Austria's largest resort is a wonderland for families, intermediates… and foodies, with nearly 300 on-mountain restaurants, huts and après-ski bars. SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental (for the sake of simplicity, henceforth SkiWelt) is now Austria’s second-largest ski area (after St Anton), encompassing a whopping 284 km of ski pistes, the vast majority of which are wide open groomers perfectly suited to skiers and riders of the intermediate ilk. The area, served by 90 lifts, is accessed from a number of villages on all sides of the ski area, all of which provide an ideal access point to the vast domain.
Sunny Brixen im Thale is ideally situated for serious skiers and riders. Long valley runs and off-piste on the Choralpe, while on the other side of the valley the gondola to Hochbrixen accesses easy intermediate terrain, and sun-drenched slopes, not to mention a unique igloo village. Brixen is the departure point for one of the best pistes in Austria. The Kandler descent is a rollercoaster red piste that drops more than 1000m vertical from the Choralpe down to Brixen im Thale. Ski it all in one go, and you’ll know if your pre-season fitness program has worked or not!
Tiroleans are known for their hospitality, and it is in ever-popular Söll that this really shines through. Beyond the rowdy après bars, there are also trendy restaurants and cool bars. There are more than 30 restaurants in the area, many serving hearty, traditional Tirolean. For this, Auf da Muhle and the Dorf Stubn are hard to beat. To work up an appetite, the Hexenalm and the Salvenstadl are the places to head. Of course, staying out on the slopes until late is possible too, with 11km of illuminated night skiing from Wednesday to Saturday each week.
For slopeside accommodation, Brixen im Thale is the best bet, with its access to the Choralpe area as well as the Hohe Salve, but Hopfgarten and Ellmau and Westendorf also have a choice of lodging that qualifies as ski-in, ski-out.
More ski in ski out resorts and hotels find on : www.visittirol.co.uk
Article contributed by Chris Taine, former Ski Club Website Editor, current Alpine transplant and Tirol correspondent.
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