Firn skiing on 3m of snow at the Stubai Glacier

Even at the end of May the Stubai Glacier is boasting 3m of snow after a winter that just never seemed to stop snowing. A couple of lifts were closed for scheduled maintenance yesterday on the Stubai Glacier but the ski area still comprised over 30km of ski pistes and whilst the snow got heavy in the late afternoon sun, morning skiing on the Stubai Glacier offers firn snow skiing as the frozen granular snow melts forming a soft and even top layer. Skiing on the Stubai Glacier runs throughout the year but for weather disruptions. Despite the holiday over here there were very few people on the Stubai Glacier on the 21st, you did however get chance to see the racers of the future with the Tirol youth race team training on the Daunferner.

I will try and get a few more days in this summer, especially when the temperatures drop again and we get fresh snow on the glacier – this happens each year and with hardly any crowds if you time it right the late, late season powder skiing can be outstanding. I skied the Stubai Glacier on Thursday with a guy from the Mid West USA who flew over to get a look at the glacier skiing over here. He was used to seeing grass when the temperatures got warmer, all you could see on the Stubai Glacier was snow, ice and rock.