When I started researching where to go skiing in Europe, I quickly became overwhelmed. There are so many choices! I searched in France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. Ultimately, I chose Austria due to the better quality of accommodations for the price, the selection of ski resorts in the Zell am See area, and the variety of other winter activities to do. In this post, I’m going to dive deeper into the Zell am See ski resorts, so you can get a better idea of what to expect on a ski trip there.
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Summary Of Zell Am See Ski Resorts
Ski Passes At All Zell Am See Ski Resorts
When skiing or snowboarding on a Zell am See ski holiday, you can purchase one ski pass for all three areas. This is nice if you want to check out multiple areas, but aren’t sure how many days at each one you would like to ski, or if you want to see two Zell am See ski resorts in one day.
You can purchase multi-day cards with the Ski Alpin Card, but we didn’t find the savings worthwhile as you only save a few euros with a bundle. Since we hadn’t been skiing in a couple of years, we weren’t sure how sore we were going to be after a few days skiing. Ultimately, we just bought day passes at the resort we chose each day.
Day tickets to ski are 76 euros for adults no matter which resort you choose. Children (2009-2018) and Youth tickets (2006-2008) are discounted and have slightly different prices at each of the ski resorts. Children born in 2019 are free if accompanied by an adult.
Tickets in April are discounted as well.
Skiing Vibes
Each of the ski areas around Zell am See is a little different. There’s not one best place to ski, so here are the pros and cons of Zell Am See ski resorts in a nut shell:
- Schmittenhöhe
- Pros: conveniently located with pretty views of the lake, the extra long fun slope is a blast
- Cons: super crowded
- Kitzsteinhorn
- Pros: snow sure, magnificent views
- Cons: higher altitude means chillier and windier, smallest of the three
- Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn
- Pros: huge area of terrain, variety in slopes, less tourists, biggest area to ski
- Cons: farther away from Zell am See
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Getting Around Zell Am See Ski Resorts
Zell am See has a pretty great public transportation system. You can get to the city by train using a few different railway companies. There are trains from Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany. You can also take a train from, Innsbruck, Salzburg or Vienna with Innsbruck and Salzburg being the closest nearby big cities.
Once you arrive in Zell am See, the buses can take you to all the ski resorts. If you have a ski lift ticket, you can ride for free which is super nice!
You can also drive to Zell am See. This is how we navigated around for the most part. It was nice to not have to rely on the buses all the time.
There weren’t huge parking lots for skiing but the majority of folks use the bus to get to the ski hills, so we didn’t have any problems finding parking when we went to Kitzsteinhorn or Saalbach. We also went in the morning, around when lifts open, so I can’t tell you how hard it would be if you arrived later.
Schmittenhöhe
Where Is Schmittenhöhe Located?
Schmittenhöhe is the ski area that is closest to Zell am See. Of the Zell am See ski resorts, this one is the most convenient. There are lifts that take you up the mountain directly from the town center and from Zell am See Süd.
How To Get To Schmittenhöhe?
You can take a bus to Zell am See bus terminal and walk to the cityXpress lift or you can take a bus to the areitXpress in Zell am See Süd. Either of these lifts will get you started on your Schmittenhöhe adventure.
The buses are easy to use and go all over the city and to Kaprun as well. To find timetables you can download the SalzburgMobil app.
There is also parking around Zell am See. In the city, there are paid garages you park but they aren’t really that close to the lift. I would recommend driving to the areitXpress base, there’s a huge parking lot there where you can park for free.
We didn’t go to this parking area, but there is supposedly free parking at the Schmittenhöhebahn station. It does mention on their website that the parking is limited, though.
How Big Is Schmittenhöhe?
Schmittenhöhe has 77 kilometers of pistes. Of the three Zell am See ski resorts it is the in the middle, size wise. I would compare the size to a mid-size ski resort in the states.
There is a mix of gondolas, tramways, chairlifts and t-bar lifts that will carry you up the slopes. The trails are a mix of easy and intermediate with a few difficult tracks mixed in.
There are a few fun areas too! There is a snow park (one for beginners and one for advanced), a panoramic platform, Kaiserblick, with views over the valley and Lake Zell, a kid slope for the young ones, and one of the longest fun slopes in the area.
If you just can’t get enough of skiing or interested in skiing at night, you can do this as well on Schmittenhöhe.
Night skiing is only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays and depends on snow conditions, so check out this link to see if night skiing will be open during your trip.
Family-Friendly Skiing
Schmittenhöhe boasts about its family friendliness. One of the positives is that young kids can use the ski lifts for free and there are staggered ski prices according to age.
The children ski zone, is a very fun area for the young skier with obstacles, waves, tunnels and slalom courses. Schmittenhöhe also has a ski school that makes learning to ski fun.
If you have older kids that can ski with you, like ours, you will definitely want to go on the extra long fun slope where you can high five giant hands, see how fast you are going, zip through fun turns and tunnels and much more. The kids and you will love it.
For More Information: Skiing In Zell Am See: Everything You Need To Know About Schmittenhohe Ski Resort
Kitzsteinhorn
Where Is Kitzsteinhorn?
Kitzsteinhorn is located in the neighboring town of Kaprun which is about a 10-15 minute drive from Zell am See. The ski resort is located way up in the mountains and part of it is in a glacier.
You can access the ski resort from Kaprun town center (Maiskogel Valley Station) or from the parking lots at the Kitzsteinhorn Valley Station which is located a little ways up the valley.
When Does Kitzsteinhorn Open And Close For The Season?
The Kitzsteinhorn is the reason I booked our Zell Am See ski holiday over any other resort. Since Kitzsteinhorn has a glacier at its center, it opens extra early and stays open extra long for skiing. I figured if it wasn’t a good snow year in December when we visited, we would at least be able to get on the slopes here.
The ski season at Kitzsteinhorn is from October to May each year.
How Snow Sure Is Zell Am See?
Since Kitzsteinhorn has a glacier, there is snow year round. You can even go sledding in July and August! One caveat is that the glacier at Kitzsteinhorn isn’t gigantic. This means if it is a bad snow year, you can ski, but I would imagine it would get pretty crowded with all the people that want to get on their skis too.
Is Kitzsteinhorn Good For Beginners?
There are some areas in Kitzsteinhorn that are good for beginners and others that are not. Kitzsteinhorn is the smallest of the Zell am See ski resorts, so it limits where you can ski.
In addition, the ski area near Kaprun town center is supposed to be good for beginners and families. We parked at the Kitzsteinhorn Valley Station and never made it to this area so I can’t personally attest to it.
The glacier area at the very top of the mountain is not steep and would be a good hill to practice on too.
How High Is Kitzsteinhorn?
Kitzsteinhorn is up there in elevation. This means you can expect it to be colder and windier here than at the other Zell am See ski resorts. Plan a day to visit Kitzsteinhorn that will be the warmest and the clearest. The views at this resort are unreal and my favorite part about it!
You will be skiing on pistes that are between 1,976 meters (6,483 ft) and 3,029 meters (9,938 ft) above sea level.
Top Of Salzburg
In addition to the amazing views you will be get while skiing, you can also take in the view on a couple of different panoramic platforms. The Top of Salzburg can be reached by cable car. Take the Gletscherjet 3 and 4 to the top. Keep your skis and boards here and take the last Gletschershuttle to the very top.
On the summit, you can enjoy the Top of Salzburg panoramic viewpoint, a restaurant with an incredible view, the National Park Gallery, and even a cinema. Walk through the National Park Gallery tunnel to get to the National Park viewing platform that overlooks the impressive Hohe Tauern National Park.
For More Information On Kitzsteinhorn and Skiing In Kaprun: Kitzsteinhorn Ski Trip: Everything You Need To Know About Skiing In Kaprun
Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn
What Is Saalbach Famous For?
I hope you stuck around to the very end because Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn is our favorite of the three Zell am See ski resorts. Since the name is soooooo long, I’m going to continue by calling it Saalbach like they do in Zell am See.
This beautiful ski area is great for skiing and winter outdoor activities. Not only are there many miles of ski and snowboarding to be done, there are also other winter activities you can do here.
Some of these activities include cross country skiing, a fairytale forest with guided lantern hikes, night skiing on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, paragliding, snowshoeing, horseback riding, horse-drawn sleigh rides, toboggan runs, winter hiking and so much more. Check out this website for the extensive list of winter activities with more details.
Saalbach is also famous for hosting the 1991 World Ski Championships and this year they will be doing it again! If you are planning to be in Zell am See from February 4 to February 16th be sure to grab your tickets!
Is Saalbach Good For Beginners?
Saalbach is great for beginners! First of all Saalbach is huge with over 270 kilometers of pistes, that is about 200 more kilometers than Schmittenhöhe. Of those 270, 140 kilometers are blue which are the easiest slopes.
There are dedicated ski schools and children’s areas as well. In addition you will find a learn to ride park and fun slopes for all ski levels. We found one little area by lift D3 that the kids could have played at for hours. If you don’t want to go on the bumps and turns and bowl, you can ride alongside the easy path like I did!
On Saalbach’s website, they even give a list of the top 10 pistes for beginners. Here’s a link to the beginner trail list here.
Is Saalbach Snow Sure?
Right before our trip, we looked at all the ski resorts to see what lifts were open. Almost all of Saalbach’s runs were open before the other Zell Am See ski resorts. We were surprised.
In January and February, I would say Saalbach is pretty snow sure, especially in higher altitudes, but you never know in the early and late season, especially with climate change. We were told we were pretty lucky that there was so much snow when we were there.
How To Get To Saalbach?
Saalbach is only one of the towns that are in the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn ski area and is located about a 20 minute drive from Zell am See.
The first lift you get to when coming from Zell Am See is in Viehhofen. This is also where Saalbach connects to Schmittenhöhe. The lift doesn’t go very high up the mountain, so I would recommend parking at least at Vorderglemm.
There are free parking lots scattered throughout the valley and it should be fairly easy to find a spot. You can also take the ski shuttle bus which travels from Viehhofen to Lengau.
If you are traveling from Zell Am See, there is also a bus that will take you from the city to Saalbach.
How High Is Saalbach?
The pistes are all between the elevations of 830 meters (2,723 feet) and 2,096 meters (6,876 feet).
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