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Austrian Ski Resorts
My first visit to an Austrian ski resort was, it’s fair to say, some years ago now as a 10 year old boy, experiencing my second skiing trip in my life.
The resort was Ramsau am Dachstein in the Austrian state of Styria.
We stayed in a beautiful traditional Austrian hotel that I re-visited recently. The hotel sits directly below the imposing Dachstein Glacier, close to the cable car station.
It was great to return after many years and see that little had changed over the years.
Visiting Austria for the first time was the start of a great love of this wonderful and most beautiful country.
Skiing Austria
I have skied many of the ski resorts and areas in Austria over the years. Recently I spent nearly 4 months touring well over 30 resorts in the Tyrol and Salzburgerland.
In this article I’ll highlight some of the key experiences I had during the tour. It will be an honest and candid look at the resorts and not some glossy magazine viewpoint.
My Favourite Austrian Ski Resorts
Ramsau am Dachstein
We’ll “ski off” with the first ski resort I visited all those years ago. Ramsau am Dachstein, plus a look at the ski area in general.
My second time here was spent in February 2020. Little had changed since my first visit all those years ago.
The cable car station is still exactly the same as it was when they built it at the end of the 1960s. With one exception, the actual cable car had been updated a few years ago into a high tech, space age looking car.
Dachstein Glacier
The most impressive aspect of Ramsau is of course the Dachstein Glacier.
It’s a 20 minute drive up a windy old road from the centre of Ramsau itself, but its worth drive. Just make sure you have winter tyres fitted to suit the driving conditions and snow chains are not a bad idea to carry.
I would suggest visiting the glacier when the weather is favourable to experience the spectacular views from the top. Take a look at my skiing video of the Dachstein glacier below. I made sure the weather was ideal for my skiing trip as you will see in the video.
The Dachstein Glacier truly is a magical place to ski. An intermediate skier will ski the entire glacier in several hours with ease, but its the views and ambiance that make it a memorable skiing experience.
Austrian Charm
The village of Ramsau itself is tiny, but does have some notable restaurants. The village is one of the great Austrian gems within the Ski Amade ski region.
If you like your visit to Austria to have maximum traditional charm then Ramsau will not disappoint.
Schladming
Following on from Ramsau is the town of Schladming. Only a 15 minute drive away from Ramsau via a switchback narrow road.
Schladming is quite a large town for Austrian standards with a population of over 6500.
It has many bars, restaurants and is renowned for its apres ski.
There’s a tonne of skiing to be had here, over 3 mountains, plus its part of the Ski Amade region as well, so a ski pass for the whole region means you have around 860 km of piste to choose from.
Apres ski in Schladming
I’d say it’s more suited to people that like to party and enjoy a broad range of restaurants and bars to choose from. It’s worth noting that it can be expensive for food and drink inside the many mountain huts.
I personally found the skiing to be all very similar. Long and wide red ski runs, mostly going from the top of the mountain to the valley. There’s a few scenic blue runs through the trees but not too many.
This is a ski resort that party people will enjoy and don’t mind spend extra cash for food and drinks.
Watch the ski video below of me skiing a fairly short red ski slope on the Planai mountain in Schladming.
Werfenweng Family Ski Resort
2020 ski season was my first visit to Werfenweng in Austria. I didn’t really know what to expect, however I was in for a surprise.
Over the years I’ve skied most of the big ski resorts and regions. I used to be more interested in the number of kilometres of piste a ski resort had to offer rather than other factors.
This where Werfenweng was a surprise. Only having just under 30 km of piste, at first glance it looks as though after 2 days of skiing I’d start to find it all a bit repetitive. I was wrong, the skiing kept me going for 5 days of psiste enjoyment.
Why you may ask? Well it was down to the diversity of the skiing itself. Plus the views and mountain huts. I absolutely loved my time Werfenweng.
Werfenweng family skiing
On this trip I was skiing alone. I did however watch the ski school in action and spoke to several families about heir experience with skiing in Werfenweng as a family. They all gave the resort a massive thumbs of approval for providing a top family ski resort experience.
The video below shows the ski slope from the top of the mountain and into the village. It took me nearly 20 minutes to ski. Check out the stunning views on the way.
St. Johann in Tirol
St Johann in Tirol for a large town of over 9500 population has that Austrian charm that anyone visiting this beautiful country will want to experience in abundance.
The town itself has kept that authentic tyrollean feel, blended with a vibrant apres ski. That makes this Austrian ski resort a real joy to experience.
What it’s like to ski St Johann in Tirol
There is around 60 km of piste in St. Johann In Tirol, plus the 2 small villages of Oberndorf and Eichenhof. All are connected with an efficient lift system.
On paper 60 km of skiing doesn’t sound a lot, but it’s the diversity of ski runs that will make for an enjoyable week. I wouldn’t recommend it to skiers who like to stretch themselves, it’s more for enjoying the Tyrolean ambience in the many ski huts and taking in the stunning alpine views.
Enjoying reasonably priced food and drink on the slopes from the many ski huts is one of the highlights of St Johann in Tirol.
Take a look this beautiful town if you like to take it easy with a blend of good diverse skiing and plenty of traditional Austrian food and drink.
Zell am See
If you do a search for ski resorts in Austria, Zell am See will be one of the first names that you come across. A very popular ski resort with families, groups of young people and anyone who likes their skiing to be catered for with a huge amount of piste.
The Ski Alpin ski lift pass covers not only Zell am See but also includes Kaprun and Saalbach Hinterglemm. That’s a huge 408 km of piste ski slope.
Zell am See is a charming Austrian town with a variety of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars. Located on lake Zell, there are spectacular views across the lake both in summer and winter.
There is so much skiing in this region, even the most seasoned skier will find enough variety of piste to keep them challenged and occupied.
Ski Bus Service
The ski bus service, as with almost all of the countries ski bus network is both well connected and efficient. I’d suggest spending at least a day skiing both Kaprun and Saalbach Hinterglemm too if you have chance.
A video says a thousands words, so take a look at my ski video I filmed on one particular day skiing in Zell am See and you’ll hopefully get a feel for what it’s actually like to ski the resort.
