After a long night of rain, the clouds parted this morning to reveal snow covering the Nordkette mountain range overlooking Innsbruck, Austria today. This was just one of the sure signs of fall this past week. You can visit Seefeld and Innsbruck this winter on the 2022 Lumi Experiences Seefeld & Engadin trip!  (psst...all of the other Lumi guided trips this winter are already sold out! Email info@lumiexperiences.com for 2023 dates)

Fall means dryland training and ski clinics. Last weekend, Lumi trip leader Raphi invited me to help coach a fall clinic in Seefeld. In winter, I’m in Seefeld almost every day. But it’s been a while since I’ve been there recently. Driving into town, it was refreshing to see hotels with full parking lots and restaurant patios filled with diners. Everyone seems eager and ready for the ski season ahead. In the winter, Seefeld has over 250 km of groomed trails, connecting a half-dozen villages and countless trailside huts where skiers can stop for a warm meal and cold drinks. In the fall, Seefeld has a 3 km rollerski loop, free from cars and full of panoramic views--the perfect place to host a fall ski clinic. We taught a variety of rollerski agility drills, then put them all together in an agility course, similar to the one built for the REG Camp at GMVS. We worked on balance progressions, starting on the grass, then moving onto rollerskis and pavement so that everyone felt confident as they built their new skills. By the end of the day, participants were bouncing confidently on their skis and more ready for winter.

Another sign of fall is seeing the USA Nordic Combined team training in Tyrol. Seefeld is one of the USA Nordic team’s European base camps in the winter. I love getting out to watch them jump and to explore new trails with them. On occasion, they jump the famous Bergisel Ski Jump overlooking Innsbruck. The venue is where the opening ceremonies were hosted for the 1976 Olympic Games. The jump was remodeled in 2003, designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid to represent the flowing glaciers in the surrounding Alps. It is a stunning landmark visible from almost everywhere in the city. The top of the jump even has an indoor restaurant where you can have breakfast while enjoying panoramic views of Innsbruck and the Nordkette range. Even more thrilling was standing at the top of the in-run with the jumpers as they dropped into the K-120 jump. A near perfect day with no wind and blue skies, many of the jumpers were landing beyond the 120 meter K-point, meaning they were jumping further than a football field, goalpost to goalpost...boding well for good things to come in the Olympic winter ahead.

As summer turns to fall, it’s already too late to sign up for most Lumi trips to Europe this winter -- they’re almost all sold out. We do still have limited availability on the 2022 Lumi Experiences Seefeld & Engadin trip, where you can ski in Seefeld and visit the Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruck. Visit lumiexperiences.com to see all our trips or email info@lumiexperiences.com for 2023 dates.

See you on the trail!
Garrott