Zell am See resort layout

A snowHead

Hi, I'm planning a trip to Zell am See, taking a non skier, a nervous skier (now trying snowboarding), and some intermediate skiers and snowboarder. So a nice spread Happy

I've heard good things about the resort but I can't work out where the nursery slopes are. From the maps I see main lifts from the town near the lake (City Express) and more further up (Trassxpress, Schmittenhöhebahn & Sonnenalmbahn).

I also keep reading references that beginners will struggle to ski down to the town but the beginner slopes are at the top, I'm not sure where this refers to.

Finally is there a bus service between the Transxpress area and the Main town, I was looking to stay at the Daxer Hotel, not sure if it is too far out of the main town.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you can share.

Cheers.

A snowHead

IIRC there's a beginners area at the top of the cityXpress lift and another bigger area at the head of the Schmittental next to the Sonnenalmbahn. Runs back down are either red/black or blues that go very flat. Pretty sure there was a ski bus from the Schmitten to town that runs till just after the lifts close. The Daxer is up at the Schmitten, which is sort of a separate village from Zell itself, but would probably be better for beginners.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

It's a great resort for beginners IMO, but then I learned there so I'm biased. The beginner areas I know - for absolute beginners - are at the bottom of the (new) ArietXpress lift and at the top of it - look at lifts 24 & 27 which are conveyor belt lifts. There is a (button lift?) area at the top of CityXpress lift, but I don't recall that being open when I've been there in March. I'm not sure about the lifts by the Sonnenalmbahn, I've only skiied down that far one day (it gets very slushy that low down in March) and can't remember if they were running - but again (from the app I've got) they appear to be button lifts. Once beginners get past the nursery slopes the easiest blue terrrain is probably blue 3 from the Glocknerbahn (which seems to be a mecca for the ski schools) and blue 2 from the mid station of Ariet II. Runs from the top - blue 1 and blue 8 would probably be skiable by the end of week 1. For absolute beginners I'd avoid the runs into town (especially if going late season) the only 'blue' is 5 under the city express lift, but this is really just a series of winding icy escape routes through the trees for those that decide to bottle black 5 - looks better on paper than it is in reality. Blues 9 & 10 at the top of the mountain are mainly used to access the reds on the Sonnkogel side.
For beginers its probably better to downlift (which is fine!). Blue 3 is especially good for beginers as it is wide and has a variety of (gentle) pitches and a fast, covered, heated chairlift.
Schuttdorf is most convenient for the nursery slopes & blues I mentioned, and has a brand new express gondola up the mountain too! But it isn't the prettiest area of Zell. There is a decent ski bus service - certainly between CityXpress and AreitXpress, but I'm pretty sure it links all of the valley stations. Another option is to hire a car, as theres a large free car park at the base of the ArietXpress lift - we did this last year and it worked really well - we stayed near the centre of Zell am See and drive to Ariet(my son was in ski school there)

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@nearlyadam, If you choose the Daxer you are well located for the beginners area at the Schmittental Station. The lifts you are looking for are numbers 18 & 19. You have only a short walk from the Hotel to the station, Intersport Hire Shop and ski school depots. The Daxer is not in a great location for the town itself as its a fair hike, a nice walk on a summers day but not on snow covered ground uphill or down but there is a regular bus which is included on your ski pass and plenty of taxis to run you back up at night for a reasonable fee. Have only heard good reports of the Daxer as a hotel and I have never known that part of the valley to be without snow so you would have the winter wonderland experience which is not always the case in town, especially up to New Year or after mid February.

Daxer would also be a good location for the intermediates to access the mountain as the can use either the main Schmittenhöhebahn (lift 7) to the very top or the Trass Express (lift 15) to give them access to the left shoulder and down the back or the Sonnenalmbahn (lift8) for access to the right shoulder (as you look at the piste map) which is where the best runs on the mountain are, they are all reds.

What you read about the ski back to town is correct, there are certainly no beginner runs back down from the middle station at any point and a beginner would have to progress exceptionally well to be able to do so in a week. You will see Blue 5 on the map which is really a marketing ploy to alter the old Black 10 (which has conveniently disappeared) Its only graded blue as about 5 years ago they made some cut arounds to a couple of steep schusses that are still shown as black on the map. In reality the blue curves you see are narrow icy paths that have a couple of steepish bits and are not suitable for beginners or even nervous early intermediates. Even the shortish final schuss to the lift would give some folk a fit of the vapours. So anyone below a confident intermediate should ideally take a lift back from anywhere on the left shoulder. The right shoulder has Red 20, the Südabfahrt which is not too bad unless the snow is poor or beyond say mid February it begins to suffer as it is south facing.

Zell am See is a great resort, I've been 27 times (summer & winter) it's a good choice for mixed groups with plenty to do for those who don't ski or even just don't ski every day. It isn't a high resort though and will be more affected by poor conditions than alternatives which can be very important as to when you are planning to go. I have always found it at its best in the third week of January, always at least decent snow and surprisingly quiet.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The Daxer is an amazing Hotel, I've been twice with my young family. The access to slopes couldn't be much better but you need to be a decent skier to get back to it. The first time we went my Mrs and kids just used to get the Trass Express back down after the day's skiing. Last time they braved the blacks and smashed it. They are not particularly difficult.

If you want to be in the thick of the apres every day then the Daxer isn't for you and you would be better served staying in town

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Thank you all for your replies, this has given me great confidence that we'll have fun

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Zell am See resort layout

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