Niederösterreich

Steep face freeskiing is not only possible in Chamonix! The "Eastern Alps" also have a lot to offer in this category, although they often receive less attention than the better-known destinations further west. The book "Ski Extrem Guide. Steilwände und Normalanstiege auf 78 Gipfel in der Steiermark, Niederösterreich und Salzburg" by Michael and Hannes Pichler and Peter Kolland (2013) offers a comprehensive overview of the classical routes as well as more exotic destinations in the region. A clear recommendation!

I keep waking up and staring at a white, uneven ceiling. The air around me is cold and only a red light illuminates the room. There are three other people lying next to me, all wrapped up in bivouac bags and sleeping bags and protected as best they can with winter clothing. When I fall asleep again, I dream of shoveling snow for hours. Sometimes I feel slightly panicky and cramped.

While it is now certain that the FWT will kick off its season between February 9 and 16, 2017 with two contests in Vallnord-Arcalís (Andorra) due to the lack of snow in Chamonix, the only 1* qualifier event took place in the very east of the Alps last weekend. Rider reporter Stephanie was there for us and took part in the event, which is designed to help newcomers to contest freeriding, among other things:

When Ullr orders a Melange and a snowfall for five euros for the bus driver at the tobacconist, you know that it will only snow in the east of Austria.

The Tauern highway marks the eastern end of the Alps. At least that's what many freeriders from Germany, Switzerland or even Scandinavia think. Only the very daring venture a few kilometers further east from there to satisfy their addiction on the slopes of salt mines. But beyond that, the wide, wild east really begins. Some even believe that the mountain ranges of this largely unknown region already belong to the Balkans. But what does it really look like beyond this ominous "border"? As a native of this area (which long ago formed the heartland of a country called Kakania, a fact that the region still can't quite hide today), I would like to contribute a little to the clarification of this ski-geographical no man's land and pay tribute to its characteristics from a freeriding perspective in the form of a small photo reportage.

From the summit of the Göller, the parade ski mountain of the eastern edge of the Alps, the Schneeberg (at 2076 m the highest mountain in Lower Austria), shows its gentle side. This mountain offers such diverse terrain that it even has its own up-to-date ski guide with a total of 200 descents and variants on 240 pages. This mountain was first climbed on skis in 1895, again by the well-known Toni Schruf.