Zell am Ziller Ski Resort Guide

I came to Zillertal (valley) on Boxing day and have stayed until mid-March snowboarding in about 7 of the areas. It was a late start with only one dump of snow 15/16 December and at least 3 weeks to the next. This meant reliance on snow making and stretching out what was available. But the resorts know how to and there was plenty of piste. In total, I was at Zillertal arena for around 50 days.

I snowboard, so am less demanding if it gets slushy. But the varied terrain means you can often find somewhere not hit by morning sun that is still skiable most times and not thrashed out. Steeper reds can get mogulled, the blacks (those few there are) can get pushed off and rutted.

Lifts are pretty modern at least by NZ standards. Few queues. 2 gondolas take you up to the field and the red buses are very regular. Get off the second gondy where there's fewer queues in the morning and it gets you straight up to red or blue pistes.

Cafes are much of a muchness. Some don't take visa. All nicely put together. Some have wifi. Plenty of wifi scattered about at lift stations.

Off-piste there are options, but doesn't last long. You want to get on it as soon as there's vis. Tree skiing possible but gnarly, more open terrain.

Of the Ziller resorts my favs were Zillertal, Kaltenbach, and Mayr. Glacier was worth a look especially is snow depleted, but others have more and more terrain and better cafes.