 Poster: A snowHead
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We've done a couple of trips to Mayrhofen, but have only ever seemed to get as far as skiing Penken, Ahorn, Hintertux and Zell am Ziller. We've decided to go again next winter, and this time take the car. Looking at the Zillertal Super Skipass map, there are still some areas that we have yet to explore and having a car with us would provide the perfect opportunity. Anyone got any reviews, hints and tips for these other ski areas? All skiers in the party are decent intermediates and happy on steep reds. Much appreciated!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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For Kaltenbach-Hochfugen park in the multistorey. I prefer heading over to the Hochfugen side and playing around there. Not so busy, especially if you hit it around a Dutch holiday.
For Zell am Ziller, not sure how far you ventured out towards the Königsleiten end. Black run needed to access half of that area, but if you have a car, I guess you could park up at the very far end and work the other way.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Alastair Pink - that is a lot of very useful information, thank you!!
@Andy, we have no idea how far we ventured out in Zell am Ziller. It was an in-and-out vis day, so we didn't really know where we were most of the time! I strongly suspect we didn't get that far though. We can probably manage a black so long as its not Harikari style - 2 of us have done Devil's Run, and the others are definitely capable. What's it like?
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If you can do a decent red, then it's fine. Wouldn't take a newbie down it though. It's just a strange anomaly that 2 halves of a linked ski area needs a compulsory black run in one direction (on the way out if going Gerlos - Königsleiten).
There's also the worlds strangest lift... the one where you get off at the midstation going ZaZ-Gerlos, and on the way back go thru another midstation where skiers can get on, then get off at the mid station where you got off on the way out.
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I find the trek from Zell over to Gerlos a bit unrewarding, it feels like it takes forever to get there while you are passing over and not riding on the lovely Zell pistes, only to be clock watching and thinking about the long cold journey back.
Much better to drive up to and park up at Gerlos and spend the day exploring there and Königsleiten, if you have spare time then do a half day or so at Zell another day.
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I went to Mayrhofen in March this year, first time there and enjoyed it. Penken was crazy busy so did three days there, as well as the connected bits like Eggalm, while went to the unconnected bits on the other three days. Had a car but tended not to use it so could have a few beers at the end of the day. No complaints about the ski bus or train at all, always on time and not too full.
One day I really enjoyed was taking the bus from Mayrhofen all the way through Gerlos to Gerlospass, warming up on Plattenkogel and then skiing back to Zell. It removes the need to get all the way there from Zell and then back on skis, meaning you can take a bit of time to enjoy it. It also means you don't have to do the black mentioned above if you don't fancy it. Timetable for last year is here;
https://www.zillertalarena.com/UserFiles/Media/arena/Skibus/Mayrhofen-Zell-Gerlos-Koenigsleiten2015.pdf
I checked it out with some pretty quick skiers one day while my partner was in lessons, leaving at 09.10 and getting to Gerlospass about an hour later. Nice and scenic journey so time passed pretty quickly. Very few people got on in Mayrhofen so plenty of seats, it didn't really get busy until Gerlos. Found that it would be fine for girlfriend (third week intermediate with a lot of bottle) and so did the same with her on the last day. She loved the Plattenkogel area, some nice, steady and quiet blues and reds through the trees to practice the drills she'd learned. However, she enjoyed the whole challenge of coming back from right to left as you look at the piste map all the way to Zell even more. She really felt like she'd been on an adventure, away from the hustle and bustle of the Penken. We did do it on a sunny day though, the Wilde Krimml bit is pretty bleak and I think had it been blowing a gale she wouldn't have enjoyed it so much.
We managed to get round in plenty of time, even after spending 90 minutes at Plattenkogel, doing some other bits and stopping for some lunch so if comfortable with reds it wouldn't be a problem. The connecting section is a bit of drag though. There was also a new black from Wisenalm down to Zell though definitely not recommended for intermediates - narrow, slushy and sweaty. Otherwise just come down one of the bubbles.
At the bottom station in Zell there is a shuttle bus that takes you back to the train to catch back to Mayrhofen.
Although it might be easier getting to Gerlospass by car, going by bus lets you do a linear route rather than having to start and finish at the same place. It might not suit you but thought I'd relay my experiences! Apologies for the long message, brought back a lot of memories! 
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I spent 6 weeks in Austria last winter using the Salzburgerland Super Ski season pass. Our first week was spent at Zillertal Arena.
We only attempted the journey from Zell to Gerlos once, and it was a shocker. Massive horrible queues between the lifts around Isskogel and Ubergangsjoch - with these lifts often not to the usual Austrian standard (ie, only 4 seats, fixed grip I think). This was during the UK half term week, but before that point there had basically been no queuing at all on the Zell side, so it was pretty frustrating.
Would suggest that the driving or bus option up to Gerlos is probably a much better idea if you want to ski that part of the Zillertal arena.
On our 'transfer' day - moving on to the back bottom end of Kitzbuhel: Mittersill - we stopped off at the Gerlos pass valley station and skied the Plattenkogel side. Loved it. Gentle slopes, and very very very wide, and there'd been a bit of fresh snow overnight which meant for some very easy fresh snow-action with not too many people around.
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