Don’t bother they said. No freeride terrain at Dorfgastein they said. Never any snow down on the valley trails they said. Hmmm….. how wrong ‘they’ were.

I would never categorise Dorfgastein as a major freeride powder destination, however, when Sportgastein is closed and the Bad Gastein combo of Stubnerkogel & Schlossalm are on limited operations due to wind & visibility, it is Dorfgastein that is always open. And anyone with a little bit of nous will quickly find that the upper mountain has a fantastic selection of off-piste powder opportunities on marked routes, in the trees and off the ‘backside’ of the 2,033m Fulseck summit. Whilst only valid for the top 500m of skiable vertical in the resort, there is nonetheless some great fun to be had here on a powder day. In fact older trail maps show several marked routes on the backside of Fulseck, but time has deleted them. We wonder why?

Despite a very warm, wet spell in the valleys, the piste trails leading to the relatively low bases at Dorfgastein (830m asl) & Groβarl (924m asl) were fully skiable. Doing top to bottom runs here will certainly test ones mettle. The pistes are best suited to intermediates & perfect for lovers of long descents. The lifts are generally modern and comfortable, with a new gondola in Grossarl providing a wonderful valley to peak ride. The snowmaking system is clearly top notch, with the bottom ends of the valley trails in good condition considering that whilst it was snowing up high, there was r@*n down low.....

A highlight of the ski area is the plethora of superb mountain hüttes, bars & restaurants. Großarltal-Dorfgastein is certainly a place to take one’s time at the end of the day and sample each bar the way down.

With two sides of the mountain in completely different valleys, where to stay is certainly a question. Whilst there are hotels within walking distance of the ski lifts at either base area, in the end we think that if you are a more serious skier or snowboarder, staying centrally in the Gasteinertal makes more sense, as access to a far wider range of terrain is possible. A short free bus ride will get to Dorfgastein if wanting to check it out (that’s what we did). Similarly, if taking public transport, it is hard to beat taking the train that stops in numerous locations in Gastein. Staying in Grossarl makes sense if you have your own transport or are taking a private transfer and looking to ski a single resort based in a modern, rural Austrian village with traditional elements & hospitality.

We enjoyed exploring Dorfgastein-Grossarltal and have no hesitation in recommending it. It is a fantastic accoutrement to the festival of skiing that is Gastein.

See our thoughts on the pros & cons of the ski resort on our Großarltal-Dorfgastein Overview page.