I have mixed feelings about Fellhorn ski area. On the one hand I don't want to slag it off too much because when I visited it was high season, heaving with humanity and the snow was 'meh' at best. But on the other hand I wonder if it is popular for some reason that I didn't note, possibly because I was distracted when I skied here as it was heaving with humanity and the snow was ........ well you get the idea!
Admittedly, for reasons best explained at another time & place (or never!), I was a little behind our usual starting time, so I missed the early skiing. Arriving with the mass of the great unwashed was instructive though. Buses from Oberstdorf were all packed, but it was free (to anyone with a valid guest cars/mobility card - see more info on the ‘overview’ & ‘getting there’ pages). Early bird car parking is on the ‘ski-in’ side of the gondola/cable car terminal (note to self if we ever drive here). Despite an incredibly busy day, the cable car up to the strangely named Mittelstation (strange because it is at the end of the gondola and nowhere near the middle!) wasn’t running and so it was a gondola cramming exercise instead. Weirdly, rather than staying high and away from the human carnage happening at the lift base, skiers were actually coming down the valley trails and rejoining the line. Talk about suckers for punishment. All in all though getting on the first lift didn’t take too long (it’s not like we were in a Nth American style human snake winding kilometres away from the lift - I’m looking at you Revelstoke ….. and others!), it's just that we no longer find ourselves tangled up in these sorts of crowds anymore….first world problem for sure!
Turns out that getting on the lift was the less hectic part. Getting off at the top at Mittelstation I witnessed the absolute worst ski day starting scenario. A mass of skiers & snowboarders jostling for a tiny piece of snow real estate to click in and enter a frightful tangle of riders heading down what was only a short time ago a groomed piste but was now a bumped sufferfest for all novices descending. I admit to looking at it and saying to myself, “Nooooooo!”. So looking elsewhere I wandered up to the Summit (Gipfel) cable car. Noting another ridiculous line up, I returned to some unoccupied snow, clicked in comfortably and skied alone in the off-piste avoiding all of the trauma the other skiers were being subjected too. Well that’s why we are Powderhounds.com and not ‘Skied-Off-Cruddy-Bump-Groomerhounds.com”. Off-piste throughout the day I found some fun snow, but the sharks & shrubbery were an ever-present threat depending on aspect, even at the higher elevations (which here aren’t actually that high being mostly below 2,000m).
A couple of things are for certain here. If you have never skied across an international border, Fellhorn in Germany to Kanzelwand in Austria is an easy one to achieve. The other one is that Fellhorn's main ski town, Oberstdorf, is absolutely fantastic and definitely the place to stay and play afterhours if skiing here and nearby Kleinwalsertal in Austria. Easy to drive to, but if without a car, the transport links by train are superb (never mind that Deutsche Bahn has a poor reputation for timeliness these days, it is slowly improving).
Another thing about Fellhorn is that it has the best array of intermediate pistes in the region, and most of it is at an altitude for reliable snow. Get here early to enjoy crisp groomers if that is your proclivity.
Due to the numbers of humans on the hill I saved myself some frustration by not trying any of the restaurants and bars. So, sorry, no advice to give on that front.
In the end, we reckon that Fellhorn is so popular simply because the Germans love skiing and don't have enough amazing close-by options. And that's just fine. Despite my misgivings being such that I cannot recommend Fellhorn to anyone, I definitely DO NEED TO RETURN, but on three conditions. 1. Better snow conditions so the off-piste is fully navigable. 2. During a quieter time of the season. 3. Starting the day at first lifts. I'll get back to you when that occurs. Don't hold your breath!
See our thoughts on the resort’s pros & cons via the Fellhorn overview page.