Ischgl, Austria/ Ski Canada Magazine

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How to bring winter in —and out — like a lion

From Elton John and Naomi Campbell in 1995 (didn’t know she could sing, or either of them could ski), to Onerepublic and Rita Ora in 2025 (had to ask my kids who she was), nowhere else in the ski world can open and close winter every season like party girl Ischgl.

For more than three decades, the world doyen of après ski, in the heart of Austria’s Tirol region, has built an incredible musical rep offering free concerts for those holding a three-day ski pass.

Music to start winter (in town) and close winter (in the alpine) sees bum-slapping lederhosen and pushup bra’d dirndl mix with Gore-Tex, moonboots, furs and Snik. And the play list is enviable: Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Sting Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Black Eye Peas, Simply Red, George Ezra, Katie Perry (before she hooked up with snowboarder Justin), even Nickleback in 2013.

Ski Canada’s visit in late November just happened to coincide with some delicious early season storms that had Instruction Editor Nigel Harrison, yours truly, and local mountain guide Stefan Siegele from Skischule-Ischgl both squealing and swearing through our powder snorkels as we took our first turns of the season in knee-deep, cold, blower. Untracked mmmmmmm.

A short bootpack or half-hour skin from one of several lifts in the Silvretta’s arsenal of 46 (the Silvretta Arena domain includes Ischgl and border neighbour Samnaun, Switzerland) made our iPhone photos and videos look like we were heli-skiing at Wiegele World. It also sometimes left us forgetting it was November. Despite the vast majority of runs (240kms) being in excellent shape from snowmaking and grooming, off-piste reminders that it was still early season in the backcountry came in the form of hidden sharkfins, with the area’s geology leaving its signature in our P-tex. I’d brought my old skis but Nigel outwitted me (for once) by renting.

As the three of us, virtually alone in the pristine alpine powder took in the dreamy low-angled early season sun, the scene was in total juxtaposition to the activity going on at lower elevations.

November après ski, starts early and goes full monty, especially when surrounded by Rita groupies from Britain champing at the bit. Tearing Nigel away from the boobie girls free-pouring SNOW Tequilla shots at the infamous bar Schatzi below the opulent 5-star Elizabeth Arthotel, we headed for the solace of playing naked lost-and-found, literally, in the labyrinth of the colossal multi-level Silvretta Therme spa. (This is the same Therme spa that’s coming to Toronto’s Ontario Place…somebody had to do the research.)

Other non-ski Ischgl activities include comparing the culinary delights of Restaurant Prenner vs. an eight-course prix fixe menu at the Michelin two-star Stüva. From no stars to five stars, family owned hotels and businesses continue to dominate the local economy, even the ski school is a co-op. And if you squint, it’s possible to imagine influential Ischgl as a sleepy little steep-canyoned farm town that got its first ski lift in 1963 and supplemented its economy by smuggling contraband from Switzerland as late as the 1990s. Ischgl may now be on the Ikon Pass but its heart will always be Austrian.