This article is sponsored by the Austrian National Tourist Office.
Cozy wooden chalets, glistening snowbanks, the scent of pine boughs and wood smoke in the cold air. One of Austria’s traditional – yet also most modern – ski areas, SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental is a perfect family resort.
Located just one easy hour from Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Munich, its nine villages brim with typical Tirolean charm and their convenient ski-in, ski-out accommodations are set amongst some of the Alps’ finest scenery. There are over 70 3,000m peaks and a world of snow lies at your feet. The name SkiWelt is, after all, the German for Ski World. Also, in keeping with modern sensibilities, the resort uses 100% renewable electricity, including for all cable cars.
This Ski World is one of Austria’s largest areas, laced with hundreds of wide gentle slopes including rolling blue runs and long valley descents. With 90 lifts and 288km of pistes, SkiWelt is a firm favourite with all ages – not least with youngsters who are well-catered for with child-care facilities at the valley and top stations and many excellent children’s ski schools.
Skiers looking to rack up the miles have also come to the right place: SkiWelt has the longest one-way ski route anywhere – a leg-testing 85km circuit on smooth groomed slopes that winds from Going am Wilden Kaiser, all the way to Hollersbach and back. Proclaimed the longest ski circuit in the Alps, your tour of the Kitzbüheler Alps is a scenic feast, all without riding the same lift twice. This could be just the challenge you were looking for.
Spending just a few hours in even a small corner of SkiWelt’s terrain is a great way to build up an appetite. Fear not – over 80 family-run, cozy huts, mountain restaurants, and après-ski bars are at the ever-ready to offer something warm and delicious. Among the most atmospheric place to stop is ALPENIGLU® igloo village, a high-mountain hamlet comprised of a frozen ice hotel, chapel, bars and ice sculpture exhibition.
Just because the sun has set it doesn’t mean the ski day ends. SkiWelt Söll offers Austria’s largest night ski resort with 13km of illuminated slopes and lots of variety. Families also love to slip and slide, top to bottom on speedy sledges by day and night. Toboggan runs are groomed daily, floodlit at night, and even have their own snowmaking. Three runs are located in Söll and Ellmau-Going and toboggans can be hired locally.
There are also 148km of cross-country trails and a whopping 250km of winter hiking paths. Nearby Kufstein is a pretty Tirolean city worth a visit to its well-preserved medieval city wall and the splendid gothic Saint Vitus, the oldest church in town. Don’t miss the old city centre with picturesque lanes and world-renowned crystal stemware for sale. Discover more about the region.
Featured image credit: (c) SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser Brixental, Martin Guggenberger.
February 12, 2024
