December 3, 2007

Europe | Austria | Innsbruck

Innsbruck: On the Up and Up

By Gillian Ivory

Go from Prada to piste in minutes thanks to a new Zaha Hadid-designed cableway.

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If you’ve yet to hear of “alpine fusion,” you need to head to Innsbruck — Europe’s shining new star for connecting man, nature and architecture. Yesterday, the capital of the Austrian Alps (and twice host of the Winter Olympics) launched a revolutionary rail and gondola link forming the continent’s first city-center cableway. Designed by Pritzker prize-winner Zaha Hadid, the system gets skiiers from downtown to up-mountain in under half-an-hour. The first phase joins the Hungerburg part of the city to the Nordkette mountain peak, while in 2008 a year-round funicular will connect the heart of the historic city with the gondola in just six minutes. Which means you can quaff a gluhwein at 7,500 feet before shooting downtown, where some high-end retail therapy awaits. If skiing at high altitude doesn’t suffice then book yourself into lofty lodgings at the AlpinResort Kuhtai. Opening December 22, Austria’s highest health resort is 6,600 feet above sea level and 21 miles from the center of Innsbruck. Outside you can glide straight from the piste to your own private terrace, while inside you can retreat to a plush, sun-flooded apartment with open fire.