Ski Touring in the Tuxer Alps

by Andy Dennis

A lesser-spotted U ̈bungsleiter seen posing in the sunshine

I discovered ski touring a few years ago, and this year I joined a trip led by Andrew Mills, one of the Club’s Übungsleiter ski tour leaders, in the Tuxer Alps area, near Innsbruck.

On a Saturday evening in March our group of AAC(UK) members met up at our hotel in Innsbruck for Andrew to check we all had the required equipment and brief us on the week ahead. I could tell you about us, but you’re more interested in the skiing, aren’t you?

On Sunday we went to a small ski area near Innsbruck called Glungezer. There was only one run open due to the wind, so we skied it all morning, trying to remember good ski technique so we’d survive when we got off-piste. After this came avalanche equipment drills, using skins and kick turns, to ensure we were ready to leave civilisation. On Monday morning we filled rucksacks with skins, shovel, probe and spare underpants. A minibus drove us out to the roadhead below the Weidener Hütte, but as the snow didn’t cover the track the guardian drove us up to the hut on a tracked quadbike. I went first with the luggage, clinging on to the bike and the pile of rucksacks so they didn’t fall off and scatter skis, poles and pants all over the track. When everyone had arrived we set off for a short ski tour, skinning along a path then heading up a hillside, practising our kick turns. The snow was a crust over soft snow, and when we started skiing down we discovered that this is rather challenging. Skis break through the crust, making turns almost impossible. We did traverses across the slope, and turned with downhill kick turns to zig-zag our way down the hill back to the hut.

The forecast for Tuesday was quite poor, with cloud and snowfall from midday. We set off in reasonable weather to climb Halslspitze (2574m). We skinned up the hillside, through the cloud. About halfway up, a large bank of thick cloud was rolling up the valley towards us. The summit was another two hours away, so the ski down could have been in zero visibility with thick cloud and snowfall. In fact, the clouds cleared again and the snowfall didn’t start until evening, but having left the crystal ball behind we took the sensible option. The ski down was the now familiar crust over soft snow, so it was traverses and kick turns again.

As forecast, it snowed heavily overnight and we woke on Wednesday morning to about 20cm of fresh snow. This was supposed to be the big day of the trip, with a long tour through the mountains to the Lizumerhütte. The avalanche risk had risen to 3, with cloud and snowfall all day, so touring wasn’t feasible. Andrew arranged to visit a ski resort for the day, so after breakfast we skied down from the hut. Snow covered the track all the way to the road now, and it was beautifully atmospheric skiing on fresh powder, past trees laden with snow. A minibus took us to the Glungezer ski resort, and this time the whole resort was open. There was some excellent powder to ski off the edge of the pistes, and although it continued snowing we had a brilliant day skiing in the fresh powder. Afterwards, a minibus took us up to a car park where we transferred to a 4wd minibus with chains on. This drove us up a steep snowy track through an army camp to get to the Lizumerhütte.

The sunshine returned on Thursday. Hooray! In the morning we skinned up some army training pistes and carried on to a col, where we left the skis and climbed up the last steep slope to the summit of Mölser Sonnenspitze (2493m). On the descent the snow was mostly good, varying a bit depending on the amount of sun exposure and we all enjoyed the ski back to the hut. We had a late lunch, then some of us headed out again up a small peak called Roßkopf. Skinning up was straightforward and beautiful in the afternoon sun, with superb views of the valley and surrounding mountains. It was a lovely ski down, seeking the slope aspects with the best snow.

On Friday we set off for our last day of the tour. We skinned up into the mountains to the summit of Torspitze (2663m), the highest point on the trip. Although the sun was shining the wind had picked up, so it felt a lot colder and the last section up to the summit felt like mountaineering. We didn’t linger on the summit, quickly stripping skins in the cold wind and preparing for the descent. Skiing down, some snow was good, and some was awkward crust. On a nice powdery section one of the group showed off a few good turns, then hit a rock just under the surface and did a beautifully executed face-plant. He was unhurt, but a gash in his ski will need some filler. After the open slopes of the summit, we made our way down through the trees to the valley. We poled across a field, skied down a track beside a river, and walked the last section out to the carpark, arriving two hours early for our taxi back to Innsbruck.

I had a super week and I’m grateful to Andrew for the effort he put into organising the trip and making it work even when the weather didn’t play. I enjoyed the skiing, I enjoyed the company, I improved my skiing and stayed in two really nice huts surrounded by fabulous scenery. If you want perfect pistes, ski touring may not be for you, but if you love the mountains get out there and enjoy them!

Left: Heading towards the summit of Torspitze; Right: The Lizumerhütte the day after fresh snowfall
by Andy Dennis

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