Opening of the World Cup alpine skiing season in Soelden

Traditionally the World Cup races in alpine skiing started in Sölden, Austria in late October, and traditionally we were there again. Apart from following the women's and men's giant slalom races we had time to ski, take photos and enjoy the gorgeous, sunny weather in the Alps.

Early in the morning, on the road leading up to the Rettenbach glacier:


At the top, looking back into the valley:


A newly built reservoir for snow making:










Friday was skiing just for fun, but on Saturday and Sunday it was all (ok, mostly) about the races.










More photos can be found here.

Photos from my Sölden trips in 2008 and 2009.

World Cup alpine ski races in Soelden

The skiing season has begun. Like last year we went to Sölden to watch the GS races, women's on Saturday and men's on Sunday. There was more snow than last year and the surrounding mountains were also snowcapped. Skiing wasn't that fantastic because of the fresh snow not being compact yet, but the weather was great (well, a short overcast spell made for more dramatic photos :) and the atmosphere rocked.

Frosty Saturday morning.

More than frosty, actually. ;)

Along the women's GS course.

Fog was creeping all the way up around the peaks.

Fish-eye view of the course.

Sparkling.

Crevasses in the glacier.

Following the snow groomer.

The Rettenbach glacier with the course and finish arena.

In front of the press center, looking down towards the valley.

Fans in the finish arena.

The winner, Tanja Poutiainen, at the press center.

Tina Maze.

We had a gorgeous view from our apartment balcony - the whole valley and the village of Sölden was at our feet. As you can see, the larches weren't really yellow yet.

Alpenglow with a rising moon.

Beautiful blue skies on Sunday morning when the men's GS race started.

The finish arena from the top of the slope.

An interesting layer of clouds.

A viewing platform at the top of the Tiefenbach glacier. In a matter of minutes the sky was overcast.

Posing and taking photos.

Red rocks at the Tiefenbach glacier.

Hot-air balloons and the course.

The podium: Ted Ligety, Didier Cuche and Carlo Janka.

Ted Ligety at the press conference.

Many, many more photos here. :)
We had fun and hopefully we're returning in 2010!

World Cup races in Soelden

In late October we drove to Sölden, a little village in the valley of Ötztal in western Austria to see the first alpine skiing World Cup races of the season. I don't have the right equipment to shoot races, so I focused more on the beautiful surroundings of the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers. The weather was perfect the whole weekend, sunny and just the right temperature.



People were watching the race along the ski slope.

Looking down the Rettenbach glacier:

The first run of the women's GS:

The view of the ski slope from the top was quite interesting:

Riding the skilift:

On the other side of a mountain the Tiefenbach glacier appears to be even vaster than Rettenbach:

Coming out of the shade:

There is a viewing platform with beautiful views over the surrounding mountains.

A snowmaking gun, a parking lot and a reservoir:

My shadow :)

On Sunday men raced in GS:

The winners on the podium: Didier Cuche, Daniel Albrecht and Ted Ligety:

Ted Ligety at the press conference:

I took many many more photos. Some can be seen here.