Austria 

Spotlight On Mayrhofen

(Originally written for OnTheSnow.com)
by Ted Heck

“Where shall we ski tomorrow?” your friend asks at dinner in the Kramerwirt Hotel. You have had a great day skiing both sides of the big ice cream cone of a mountain called the Penken. But you don’t want to think about it just now, while relaxing and savoring the typically Tyrolean ambiance.

Besides, the choice isn’t all that easy. There are 11 ski areas in the Ziller Valley, a string of villages that stretches from the Innsbruck autobahn more than 25 miles southward to a dead end at a glacier. Any one of the areas will make each day another exciting adventure.

The ski areas have names not usually dropped in cocktail party conversations: Fügen, Hochfügen, Finkenberg, Zell im Zillertal. Yet they offer great groomed terrain for intermediates and powder bowls for those in search of tougher stuff. Some areas are interconnected. Frequent bus service deposits skiers at gondolas and cable cars of bottom stations at those that are not linked.

One impressive journey is to ride up from Zell to vast snowfields that extend over to Gerlos in an offshoot valley.

And everyone devotes a day to the Hintertux glacier, which captures so much snow that it is skiable in summer, when national teams train there. Considered among the top skiable glaciers in the world, it has new lifts to whisk you two miles high to really challenging terrain.

Statistics for the entire valley include longest run 3.5 miles, a mile high vertical, 365 miles of prepared trails and slopes, and 175 lifts.

Mayrhofen is the largest village with 3,800 inhabitants and 8,700 guests. The Tyrolean look is sometimes hidden among commercial buildings, but the landscape reminds you that this is a mountain climbing center. It is popular with skiers from the United States and the United Kingdom, who know that you can get comfortable lodging at reasonable prices. There also are many family-oriented amenities.

The village bustles during the day with shopping and a host of other activities to enjoy on a bad weather day. One of these popular with women is a visit to a stunning exhibition at the Swarovski crystal factory back on the autobahn at Wattens.

Outwardly Mayrhofen seems to quiet down at night, but this is an illusion. A lot goes on in hotels, restaurants and pubs. In the lively après ski scene you hear soft piano playing Oldies, trios doing native songs, and discos thumping long into the night You even can do the Texas two-step to country music in the Tirolerstube at the train station.

Munich’s gateway airport is 105 speedy miles away, rapid because the ground transfer is on the no-limit autobahn, an adventure in itself.