Austria ski holidays 2008
Montafon in the Austrian Alps (photo: ANTO)
Austria is famous for its traditional skiing scene, with a mix of high altitude glaciers - where you can ski all year round - picture-postcard Alpine villages, and state of the art resorts with great snow records.
The
Tirol region is the best known of Austria's ski areas, thanks to the concentration of high-altitude ski resorts accessible from the region's capital, Innsbruck.
In total the Tirol has 1,300 lifts and 3,500 kilometres of slopes, and is also home to the likes of St Anton and Kitzbühel - some of the most popular resorts in the Alps.
Among the all-year-round glaciers in the region is
Hintertux, which has a one of the highest ski lifts in the alps, taking skiers up to 3,250 metres above sea level. The resort also opens the Austrian ski season in October.
At its snowiest in winter Hintertux has 230 kilometres of pistes ranging from easy to challenging, with the longest dropping 1,750 metres over 12 kilometres.
The Stubai glacier is Austria's largest year-round skiing area and has ski runs between 1,750 to 3,200 metres above sea level, with snow guaranteed from October to July. This year the ski destination is also set to open a €5.8 million new lower terminal at Mutterberg.
For skiers keen to find and test all the latest accessories, then Stubai's
SportScheck Glacier Testival from October 24th to 28th is a must. Holidaymakers can test thousands of accessories from 3,500 companies.
For more information on skiing in Austria see
the tourist board website skiing holidays page.