For the best off-piste ski terrain in the ski resorts around Innsbruck, then it has to be either Nordpark or Axamer lizum.
off-piste / free riding nordpark
Nordpark (Seegrube) is the ski resort that is directly accessed from the city with a new underground transit system under development in 2006. The ski area is where most of the local Innsbruck skiers and boarders head to. The area is steep, the run down from the top station is reputed to be the steepest marked run in Europe – access points are plastered with warning signs, alerting the user to the dangers. There is no denying that some of the chutes that drop down from the peak are fearsome. In new snow, then the battle to get on the cable car is near war-like since the prize awaits those in the first ride up, very steep powder runs. Below the mid station at Seegrube that terrains falls away again to produce further, steep ski terrain. If you can handle the agro of getting up to the top station then the rewards on the right day can be great. Without powder then the runs down are simply steep, another reason for some to venture up.
off-piste / free riding axamer lizum
A more low-key alternative to the Nordpark is Axamer Lizum. The ski area is predominantly intermediate but there are massive off-piste resources to keep the skier happy for days. There are some areas that are well sign posted as precarious and prone to avalanche, there are other that are easy to access and offer fantastic powder snow. The majority of the powder skiing takes place either side of the mountain railway that runs up to the top ski station, and on the other side of the womens downhill course, but the trees are other areas offer huge powder opportunities even many days after the last fresh snow.
