Best Resorts For Snowboarding In Austria
Thanks to its world-class resorts and terrain, Austria is a fantastic snowboard destination. The terrain is diverse as Austria is home to some of the finest freeride areas, and its resorts feature incredible snow parks, keeping all snowboarders suitably entertained. On top of all this, the Austrian mountains are renowned for their reliable and excellent snow cover, making a trip to Austria a must-do for every snowboarder.
With this in mind, we put together a guide to the best resorts for snowboarding in Austria. So make yourself a coffee, sit back and learn about all the best places in Austria to take your snowboard this winter.
1. St Anton Am Arlberg
St Anton Am Arlberg is a high-end winter destination and is the envy of many ski resorts worldwide. Its reliable snow cover and incredible off-piste make St Anton a free rider's dream.
Even though St Anton is popular with experienced skiers and snowboarders, plenty of its terrain is suitable for beginners, families and intermediates. One of the bonuses of a snowboarding trip to St Anton is that it is a party town with a lively après scene, so expect to celebrate your powder days by dancing on tables each evening.
The freeride terrain of St Anton is extensive, featuring tight couloirs and cliff drops that will challenge even the most experienced rider. If you're an intermediate snowboarder, you will love the long motorway-style slopes. You can also enjoy the Ski Alberg Tour, which is a route that takes you around the whole Ski area and involves 85 km of riding.
Beginner snowboarders can benefit from St Anton's more gentle slopes at lower altitudes. The style of the runs makes St Anton a great place to progress your riding in incremental steps throughout your stay.
2. Ischgl
Ischgl is an incredibly popular Austrian ski resort and excellent for snowboarders. Like St Anton, Ischgl has an incredible party scene which is ideal after exploring the vast and varied ski area comprising 239 km of marked runs. It is also linked with the neighbouring Samnaun ski resort, extending your possibilities of further exploring the mountains.
One of the benefits of snowboarding in Ischgl is that many of the slopes face north, meaning the reliable snow cover is maintained due to colder temperatures on these faces. However, you can top up your goggle tan by riding the sunny beginner and intermediate runs over in Samnaun.
The ski area features some excellent beginner slopes and a handful of good snow parks. But if you are a more experienced rider with a thirst for the backcountry, there are some fantastic remote off-piste areas where you can find some nice deep powder when the conditions permit.
3. Solden
Solden is located in one of Austria's largest ski areas and has one of the longest ski slopes in Austria, with the biggest vertical drop. Thanks to the two glaciers and high altitude, you can ride in Solden for almost 8 months of the year.
The ski area has some large beginner areas and a lot of off-piste terrain. If the 146 km of marked slopes aren't enough for you, you can take advantage of all of the other resorts in the Ötztal region, as they are included when you buy a lift pass for three days or more.
If you love your freestyle riding, Solden is an excellent destination, thanks to the world-class snow park known as Area 47. This snow park is mind-blowing and has a wide range of features to suit complete beginner freestylers to seasoned pros.
4. Saalbach
Saalbach is part of one of Austria's largest interconnected ski areas. In fact, its full name is Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, as it incorporates all the different ski resorts you can get to. Many visitors to Saalbach love the relaxed and charming atmosphere juxtaposed against its epic freeride to rain.
You don't have to be a hard-core freerider to enjoy a trip to Saalbach, as there are 270 km of marked slopes, meaning there is plenty for snowboarders of all levels to enjoy. The ski area comprises five different valleys which feature wide and long slopes that are meticulously groomed.
Advanced snowboarders may be slightly disappointed with the lack of black runs, but this is more than made up for by the incredible off-piste terrain and excellent snow cover. However, there are six terrain and fun parks to choose from. Most of these parks are suitable for all levels of snowboarder, but a firm favourite is the one at Hinterglemm, thanks to its wide range of features.
5. Mayrhofen
Mayrhofen is a fantastic ski resort for snowboarders in the Ziller Valley. It is linked with neighbouring resorts of Hippach, Tux, Finkenberg and Eggalm/Rastkogel, creating a ski area with 142 km of groomed runs. But if you buy the Zillertal Superski pass, you can visit several other resorts in the area, including the Hintertux glacier, which is well worth a visit.
The area is surrounded by incredible high-altitude peaks and serviced by many modern ski lifts so getting around the Ski area is easy. If you fancy a challenge while visiting Mayrofen, why not take on the Harakiri, Austria's steepest slope with a 78% gradient?
Freestylers love heading to the PenkenPark, which is regarded as one of the finest snow parks in Europe. It has five separate areas for different skill levels. Ranging from small jumps for beginners to ridiculously large kickers for pro riders.
If you fancy taking it easy, head to Mount Ahorn, which is perfect for families and anyone just looking for a nice time on the mountain. It has some lovely wide slopes for carving and for beginner riders to practice their turns in relative safety.
6. Obertauern
Obertauern is one of the best places to go in Austria for freeride snowboarding. However, there are plenty of areas to go that suit riders of all levels wanting to head off-piste. This is enhanced by its outstanding snow record.
After a nice dump of snow, it is possible to just leave the groomed slopes to enjoy the powder and rejoin a piste further down the mountain.
The off-piste around Obertauern is extensive, so once you know where you're going or if you can find a friendly local, you will be able to make fresh tracks all day. Most of these off-piste areas are relatively easy to get to but are well hidden from the pistes, so it takes a while for them to get tracked out.
If you want something more extreme, we recommend hiring a guide to take you to some of Obertauern's best freeride areas. A guide will ensure you have the best time while keeping you safe from avalanche danger.
7. Zillertal Arena
Zell im Zillertal is located in the fantastic Zillertal Valley and is connected to neighbouring villages Gerlos and Konigsleitten by ski lifts and slopes to provide over 200 km of pistes. Each village has its own personality and style of slopes. However, this area is generally best suited to intermediate riders, especially if you like off-piste and perfectly groomed long runs.
This area is popular with Dutch skiers and snowboarders, so you can expect a lively après scene with a Europop soundtrack. This means you can finish your day on the mountain in a way you would not in other ski resorts, probably leaving your dignity in the corner of a bar somewhere!
Snowboarding around the Zillertal Arena is a great experience as all the resorts are well-designed and give you a great sense of open space. Most of the skiable terrain is above the tree line, providing some fantastic wide, open runs and excellent powder off-piste. You'll notice that most of the runs are graded as red; however, they are easier than you may think. Therefore advanced riders won't find too much to entertain them on the piste, but the off-piste is varied and lots of fun.
8. Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel is regarded as the perfect Austrian ski resort. The main ski lifts take you from the town centre to a vast ski area called KitzSki, which connects the resort with Kirchberg, Jochberg, and Hollersbach im Pinzgau.
The ski area is diverse and serviced by a high-tech and efficient ski lift system. You can expect a good variety of slopes to suit all levels, even down to the valley. Even though it is a popular ski area, you can find some excellent freeride terrain that is surprisingly uncrowded, considering how easy it is to get to.
If you feel brave during your trip, why not take on the Hahnenkamm World Cup Downhill course? However, depending on your skill level, you may want to dial the speed back, as it is a genuinely frightening slope to ride down at 100%.
Are You Heading To Austria This Year?
As you can see, we love Austrian ski resorts, and these are undoubtedly the best places to snowboard in Austria. They have wonderful party atmospheres, but the mountains offer excellent on and off-piste terrain. Skiers and snowboarders from all over the world are beginning to realise how good these resorts are. So, we advise you to book a trip to experience them before they become too crowded. Therefore, check out our Austrian ski accommodation options in the best resorts for snowboarding in Austria on our website.
