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On the Stubai Glacier, 30 minutes from Innsbruck, skiers flock from all over the world to carve the everlasting ice and work on their tans.

The sun glistens on the surrounding peaks, bright and warm. Skiers pause, lean on their poles, turn their faces to the sun and close their eyes, hoping they too will bloom like new spring flowers, dormant the long, cold winter. They take off their gloves, tie their jackets around their waists, and shush down to the Gamsgarten (Goat’s Garden) restaurant for a cold drink and to soak up some rays.

Outside the restaurant, the lunchtime reverie is constantly interrupted by the removal of clothing. Ski jackets are slung over chairs, fleeces are unzipped and white chests exposed to the alpine sun. The braces of ski pants flap around as people moonwalk in their ski boots, searching for a deck chair facing the sun or looking for their friends who, at the top of the run, had turned left when the arrangement had been to turn right; the black runs always look easier from the chair lift.

Around the picnic tables, skiers smile and laugh. Their faces are brown and dry, with perfect half moon tan lines under their eyes from their sunglasses. When they smile, which they often do, crow’s feet grip the corners of their eyes. The sun is harsh at this altitude, and coupled with the glare off the glacier, the skin can take a beating. In the winter, it’s not so bad. Then again, in winter, it’s also freezing; too cold to enjoy a beer on the deck, or to strip down to just a t-shirt.

Nestled in the heart of the Austrian province of Tirol, the Stubai Glacier is Austria’s largest glacier ski resort, offering year round skiing. With four glaciers, the skiable terrain in the middle of summer is comparable with most winter ski resorts. The snow gets slushy by lunchtime, sometimes earlier if the weather is really warm, but nobody cares. They are not here for powder runs or world class pistes. They come to the Stubaital because this is skiing minus all the discomforts. Leave the thermals at home, forget the woolly hat and the three pairs of socks, and instead, don stylish sunglasses and a shirt.

The ski resorts of Tirol attract millions of visitors every winter. Each village has its own chair lift or gondola starting from the town centre. By April, everyone is skied out; sick of frozen toes, smelly ski gloves and long lift lines. This means, come summer on the Stubai Glacier, the slopes are practically empty. No lines, no hordes of skiers in neon jumpsuits, no jammed gondolas or crammed car parks, but blue skies, vacant slopes and long days. This is the kind of skiing people dream about when they ride the lifts in winter, their pants stuck to the frozen seats and the tips of their fingers numb; how it would be to ski in July.

“It’s absolutely great,” says Thilo Schwarz of Nuremberg. “A much more relaxed atmosphere. We came here last year for Christmas and you couldn’t find a piste to ski there were so many people. And not a seat here either.”

Thilo and his wife, Ute, are drinking Weizenbier at a picnic table outside the Jochdohle 3000, the restaurant on the top of the glacier that overlooks the surrounding peaks. The building is suspended from the cliff by cables, so when the glacier goes down, the restaurant literally hangs.

“And look at this,” says Ute, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt and showing me her brown arms, “I got this colour in three days. You could never get that in Majorca. Sure, the snow is not so good, but at least you have more of a chance to enjoy the skiing because there are not so many people.”

Ute smiles and looks south over the peaks. The sky is a pale blue that hurts the eyes. She looks hard and jokes that she can see Venice. But it’s not necessary to see that far, because the surrounding peaks offer a breathtaking view. Ute and Thilo drain their beers and shush down the unskied side of the mountain, towards a seldom used chair lift; it faces the sun and the seats on the lift will surely be toasty warm. It’s only 2pm; there’s plenty of time left, and the high comfort level of summer skiing means neither needs to go back to the hotel to shower and get warm.

The best entry point to the Stubaital Valley is Innsbruck. This delightful city has earned a reputation as being solely a ski town, having hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, but deserves more recognition as a European destination beyond its neon jumpsuit stereotype. The capital of Tirol spreads out along the Inn River and up the sides of the surrounding mountains. It is as picturesque as first time visitors to Austria could imagine, causing even the staunchest plainsman to cry out, ‘The hills are alive.’

Innsbruck’s appeal lies in its unique combination of culture, sport and nature. No ski town can boast an opera, 35 churches, 18 museums, a royal palace and castle, and an award winning convention centre. The local university has over 30,000 students, lending the 800 year-old city a youthful air. There are also three cable cars that whisk you away to the tops of the surrounding peaks. At the top of the Nordkettenbahn cable car is a restaurant, offering a panoramic view of the city, the mountains, and the valley.

Innsbruck prospered after 1420, when the Habsburg family acquired Tirol and Duke Friedrich IV moved the royal residence to the capital. He recognized the importance of the city as an east-west and north-south throughway, but also fell in love with Tirol. When Maximilian I took power in 1490, he made the city the heart of the German Empire, as well as its administrative and cultural centre. Maximilian was famous for his large nose, and it is prominent in all his pictures and statues. He was proud of his snout and wanted the world to recognize him for it. He built the Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) with the same ambition, to create an architectural status symbol people would know the world over. The roof, with 2,657 copper and gold tiles, is in the centre of the old town and Innsbruck’s main tourist attraction.

The old town is a delight to walk around. The narrow cobblestone streets are free of traffic and every alley is worthy of exploration, leading to old courtyards and speciality shops. Rising above it all is the Stadtturm (City Tower). From the top, a glorious view of the city and surrounding villages can be enjoyed. Also worth a visit is the Imperial Palace, with its impressive royal rooms and artworks.

The summer offers a wide range of outdoor activities in Innsbruck and the surrounding villages: golf, tennis, horse riding, bob sledding, mountain biking, rafting, bungee jumping from the Europa Bridge, everything is possible. The Innsbruck Alpine School also runs free guided hiking tours for all ages. The weather is warm, and there are several lakes for swimming.

Of the many summer festivals and events in Innsbruck, the traditional End of Grazing Season Festival is especially popular. This normally takes place in the middle of September, when the local cows return from the alpine pastures to the valley. The cows are dressed up with floral wreaths and big shiny bells, and parade through the hosting village. Everyone then gathers under a big marquee to drink beer, listen to traditional brass music and sample hearty specialities prepared by the farmers’ wives.

The sheer abundance and diversity of opportunities in Innsbruck is overwhelming. Nowhere else in the world could you ski in July and then in the evening take in an opera. Sport mixes with culture the same way students share the Stubai ski lifts with pensioners, all with a backdrop of jagged peaks and thick forests. From slow meanderings through the old town to challenging alpine hikes to drinking a cold beer at 3,000 metres above sea level and then skiing back down, the summer in Innsbruck can offer it all.

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