Hotels near Olympia Damenabfahrt, Axamer Lizum

Axamer Lizum staged the women's downhill at both the 1964 and the 1976 Winter Olympics, and the course they raced is still skied daily as the Olympia Damenabfahrt. It falls 780 vertical metres over 3.5 kilometres from the Hoadl summit at 2,340 metres, and the Innsbruck tourism board now grades it intermediate rather than black, so a confident red-run skier can hold a clean line from top to bottom. The Hoadlbahn ten-seat gondola delivers you to the start in a single ride. Around it sit 40.7 kilometres of piste on nine lifts, with 136 snow cannons covering roughly 85 percent of the terrain.

Axamer Lizum lies about 19 kilometres southwest of Innsbruck, a 30-minute drive up through Axams, and the season usually opens in late November and closes in early April depending on snow. Ski bus line 412 runs Innsbruck to Völs, Kematen and Götzens, Birgitz, Axams and the valley station in roughly 40 minutes. The Olympic record is summarised on Wikipedia.

Pro Tip: Ski the Olympia Damenabfahrt before 11:00, because the lower third faces the morning sun and softens quickly by March. For bumps afterwards, drop onto the Birgitzköpfl run, 2 kilometres and 475 vertical metres of moguls top to bottom.