Snowsure: 4.6
- Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
- Is often closed due to a lack of snow
- Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
- Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
- Mayrhofen is snowsure even in the poorest seasons
Visitor reviews for Mayrhofen Ski Resort
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(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Latest
December 14, 2008
jimmy from
United Kingdom
jimmy from
United Kingdom
Went to Mayrhofen early on the 06/12.08 and it cost £200 B&B for a week at the Pension Steiner. Lovely, cute guest house and the couple that run it couldn't have been any nicer. Wicked snow and great slopes. I am an intermediate snowboarder and loved it. Off-piste was up to my waist and amazing on most runs, red 27 being out of this world for fresh tracks all day long. The night life at Mayrhofen was excellent. New Scotland Yard is a must as well as Mo's and Aproco. If you are a boarder then just go and remember red 27. If you get a lucky dump, you will never forget the super fast floaty powder; it's what dreams are made of.
March 10, 2008
samuel from
United Kingdom
samuel from
United Kingdom
Very good location, great snow and I thought the vans snowpark was very challenging as well as harakri. A bit icy but very entertaining. The night life is also very good considering Im 14 lol. buBt overall, a very good ski resort and had some great off-piste skiing there. Very rocky in the off-piste which made it that much better. I went from the 26th of Jan and came back on the 2nd of Feb. The transfer was not long at all (under 2 hours) so you can hit them slopes soon as you get there but not the best place for beginners unless in ski school.
February 03, 2008
Martin Johnston from
United Kingdom
Martin Johnston from
United Kingdom
Just got back form Mayrhofen 2 Feb 08 , first time to Austria, this was a great holiday. The weather was fantastic, once we got used to the bus system and found out where the best skiing was we skied every day and all day covering many miles. Staying in the Strolz Hotel, just on the fringes of the town was not a problem, the bus services stopped 100yrds from the hotel and dropped us off out side the Penkenbahn .
The town is fantastic, good night life, busy bars such as Sport bar that is really busy, but a great atmosphere. Mo's bar was another great place to sit and enjoy a great atmosphere with great bar staff.
For a smaller bar try the Piccadilly, good beer and a good place to wide down after a long day skiing.
I will be returning next year. Never got the time to travel up to Hintertux Glacier.
If you are a beginner try the Ahorn mountain; very good easy blues and one good red otherwise if you are a more advanced skier stay on the main ski runs up on the Penkenbahn.
Best weeks skiing I have had. Be aware of a long transfer from Salzburg that takes 3 hours. Don't let that put you off.
Have a great time in Mayrhofen.
Martin and friends.
January 24, 2008
Tony H from
United Kingdom
Tony H from
United Kingdom
I have just returned from my 4th visit to Mayrhofen, so you can work out for yourself what I think of the place. I have spent time in Mayrhofen in early Jan (2006 and 2008), late Feb (2007) and Christmas (2006). On each ocassion we were able to get in plenty of skiing, irrespective of how good or bad the conditions were, because the ski area is some 1200m above the village, and they do look after the slopes very well.
If you want to avoid queues at the Penken gondola lift in the morning, get down there between 8 and 8.15, or leave it until 9.30, but for me the idea of a ski holiday is to max the time on the slopes, so we were often up the top well before 8.30. Alternatively, take the free ski bus round to Finkenberg and take the gondola up from there, it is never busy.
Once at the top, the place is huge. I like to take the chair up the top, and ski down the front on red 1 or 11 a few times to warm up, and then head over the back into the bowl. Red 3 and 5 are lovely wide open but challenging runs down into the valley, from where a variety of chairs will take you in different directions. The Schneekaar chair takes you to the top of the Horberg, where red 27 is best first thing in the morning as it tends to get busy and cut up later on, and red 7 is a long and varied run back down into the bowl, with a good and popular cafe half way down. This is one of the best reds in the region, in my opinion.
The 150 man cable car, which you can get to by skiing through the board park, thus avoiding another chair and a drag, takes you to Raskogel, and it's much quieter over here, as well as usually being in the sun all day. The slopes are wide and long, reds and blues, and lovely cruising runs. If the conditions permit you, take the run all the way down to the track, red 2, which will lead you to the Vogelnest restaurant at the bottom of Eggalm, from where the chair takes you to the top of another quiet but spectacular ski area. There are some awesome reds to blast down here, and then you can make your way to the bottom of the blue, and back up Rastkogel on the gondola. However, the only other way back to Penken skiing, if you don't take the 150 man cable car back down, is on red 16, which is notoriously hard and busy. It's known as The Ridge, and in 3 trips I have had 2 accidents on here: once when a border went over my tips and sent me crashing into a woman who had stupidly stopped right in the middle of the slope on the dark area which is often icy and never sees the sun, and this year, when an out of control skier snapped my ski pole in half, lucky it wasn't my leg. You need to be confident and a good intermediate skier to make it over red 16. Beginners should stay well away from it, as it's always busy and steep in patches, with lots of bumps of moguls. Having said that, it's a good feeling to get to the bottom again, and then take the chair back up over the Hara Kiri, from where I strongly recommend a run down towards Finkenberg on a mix of reds and a black. Testing but not hard, but a long and slow 2 man chair back up (Katzenmoose).
Over on Ahorn, the new 8 man chair which replaced the 2 T-bars has opened the place right up. The blues are lovely for a warm up cruise, or for beginners, and this place never seems to get busy. The 160 man cable car up offers some great views of the valley.
Further down is the spectacular and enjoyable Ebbenwald, a red because in places it is very steep. It has a tendency to ice up in the afternoons when the sun goes and I have seen a number of beginners tackle it unsuccessfully, but it's wide enough to traverse if you get into trouble. The 2 man lift back up is not the quickest, but isn't too long.
At the end of a day on Ahorn, take the red (which really should be a black), Abfahrt, off the mountain. It's very challenging but well worth the effort, provided it isn't too icy or too warm, as conditions have to be good to make this doable. It brings you back to the bottom of the cable car.
This year we took the train 2 stops down to Zell, where there is a good ski area, for the first time, but sadly it was too windy to take the link to Gerlos. It's nice for a change for a day, or half a day, but be warned, it does seem to take an age from leaving Mayrhofen to hitting the slopes in Zell - around an hour and a half to be precise!!!!
If the snow really is bad, you always have Hintertux, but it is really cold and windy up there, so only go if you really have to. It isn't a pleasant trip out!
As for places to stay, the hotels all seem to be pretty good, traditional Austrian with lots of pine wood. I have stayed in snow-homes with Inghams and Neilson, all of which are 5 to 10 bedroomed pensions. Breakfast will be limited, but enough to keep you going until a mid morning coffee and mars bar on the slopes. I have also stayed in the Landhaus Roscher, which is part of the Strass Hotel, and food in the Strass is good. The only place I would not recommend is the Brucke, as it is on top of the Schlussel nightclub, which pumps away until 4am. The buses around town are excellent and frequent, and there are 2 good taxi services too.
Eating out and drinking? Well, the only place to go after the slopes is the Happy End. This is a small and friendly bar opposite the Penken Gondola, and opposite, you will find the local butchers. They do amazing rolls for a snack. Opposite is the Ice Bar, full of German and Dutch people who appear never to have seen beer before, or heard music either - you will know what I mean when you have seen it. Go in one night for a laugh, but thats' probably as much as you can handle. It's loud, cheesy, and takes an eternity to get a 5 Euro bottle of crap Dutch lager.
Alternatively, enjoy the ambience of Coup & More just down the high street. Not so much apres-ski as pre or post dinner. Nicely fitted out. Also, MO's diner on the crossroads further down is excellent for both food and drink, tex mex and pasta in the main, but lots to choose from and huge portions. I also recommend the Neuen Post hotel, a massively varied menu with very reasonable prices, and usually some form of traditional entertainment going on. It's right down the bottom past the church.
There is also an Italian called Ciao, very reasonable but limited menu, mainly pasta, which is just off the main street near the Seeker boarding shop. Also, try the Kagelbahn - a small bowling alley tucked away round the back of the top end of the town, next to Landhaus Roscher, take the road up behind Happy End and the right hand fork...Good food, cheap prices.
As for shopping, Mayrhofen has a good selection. The Spar supermarket is popular and has all you need for essentials, and there are tons of ski and board shops for clothing and hardware. Best places to buy are Wegscheider, up towards the Penken lift, Inter Sport down the bottom of town, and Hervis - a warehouse (turn left down the hill at Mo's.) Hervis is particularly good for deals on skis - I bought mine out there in last years sale saving over £200!!!
Innsbruck Airport is only 1 hour 15 minutes, Salzburg a good hour longer, and Munich 2 hours 30 mins. If you are umming and arring about Mayrhofen, dont. Just go there.
December 27, 2007
kirk field from
United Kingdom
kirk field from
United Kingdom
Been visiting ' da hoff' for 20 winters now and have seen the transformation first hand. The resort was always full of character and picturesque, 'chocolate box' blah blah blah... AND a terrific place to party.
But the last five years has witnessed the ski area growing by 51% ( due to the 150 person link to Lanarsbach), huge infrastructure investment ( EVERY old two man slow chair has been replaced by a speedy, (and soft!) 6 man version...and the recent development of the Ahorn.
Now served by Austria's largest gondola (160 person), the forgotten mountain now possesses a real jewel: an igloo village called 'The White Lounge'. This place really is amazing; it consists of a bar (this being Austria, a nightclub with DJ booth, a chill out lounge /ice cinema, a huge sauna...and 10 sleeping suites, where you can stay overnight on the mountain.
A 6 new man chair has replaced the parallel T-bars, completing the rebirth of the Ahorn.
And for anyone bemoaning the lack of long runs on the Penken- how about tackling the 5.5km valley descent via the Abenwald?
Finally, another big improvement has occurred in the restaurants; on the mountain the excellent Pyramid (Sneekar - top of red 7) flies the flag for organic cuisine of the highest standard, while down in town, Cafe Tirol fuses the traditional with contemporary culinary flavours.
With Tux a free bus ride away, and Zell, Hippach, and the rapidly improving Kaltenbach (with its headline-grabbing Kristall Hutte showing there is life after sausages and chips), Mayrhofen is also a fantastic base from which to explore Zillertal.
Downsides? Still no toboggan run within walking distance (surely the Ahorn would be ideal) and the high season queues at the Penkenbahn (see above paragraph about neighbouring resorts).
Conclusion: hit the hoff!
December 04, 2007
S Holland from
United Kingdom
S Holland from
United Kingdom
I have skiied in Mayrhofen a few times with a group of friends and we are looking forward to another trip back at new year. The skiing area is enormous when you consider that there is the whole Zillertal region to explore and not just the Ahorn and the Penken, and runs/routes can be found to suit all abilities.
As a tip for groups of skiers looking to avoid the Penkenbahn queues in the morning, we found that by far the best way was to order a minibus taxi to take us to the Eggalmbahn/Horbergbahn, that way you have an empty ski lift and the runs haven't yet been reached by the hordes going up the Penkenbahn! Sure, the buses are free, but you have to be right on time to get them as they don't hang around the stops very long and the taxi option only costs about €2 each (group of 8) and you get picked up right from your door so there's not even any walking to the lift either!
Be sure to try the 7km toboggan run at nearby Zell am Ziller. Illuminated at night and with a bar midway to stock up on the Jagermeister for 'Dutch courage', it is a laugh a metre!
I must say I've not heard or noticed of any of the scams ([deliberate] errors?) that Mr Jones speaks of in any of the bars we have been to (and that's quite a lot!) Just be sure to know what the drinks cost. More than once I thought I had been short changed but found that the drinks cost more than I had thought! This is easier to resolve with the bartender if you can speak maths in German ("Excuse me, I gave you €20" = "Entschuldigung, Ich habe Ihnen zwanzig Euro gegeben")
November 07, 2007
Richard Hopkinson from
United Kingdom
Richard Hopkinson from
United Kingdom
just booked for Mayrhofen for my 4th year running. The resort is fantastic, the runs are mostly reds and quite short but you can travel a long way in one day. Lots of resorts are linked but the gondola should be avoided between 8.45-9.30. I have never seen them get so many people in a cable car during these times! The apres-ski is fantastic with lot of German people! The nightclub at top of town over the bridge is fantastic, so is Mo.
October 14, 2007
adam from
United Kingdom
adam from
United Kingdom
March 12, 2007
Jon Jones from
United Kingdom
Jon Jones from
United Kingdom
Just got back from a week in Mayrhofen. The resort was VERY busy, people were being brought in by coach from nearby resorts that didn't have snow. We had to queue for nearly an hour to get on the gondola to the slopes each morning and the same for the trip down in the afternoon! Not sure if this is unusual for Mayrhofen, but it became very frustrating. The runs are reasonably good although they tend to be short and are mainly suited to intermediate skiers. Beginners should try the wide shallow blue runs on the Ahorn.
WARNING SCAM ARTISTS AT WORK IN MAYRHOFEN - For some reason the staff in some of the bars seem to be intent on ripping you off! We got short changed numerous times and it was a common occurrence to hear people at the bar complaining they had given the bar staff 20Euros and only got change for 10Euros. Another trick is you order a round of drinks only to find that you get single spirits measures instead of doubles or in my case a glass of coke and no spirits at all. By far the worst bar for this is Nikki’s Schirmbar, avoid it unless you like getting ripped off! It's a shame that these sorts of scams happen. I'm not sure if this is specific to Mayrhofen, but I've certainly never seen it on that scale before. Make sure you check your change and get spirits and mixers in separate glasses.
February 07, 2007
Anji Th from
United Kingdom
Anji Th from
United Kingdom
I went to Mayrhofen last season mid Feb and had an excellent time. This was my 3rd week long season so I'm an intermediate trying to get to grips with parallel turns and couldn't have found it better.
LOADS for someone of my ability to do with some great wide runs to build confidence. I did ski school and my class was about 6/7 people with the instructor speaking reasonable English. It was really good though as I was initially put off by the morning AND afternoon sessions, but that just meant that for the last 2 days we did full trips across the mountain, stopped at some seriously picturesque places for lunch and then spent the afternoon making our way back. When I spent my last day with my partner and his family (much more advanced skiers) they couldn't believe how much I'd come on.
Some people are put off by the 10 min gondola ride to the slopes each morning but it didn't bother me. If timed right the queues aren't bad (esp if you've stayed for a few apres-ski bevvies before making your way home!!)
All in all, I would definitely go back.
Nearest