Mayrhofen, Austria

Brighty (Chief Fraggle) from UNITED KINGDOM writes:

I have been boarding for 12 years and have been fortunate for the last 3 to be engaged to a girl from Mayrhofen.

Mayrhofen is a fantastic ski area, especially if you have the ability to be able to get away from the busier areas, as the few learner slopes in the peak season are an absolute nightmare and should be avoided at all costs. For the intermediates and above the whole area is a bit of a playground and there is wide and various boarding/ skiing available.

Firstly, avoid penkenbahn unless you like the crowds. horbergbahn or finkenberg are a lot more relaxing and all end up in the same place pretty much as the areas are all linked.

Loads of great off piste stuff, but can be prone to the odd avalanche which has seen the demise of a few people recently, especially at the back of the 150 gondola.

And for you explorers, Mayrhofen is just the beginning and also the busiest. within 15 minutes car/ bus journey (buses are free by the way) you have Rammsberg, gerlos, Kaltenbach, fugen, hoch fugen. You can get one card to cover the lot. Horberg, gerlos and Kaltenbach all have superb Tal abfahrts (way down to the valley) but you need a certain level of ability and best to tap up a local if you want to stay safe. Kaltenbach and hoch fugen can be powder heaven on a good day but well worth being the first up on the lift it snows overnight.

Anyway could ramble on for hours. Top tip is go and try Zillertal valley (The whole area name) go up Penken but don't stay there all week/season. get on the free bus and go and try the other areas as well. oh and stay away from the local schnapps as it is rocket fuel.........

see you on the slopes

2006-12-16