Skiing In Zell am See And Kaprun

Zell am See and Kaprun together form the Europa Sportregion, 54 lifts and 130 km. (80 miles) of pistes, which includes both The Schmittenhole Mountain at Zell am See and the nearby Kitzsteinhorn Mountain and Glacier a short bus ride away at Kaprun.

There are great pistes for intermediates as well as some challenges for the advanced skier - especially those used for the regional downhill races and the World Cup Run!

The Kitzsteinhorn glacier has wide-open bowl skiing the year round, while the majority of Zell am See’s Schmittenhöhe slopes sweep down through the trees.

Intermediate Skiing

Zell am See is outstanding for intermediates; its network of pistes and connecting lifts offers new challenges and different aspects to the slopes as you work your way across the area.

Beginners Skiing

For the beginner there are two nursery at the bottom of the Schmittenhole. Both are covered by snow cannons and a full lift pass is not required to use them.

There are also plenty of beginners run on both mountains.

Advanced Skiing

For the advanced skier there are steeper more direct descents from the top of the Schmittenhole, the glacier at Kaprun, where there are also challenging intermediate runs and there is also some great off piste skiing to be found.

The Kitzsteinhorn glacier

The Kitzsteinhorn glacier is an easy intermediate area. Though there are ultra wide, gradual runs, the vast number of skiers and the altitude make it an intimidating experience for the beginner.

Experts will have to search for ravines (renne) or gullies (wassarkar) to the sides of the groomed pistes for bumps and steeps filled with powder.

None of the black pistes in Zell am See would be classed as extreme.

Blacks 13 and 14 both have long verticals drops, are very quiet and usually have very good snow. They're probably comparable to difficult reds in France.

Black 15 is the other black piste which goes down to the bottom of the Schmittenhohebahn. This is the only run down from the top on the Sonnenalm side of the mountain, and accordingly, gets quite a lot of people traffic, so it can be quite icy. It starts off as a gentle cat track before it becomes quite steep and icy.

Black 21 is in the Sonnenalm area, it is very wide and not particularly steep for a black piste; it is probably your best bet if you want to practice your carving or if you like to build up your speed (the whole of the Sonnenalm is like this, so is really nice if you class yourself as an intermediate).

Black 6 is extremely fun if you like powder skiing, as there is a lot of easily accessible tree skiing to the side of it under the nearby Kettingbahn chairlift.

Black 11 is the piste that leads into Zell am See itself; so if you want to avoid taking the bus or using a flat blue cat track you'll end up here at some point. This piste can often be quite crowded and icy, definitely one to take care on at the end of the day.