Nord Park
Author: Ansis Egle0 COMMENTS
Innsbruck is one of the most affordable and reachable snowboarding destinations in Europe. Great majority of its inhabitants (up to 60-70%) are students, which perhaps is a reason why it's not a problem to find friendly-priced flight and accommodation offers there. Apart from the youthful and energizing atmosphere, a great deal of attractiveness of this Tyrolean town with a little over 100 thousand inhabitants lies in its affordability. You can meet young people on every step there from all over the world, wherever people are familiar with snowboarding. You can soak up new impressions and meet new people every day there. It appears that most of them have selected Innsbruck among other places because there you can hit the slopes of fresh powder snow every single day. We met an Australian guy who worked in a local bar, and the only thing he was looking forward was freshly fallen snow up in the mountains.
Innsbruck, a two-time Olympic host, was a major centre of snowboarding before it went mainstream and before many superb snowboarding resorts mushroomed in France, Italy and elsewhere. Innsbruck gathered all the leading snowboarding organizations, producers, professionals and enthusiasts. The Air&Style, the world famous annual snowboard event, was first held in Innsbruck and ever since takes place there. It's a representation of the living history and the most advanced, modern-day version of this sport (www.air-style.com). Although its fame as a snowboarding hot spot has somewhat faded, the small Austrian town is still a superb starting point for all the devotees of this sport. Suffice it to say that nine great ski and snowboard resorts are sited within a short reach from the town, Nord Park (Nordkette) being one of them. You just have to hop on a ski-lift 3 minutes from a hotel to reach the highest point of the resort (2256m). It may take a slightly longer time, depending on where exactly you are staying, but it's almost within a stone's throw anyway! The first stop is a zoo, and the next one - Nord Park.
A comparatively small resort gets crowded only during the hours when freshly fallen powder covers the slopes. Otherwise you can breathe freely - Nord Park offers plenty of routes to pick from with no hindrance whatever. There is also a very good ramp, perfect kickers and a breathtaking view on the town. You can speed through the forest, down freshly covered by snow "highways" (wide slopes connecting pistes), and suddenly, behind a bend, a fantastic panorama of the Tyrolean town opens up. Innsbruck literally spreads at your very feet! There is a good reason why the most gorgeous Innsbruck townscapes are taken from the top of the Nord Park. Follows a stretch of wood, a glimpse of the town and wood again, and so on and on, down to the very hotel.
Nord Park terraces may turn out to be rather steep for beginners but are perfectly suitable for well-seasoned snowboarders.