Mayrhofen
“Big area, with some decent freeriding, and maybe the best park in Austria. Has a big British seasonaire contingent, and the home of Snowbombing and the Altitude festivals.”
Mountain stats
Top lift:2500m
Vertical drop:1870m
Bottom lift:630m
Lift count :
1 x Cable-cars
4 x Gondolas
16 x Chairlifts
19 x Drag-lifts
157km of pistes
Easy
Intermediate
Advanced
Total Pistes:109
Longest Piste:9km
Pass (Low/High Season) : £29.43 Day, £143.90 Week
In the early days, Mayrhofen had the reputation of being a bit of a hard boot carver’s place; this has changed however, and today there’s a large number of freeriders and freestylers checking out the terrain. Having a Burton Park located in the centre of the resort helps quite a lot to attract all the low-pant wearing boarders. For the not so advanced freestylers they have some smaller kickers and rails just next to the one for the big guys.
For those staying in the centre of Mayrhofen, the only way up and down is the Penkenbahn gondola as it is not possible to board back into Mayrhofen. Even though the lift is high speed, there can still be big queues early in the day. To avoid the crowds you can take the free ski bus to the Finkenberg or Mühlbach Gondolas or stroll over to the 160-person cable-car that’ll take you to the beginner haven of Ahorn. A Taxi to/from the Horbergbahn (Mühlbach) costs 10 euros and takes 10 mins, last ski bus back to Mayhrhofen at 5pm. Finkenberg lift a 15 min drive away
Take Schneekar lift and visit the Schneekarhütte restaurant at the top of a nice black run (Route 17). It still has a big log fire and good food which can be washed down with all sorts of organic schnapps.
Hintertux is a 20km drive further down the valley and is included if you get the Zillertal 3000 pass, this is the only resort in Austria to be open 365 days a year. Another nice place for a day trip is the small resort of Kaltenbach. This place often has lots of untracked powder after a dump because no one goes there! You can also take the same train to Zell am Ziller, and then a bus or taxi to their lift. Unfortunately your Super Zillertal pass isn’t valid here, but it is still worth a visit as it is a large area linked to Gerlos and Konigsleiten, which is famous for its tree runs.