this endeavour. Hence, the Stuhleck got its place in the history of ski alpinism as first alpine mountain conquered by skiers. One year later, they organised a skiing race in Mürzzuschlag, which became the very first skiing race in central Europe. Soon the Stuhleck area got popular among the increasing crowd of skiers in the Vienna region. In those days the direct accessibility of the Stuhleck area by train (from Vienna over the famous Semmering pass) was an important advantage of this area. As early as 1898 the first ski hut (Scheffelhütte) was established using an old barn from a small farming hamlet at the slopes of the Stuhleck.

Today, a museum dedicated to winter sports in Mürzzuschlag honours these early skiing pioneers and informs about the manifold skiing history of this region. This museum features among the many exhibitions a reconstructed full scale model of the Scheffelhut.

Alpine region around the summit of the Stuhleck

The Stuhleck has been a popular ski mountain since these early days. The first ski lift was constructed in 1948 at the meadows of the Schieferwiese near the mountain village of Spital am Semmering. The first chair lift (a single seater) followed in 1960. A total number of 80.000 transportations were counted in the first year. Since then, the Stuhleck ski resort has been expanding continuously and today it is the largest ski resort of the entire region counting about 3,9 million transportations (2008). Four modern, detachable chair lifts and five ski lifts (t-bars) serve a total of 24 kilometres of groomed pistes and a modern man-made-snow system guarantees the skiing between late November and about mid April. With the opening of the Eastern European countries the Stuhleck resort established itself as the most prominent ski resort for the growing number of Hungarian and Slovakian (Bratislava is just around the corner) skiers.

Despite the technical infrastructure of the ski resort the Stuhleck remained popular among ski tourers and mountaineers as well. It is a prefect training ground for easy touring in almost all conditions (the storms can get quite nasty around the exposed summit region) and there are several ski runs in almost all directions.

Tree skiing in the Stuhleck area

The Bettelbauer run, which is probably the route chosen by Toni Schruf and his friends for their first ascent in 1892, is almost 10 kilometres long and goes down to Mürzzuschlag (though it is fairly flat). The most popular ski tour goes down the backside of the Stuhleck to the small village of Rettenegg where the restaurant Ebner serves fresh trout in many variations.

Due to the heavy snow falls this week we were happy to enjoy an early opening of the ski touring season around Vienna. I was studying various weather reports and data, webcams, internet forums etc. for the whole week to determine the location for our opening ski tour. Finally our decision was on the Niederalpl pass (1220m) in Styria (about two hours car ride from Vienna). There is a small ski resort on the pass and we thought that using the grassy pistes would be the best option for the limited amount of snow (30-40 cm).

October snow at the Niederalpl, Styria

The skinning was straightforward, just following the piste below the pylons of the chair lift. Since the snow fall was associated with heavy winds the region above the tree line was not really skiable. Most of the snow was blown away into the woods. Hence, after one disappointing excursion near the summit of the Wetterin (1530 m) we stuck to the piste.

Gerhard skinning at the Niederalpl, Styria

Given the time of the year conditions were quite good here and we got some nice turns in fresh, but somewhat wet snow. It was a real pleasure to be on skis again after four long months without the planks.

Fun with early ski turns in October at the Niederalpl, Styria

Plus, seeing first hand the arrival of winter was awesome. This early winter experience will help us for sure to get over the period of warm autumn weather which is forecast for the next week.

Winter Idyll in October at the Niederalpl, Styria

The Styrian Avalanche Warning Service issued its first regional avalanche warning report of the new season 2009/2010 this day. The northern parts of Styria (Ennstaler Alpen, Obersteiermark) now have an avalanche danger of level 1 (meaning low risk).

The influx of wet and cold air masses from the arctic North has already resulted in a significant snow pack. Snow depth is about one meter at 2000 m elevation. The automatic snow station at the Loser in the Salzkammergut (elevation 1501 m) reports 88 cm at 8 p.m. today. The strong winds build up large snow drifts. Hence, the risk of snow slabs in steep areas below ridges has to be evaluated.

Additional snow falls (again with heavy winds) are forecast for the following days. It can be expected that avalanche danger is going to rise due to this new, wind-affected snow. Temperatures are around -7 to -9 degrees (Celsisus) at 1500m and the snow line is going to decrease further (locally to about 200m!). Pretty sudden and strong (temporary) advent of winter.

After a long period of mild weather with too warm temperatures it finally started to snow in the mountains. The higher areas of the Schneeberg were already white with some snow and the temperature at the summit (see Schneeberg webcams) dropped well below zero Celsius during the course of the day. And it is forecast to get even colder with a decreasing snow line. Precipitation should be significant with snow as low as 500 m or even lower. Some forecasts speak about up to one meter of precious snow. The specific meteorological setting which brings this welcomed change is explained in a detailed forum discussion of the snow event October 2009 (in German).

Though the odds are high that there will be the usual setbacks of warm weather periods this first glimpse of winter helps to get into the right mood for the coming skiing season.

By the way, almost exactly one year ago my buddies Gernot and Ronald enjoyed fresh autumn powder at the Schneeberg. The following photos were made by Gernot at October, 5th 2008.

Schneeberg, autumn colors and the first glimpse of winter

Schneeberg, first ski tracks

The Schneeberg (literally translated: Snow Mountain) is remarkable in many respects.

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And this list could even go on. Indeed, the Schneeberg is a mighty mountain massif. It is also easily reachable from Vienna both with car as well as with public transport. The entry point to the Schneeberg is Puchberg, a nice traditional spa town, worth a visit by its own right.

There are many ways to climb the Schneeberg. The easiest one is going by the old cog railway leaving directly from the Puchberg train station to the Hochschneeberg plateau, 1798m. From there it is only a skin (or hike) of about 40 minutes to the two summits (Klosterwappen and Kaiserstein). However, this option is only available in spring (usually late April) since the train is not operated during the winter month due to avalanche danger.

During winter the standard option to climb the Schneeberg starts in Losenheim (780m), a small village and ski resort with only one chairlift and an accompanying drag lift. If you are lazy enough, using the chair lift which goes to a saddle North-West of the Schneeberg massif spares about 40-60 minutes of skinning or about 400m vertical ascent. Directly at the chair lift’s top station starts the ascent called “Fadenweg” which is relatively safe during the whole winter.

Last spring there were ideal corn snow conditions at the Schneeberg. When the cog railway opened its operation at the end of April we decided to make a round trip involving some warm up skiing in the Bockgrube and the Hackermulde. The Bockgrube is a huge bowl, south of the main summit of the Schneeberg and the Hackermulde is a nice bowl just between the two summits.

Then it was time for the final downhill for which we chose the so called Narrndattl couloir. A narrow and quite steep couloir providing access to the Breite Ries, the huge bowl at the East side of the Schneeberg massif. The descent was in perfect conditions and it was possible to ski down to about 1200m. The change of scenery from the snowy mountain to the green meadows around Schneebergdörfl back in the valley near Puchberg was really amazing.

The last winter was a pretty good one in the Vienna region. Continous dumps guaranteed a series of epic powder days. However in the short run it affected the range of possibilities negatively since avalanche danger in the region stayed at level 4 for quite a long period of time.

That resulted in some really defensive route choices by us. Staying in mellow terrain and under the tree line was the right thing to do with regard to safety issues. This allowed for some fine companions for our skiing outings. Though I am not a particular dog-lover skiing with man’s best friends was extremely enjoyable. Experiencing the fun these nice creatures did have in the snow was a great pleasure and made some nice photo opportunities.

Sabine and her dogs, Hohenberger Gschwendt

Angus, Hohenberger Gschwendt

It was amazing to see the different behaviour of the two dogs due to their particular races. Angus, the shepherd, was running continuously between the three of us, soon to get exhausted. At the end of the day we almost feared we had to carry him down at our backs. Whereas Naja with her husky origins was ploughing economically through the snow and never lost her energies.

Cornices, skiers and dogs, ascent to Wildalpe

Angus

Dogs, Wildalpe

Naja, Wildalpe

Locations: Hohenberger Geschwendt and Lahnsattel-Wildalpe (Vienna Region)
Dates: February 2009
All photo credits go to my buddy Gerrit, who is also the owner of the dogs

If Hannes Schneider was the father of modern skiing then Mathias Zdarsky should be regarded as the grandfather of our sport. The skiing technique developed by Mathias Zdarsky (known as Lilienfeld ski technique) and his path breaking binding system were instrumental for the propagation of skiing in alpine terrain. As early as 1905 he initiated the first alpine skiing competition in Lilienfeld using 24 poles (gates) to mark the run (which would equate to a giant slalom today).

Mathias Zdarsky was born in 1856 in Kozichowitz in Moravia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg Empire (Czech Republic today). After finishing his studies in Brno (Moravia, Czech Republic) as school teacher he went to Vienna (1874) and eventually to Lilienfeld (1889), an industrial town in Lower Austria just south of St. Pölten. In Lilienfeld he developed his skiing technique using the steep slopes of the Muckenkogel (1258m) and the Spitzgraben just in the vicinity of the town as training grounds. In 1896/97 Zdarsky published his first book on his skiing technique: “Lilienfelder Ski-Technik” which totalled 17 editions until 1926.

Lilienfeld and the Muckenkogel in the background, ca. 1905

An important milestone for alpine skiing was the year 1905 when Mathias Zdarsky invited Ing. Hassa Horn, a famous Holmenkolm winner from Norway, to join a skiing competition which should prove that the Lilienfeld ski technique was superior to the Norwegian Telemark technique. Zdarsky chose the steep slopes of the Breite Ries, a huge alpine bowl at the Schneeberg, as test bed for this competition. The result was that Hassa Horn admitted defeat and declared Mathias Zdarsky as victorious (rumours say that Horn refused to ski the steeper part of the bowl) and the Lilienfeld ski technique proved to be as indeed superior for steep, alpine terrain. The Breite Ries is still a favorite ski descent among many skiers in the Vienna region. Zdarsky and Horn did not ski the steep and narrow couloir-like entrance which is about 36 degrees steep but did only ski the open bowl below the entrance which is about 32 degrees steep. However, given the equipment skiing the Breite Ries was definitely a prove about the usability of the new ski technique in ‘real’ alpine terrain.

Skiing in the Breite Ries bowl at the Schneeberg (Lower Austria) near Vienna

Already 60 years old, Mathias Zdarsky served as an alpine instructor during World War 1 (1914-1918) and taught about the dangers of avalanches which proved to be extremely hazardous in the mountain war at the Italian front. During a rescue operation in 1916 he was buried by an avalanche. He survived wounded with dozens of broken bones and severe vertebra injuries leaving him handicapped for the rest of his life.

Mathias Zdarsky died in 1940 and was buried at his mansion in Habernreith in Lilienfeld, Lower Austria. Today an entire section of the Bezirksheimatmuseum in Lilienfeld is devoted to Mathias Zdarsky. The Muckenkogel near Lilienfeld is still a popular ski area. A single chairlift (open at weekends, around Christmas and during the public school holidays in the first week of February) provides access to the historic ski slopes.