It is true to say that I skied Hochzillertal under sufferance. Boo hoo, poor little me, one might say. Fair enough. But the weather had warmed (‘twas mid-March), my body was suffering from 2 months of constant grind &travel (H&C reference – yay!) & I just needed a break (cue the violins). After a glorious whole day of convalescence, I was spurred on by a group of my favourite Bavarians & reluctantly headed up the gondola from Kaltenbach to see what all the fuss was about. Have got to say, I was more than impressed. I was positively smitten & not just because of who I was skiing with! It is a truism in many things that the group you are with makes a day memorable & this was one of those days – but it was ably assisted by a ski resort that is playing well above average. Shame I left the good cameras at the chalet.

Hochzillertal is an exceptional ski resort & although it shouldn’t have come as a surprise (this is Austria after all!), I was ………………… surprised that is. Despite a lack of natural snow in the Ziller valley at its base (600m-ish above sea level is fairly low, even for Austria), from the moment you jump on the gondola at Kaltenbach, one gets a sense of impressive scale, impressive facilities & impressive terrain prospects. The real surprise was in the diversity of the freeride terrain. Being with a crew of ‘locals’ (relatively) I for once didn’t have to think too hard about where to go. But even if by my lonesome, Hochzillertal would have been easy enough to navigate, particularly for anyone with an inquiring mind & adventurous spirit.

Hochzillertal's on-piste terrain is typically Austrian – wide & delightful. The ski lifts are fabulous & new lifts are planned to go in for the next few years. What’s more impressive is that the resort is not just replacing lifts but putting in new ones to open more alpine terrain & better link the Fϋgen side of the resort to the Kaltenbach side. Note that of the two sides, Kaltenbach has the better all-round terrain.

The freeride terrain above & around from Hochfϋgen is super fun, even in warm sticky conditions. Returns to the resort are via the sledging trail which is a great lark whilst dodging the uphill walkers at speed. The new Wimbachexpress gondola climbs to the highest point of the resort at a shade below 2400m. North aspected chutes & bowls held deliciously carve-able snow, despite the March ‘heat wave’.

Lunch was sensational in the Wedelhütte. Some of the finest Austrian fare at a reasonable price. Would make the perfect place to try your first real veal schnitzel.

Getting to Hochzillertal is easy. I travelled there after a full day skiing at Zürs in the Arlberg. A bus to St Anton & train to Jenbach via Innsbruck saw me able to step on the Zillertalbahn to Kaltenbach in no time. Despite the relative ease of travel by public transport throughout Austria, I was thankfully picked up at Jenbach by my favourite German! It had been a hard few months……..

Head to the Zillertal. Add Hochzillertal to Mayrhofen & Hintertux as places to ski at least once in your life. Hell, make it twice or three times in your life.
See our video here