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Ötztal – ski on exclusive slopes with a great elevation in Austria

Claire — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:29:56 +0000

65-kilometres long Tyrolean valley Ötztal stretches in the Ötztal Alps massif. On its steep slopes extend exclusive pistes boasting a great elevation. Ötztal, or rather ski resorts that are located in this valley, offer the best of the Austrian Alps. Skiers will certainly enjoy a perfectly groomed slopes of all levels and lots of off-piste possibilities. You can also ski on the glacier here. There are several resorts situated in the Ötztal valley: large resorts Sölden and Obergurgl-Hochgurgl, medium-large Hochoetz Kühtai, and small resorts Vent, Niederthai and Gries.

Photo by oetztal.com

Ötztal Valley Resorts have a total of more than 300 km of ski slopes, which lie at an altitude ranging from 1377 to 3340 meters above sea level and thus can boast an elevation of nearly 2,000 metres. The most famous ski resort of Ötztal is exclusive Sölden, which offers about 150 kilometers of ski slopes, spreading partially on two glaciers and three peaks with a height exceeding 3,000 meters above sea level. This makes Sölden really a unique ski resort in Austrian Alps. More than 100 kilometers of slopes has another luxury resort Obergurgl-Hochgurgl. But Ötztal is also suitable for cross-country skiers as you can find here around 185 kilometres of cross-country trails.

Ski pass prices and opening hours
Lifts in the Ötztal runs from 8:30 to 16:30. One-day ski pass costs €45 in the most popular resorts like Sölden and Obergurgl-Hochgurgl, and six-day ski pass costs about €230.

Also an offer of après-ski activities is on a high level in Ötztal. In addition to restaurants, bars, shops, you can try out all sorts of winter sports and the icing on the cake is a luxury aqua park situated in the town Längenfeld.

For further info visit oetztal.com website.

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Stuben – Cradle of Alpine Skiing | Austria

Claire — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:57:45 +0000

Stuben ski resort is situated above the Stuben village, and together with popular St. Anton and St. Christoph forms a vast ski area St.Anton-St.Christoph-Stuben, which is known for its various skiing possibilities off the groomed slopes and for the rich snowfall. Unlike St. Anton and St. Christoph which belong to the Province of Tyrol, Stuben is already a part of Vorarlberg. Stuben is considered a Cradle of Alpine Skiing as well as a Paradise for passionate skiing fans. It is located in the western part of Austria, 110km west of Innsbruck.

Photo by stuben.com

Resort St.Anton-St.Christoph-Stuben offers a total of 115 km of ski slopes, which are located at an altitude ranging from 1304 metres to 2811 meters above sea level. 49 kilometres are ski slopes of blue difficulty, 53 km are of red slopes and 13 kilometers of tracks boasts black level. Additional 100 kilometres are off the groomed slopes.

There are a total of 38 lifts in operation here (5 cabins, 17 chair lifts, 16 poma lifts). They can transport over 58,000 skiers per hour. Of course there is a number of snow parks and a ski schools and you can even use approximately 40 km of cross-country ski trails.

Lifts in St.Anton-St.Christoph-Stuben runs from 8:45am to 4:15pm. Adult daily ski pass costs €45.50, and six-day ski pass costs €219.

An offer of après-ski activities in the village of Stuben can not even compare to the well known and famous St.Anton, the legendary town, which is the main site of an area. But anyway Stuben is still very nice and suitable for all types of skiers and offers really nice skiing in Austrian Alps with great view of the surrounding peaks.

For further information visit an official site of Stuben ski resort.

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Via Lattea – Milky Way with 400 km of ski slopes in Italy

Claire — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:49:52 +0000

Via Lattea, which means “Milky Way” is a large ski centre, stretching at the Italian-French border, about 70 kilometres west of the city of Turin (Torino). Most of its territory lies on the Italian side, where are popular resorts like Sestriere, Sauze d’Oulx, Oulx, Sansicario, Cesana, Claviere and Pragelato. On French territory you can find Montgenèvre resort. The area of Via Lattea became much known in 2006 when it hosted many competitions during Turin Winter Olympics, for example, Alpine, Nordic and acrobatic skiing or sledging.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by raffaele sergi

Area of Via Lattea boasts in total 400 km of ski slopes, which are situated in the mountains at an altitude of 1350 – 2823 meters above sea level. There are 200, mainly red, interconnected pistes, from which you definitely should not miss the Olympic slopes located in Sestriere or Sansicariu. Another resort of Pragelato is a place of the Olympic cross-country trails. You can try a total of 79 lifts here that are able to transport more than 105,000 skiers within an hour.

Via Lattea offers several snow parks, ski schools and have over 30 restaurants directly on the slopes. An offer of après-ski activities in the area of Via Lattea is fully sufficient thanks to shops, bars and restaurants where you can taste the specialties of delicious local cuisine. Those, who are even after returning from the skiing day still full of energy, can skate on ice rinks in the areas of Sestriere, Sauze d’Oulx and Claviere.

One day ski pass costs €20, if you are coming for more days, it is better to buy a ski pass that can be used on all of the 400km of slopes. For such 6-day ski pass you should pay €231.

For further details visit official site of Via Lattea.

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