Axamer Lizum
A small but thriving ski resort, Axamer Lizum can trace its success back to its development for the 1964 Olympic Winter Games.
The venue for all the Alpine skiing events in 1964, with the exception of the men’s downhill, the resort has built up a reputation for delivering consistently good conditions, and attracts skiers and snowboarders of all ages.
Axamer Lizum lies 20 kilometres south west of Innsbruck, at an altitude of between 1,600 and 2,340 metres. One of Austria’s snowiest resorts, it is known as Innsbruck’s White Roof, a reference to the city’s famous Golden Roof landmark. The resort is served by 10 cable cars and lifts and has around 40 kilometres of groomed slopes, some of which are named after the Olympic races they hosted in 1964. Axamer Lizum is also the training centre for the Tyrolean Ski Instructors’ Association, which represents the interests of more than 300 Tyrolean ski schools and 7,000 ski and snow sport instructors.
Axamer Lizum was an underdeveloped site prior to the 1964 Olympic Winter Games, when a hotel, roads, a car park and new chairlifts were built for it to welcome the world. The venue was also used for the 1976 Games, when it again hosted all the Alpine events except the men’s downhill. The number of overnight stays at the resort increased by over 1,000 per cent between 1960 and 1977, a period in which overnight stays across the Tirol region as a whole rose by 78 per cent.