There are three words that best describe our visit to Ankogel - need to return. Mother nature conspired to seriously restrict our access to the best bits of the ski resort. Seriously strong winds near zero visibility & driving snow meant skiing was limited to a few piste trail & the beginner area. The sad thing was that the base area was basking in sunshine whilst all this deliciously foul weather was smashing the upper mountain. Over three days the storm raged closing nearby Moelltal Glacier completely. To their credit, Ankogel still operated its main lifts, but skiing the limited amount of piste trails in no visibility at over €47/day (zero crowds aside) has only so much appeal! The valley trail is a beauty though - as good as most in Austria.
It was late March & the base area had only a veneer of snow on it but was packed with school groups learning to ski on its sheltered, gentle slopes & novice friendly tows. Despite the masses on the beginner tows, the base area had the feeling of a ski resort in shut down. The restaurant staff were positively dripping a lack of enthusiasm, which translated into their food. The ski rental shop didn't even open on two days. Too bad if you didn't have gear - back to Mallnitz for you! Thankfully the Guesthouse Alpenrose was keen for business. Great food & accommodations right at the valley lift station.
The upper mountain had a deep snow cover. The terrain is predominantly over 2000m so is as snow sure as any ski resort in Europe. We didn't see much of it due to the weather, so it’s hard to make comment other than to observe that the ski resort is limited in poor weather conditions.
The nearby town of Mallnitz is a quiet outpost & provides the lion-share of the accommodation options. Like the resort, it had the feeling of already being in 'out of season' shut down. We were domiciled in a brilliant farm stay above Flattach, so only visited Mallnitz during the day. It struck us as being firmly entrenched in the 1990s. Best evidenced by the Kodak & Agfa film signage above one shop paying homage to days gone by. Don't expect a St Anton après ski party any time soon in Mallnitz - & maybe that's a good thing.
Mallnitz does have the benefit of a railway station. The train is not only used to transport passengers, but also cars through the mountain to Böckstein in the Gasteinertal (saving a 3 to 4 hr drive). Trains are also utilised to return home after epic backcountry runs on the north-aspect freeride routes off Ankogel. Would love to do it one day! Powderhounds Europe loves a good train line & this is one of them. Utilised it to take the car through to Gastein after running out of patience with the weather. Left our accommodation at dawn, drove to the station, loaded up, travelled through the mountain, unloaded & drove to the Stubnerkogel gondola car park in Bad Gastein, arriving 30min prior to first lifts. Such a smooth no fuss, non-nanny state process.
On paper Ankogel appears like a Powderhounds paradise (like our beloved Krippenstein), so we will return to test the hypothesis in friendlier weather conditions. Until then, we recommend combining a visit to Ankogel only if heading to the brilliant & diverse Gastein.
