 Poster: A snowHead
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Resort info:
Sölden is located in the Ötztal approximately 45 minutes drive from Innsbruck (depending on traffic).
The main village is located at 1,368m altitude and the ski area also includes two glaciers - the Rettenbachferner and the Tiefenbachferner.
It has 145 km of pistes plus 1,6 kms of itinaries. There are around 70 kms of blue runs, 44 kms of red runs and 29 kms of black runs served by 33 lifts and gondolas. They are pretty dedicated to keeping the ski area open and slopes in good condition throughout the season (we also went the week before Christmas when a lot of resorts were struggling and they had made the effort to get the valley runs open).
If you drive through it, you just see one road but obviously the town has much more dimension and offers traditional Tyrolian-style accommodation as well as more modern lifestyle hotels.
Travel:
As we live in the North East we chose to fly Newcastle - Paris CdG - Munich where we rented a car. We flew out on Good Friday and arrived in Munich around 15:30 and were off about an hour later (and that included waiting for our luggge and skis to be unloaded and picking up the hire car). We headed for Innsbruck via Garmisch/Seefeld and there was hardly any traffic so it took us approximately two and half hours. Having spent the night at the Ibis in Innsbruck (underground car park for guests), we set off after breakfast and were on the piste around 11ish.
(We checked into our accommodation after our first day on the slopes).
(If you are anywhere near an airport which offers direct flights to Innsbruck then that's def. the way to go! In the past we have used the Ötztal Shuttel for airport to accommodation transfers. It is also totally doable to take a local train up to Ötztal Bahnhof and then the Postbus - however, the bus can get very crowded if you hit the changeover day rush hour...)
Accommodation:
We stayed at the Gästeheim Prantl ( www.prantl-soelden.at/index.php/187.html ) - a nice family-run bed & breakfast with a good buffet breakfast located a 4/5 minute walk from the Giggijochbahn and the main street. Access to the lift is pretty easy as you just have to cross the Ötztaler Ache via a footbridge which leads you either directly to the skibus stop or a short walk down the main street leads directly to the Giggijochbahn.
The Skiing:
Sölden's ski area is split into three main sections, but don't let this fool you into thinking you must pick one for your day's skiing as travel between them is smooth and integrated.
There are two main lifts out of the town as first point of entry into two of the sections, with the glacier section being connected from the Giggijoch area with a run back to a point where either you can return to the valley or back onto either the Giggijoch or the Gaislachkogl. If you don't fancy the long, blue run down the valley from the glacier, there is also a gondola option connecting you back to the Giggijoch via a nice blue run and a two seater chairlift. (Off that blue run you can also find a nice, little black run (no 25) which is great for lapping).
All the skiing is on the west side of the Ötztal valley, but mostly oriented toward the north so snow is usually well preserved even after 2 weeks of sun at Easter. Interestingly, the majority of slopes are good for sun, but simply by being angled away they retain good snow.
The main exception is the southern most runs of the Gaislachkogl area - these are lovely wide reds and blues, but being angled towards the south they do suffer at the beginning and end of season, but otherwise provide great skiing. We found that many people would head for the glacier ASAP, but we ventured there fairly infrequently.
Indeed, at Easter, the cold morning starts (lift opening times of 8am very useful for spring skiing) made the run from the Gaislagkogel back to the valley a firm favourite - no one was on these pistes as they were all 'heading high' - the run through the forest is charming, wide and passes back through the Innerwald area - a shelf above the main valley floor where there are a generous scattering of B&B etc, sun, trees and a couple of drag lifts for ski school. This is another whole area of the town that passers-through will never see. It is linked by piste back to the main Gaislachkogelbahn, and a modern inclined railway link which runs late into the evening during the ski season.
After a stop for hot chocolate in Innerwald, you can re-ascend for afternoon skiing on higher pistes. Due to warmer spring conditions we tended towards the black runs where fast modern lifts let us loop each a couple of times - onece to scope the snow and the next to just ski - the great advantage is most of your fellow skiers are regulars - many only doing day trips from home so there is a refreshing standard to keep up with.
A trip to the glacier has tremendous views - and broad even pistes...and a super steep world cup run. We did that two or three times with almost no-one on it. Actually, htere are two glacier areas on alternate sides of the mountain weach with a character of it's own. The ski tunnel that links them is a novel sort of piste and @Lampbus being a bit of a tunnel geek, interesting to experience. It is larger then 'the tunnel run' in Alpe d'Huez and emerges onto the sunny blue run glacier so all can experience it !
Mountain Huts:
There are a lot of mountain huts to have a hot chocolate, a cold Spezi or lunch.
If you want to have a fast, cost effective self-service lunch than the two self-service restaurants at the Giggijoch are perfectly servicable (one of them is furnished like a 1990s Ikea though, so kind of low on the alpine charm..).
However, our favourite lunch spots were the Heidealm ( www.waldesruh-soelden.com/heide_willkommen.html ) (reached via run 2/2a on the Gaislachkogl side of the ski area), the Rauth Alm ( www.rauthalm.at/home-en.html ) for a perfect mid-morning hot chocolate (reached via valley runs 8/10), the Stabele Alm (reached via runs 6, 11 or 30) for excellent Kaiserschmarrn, Tiroler Geröstl and jacket potatos and for possibly the best Apflstrudl on the mountain: www.obstlerhuette.com (located on run 20 through Hochsölden).
For mountainside picnics our favourite spot was the dedicated picnic spot/terrace at the top of the Gaislachkogl.
Eating Out
There are loads of options and our favourite traditional Austrian ones were Heiners - directly opposite the Giggijochbahn - ( www.heiners.at ) and Gasthof Grauer Bär at the other side of town ( www.grauer-baer.com/kulinarik/restaurant.html ). Both had great, friendly service and excellent, good quality food at an appropriate price point. We could have happily eaten Heiners' Wiener Schnitzel virtually every day...
Our go-to Italians were Salino at the Giggijoch end of town next to the Shell petrol station which we found courtesy of a recommendation on Snowheads and Gusto in the centre of town ( www.gusto-soelden.at ) - both of which can get very busy.
An honorable mention should go to fresh Leberkässemmel with mustard from the local Spar supermarket by way of a budget dinner eaten on the b&b balcony.
Apres-ski
We can't really comment on the apres ski is we are more into actually skiing but based on people in our accommodation who usually made it to the slopes around 2pm on account of having been thoroughly apres-skied the day before, I think it is safe to say that there is enough on offer, should you be so inclined.
There are a couple of lap dancing bars but you have to look to see them and you would need to actually go in to get any action other than a lame poster...
Summary
We had a great time, got some nice spring skiing in with hardly any lift lines and generally a friendly, welcoming athmosphere. And we will be back at Christmas! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@schneeflocke, thanks for the trip report- definitely on my new places to go list 
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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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Good report, thank you
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Some Pictures from our winter trip to Soelden.
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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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Another one 
(How do I post several in one posting ?)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks for posting this, goes some way to answering points I raised in a different thread. I wonder if you could give a comparison of the more difficult skiing toi that in other resorts (you mention the tunnel run in alpe d'huez so I presume you like a decent black)?? Cheers
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It all depends on what you mean by difficult. The world cup run is immensely steep and just goes on forever - I saw from the lift someone lose it about half way down...and thy did not stop until the bottom. Self arrest technique is a must.
There are some areas of bumps...it is very rare to find bumps on regular pistes in Solden - whilst not up to Italian grooming standards, they do manage to keep it reasonably manageable for intermediates. Warm snow does just form mounds though wherever you are.
I found the challenging stuff (at Easter and in previous years at the EoSB) - slushy snow. Sometimes it can just be ploughed through almost straight with the speed limited by the mass you are squishing underski, but real technique will make 'normal' turns almost enjoyable.
The good thin about Solden seem to be that the other skiers on the steep stuff are OK, it is rare to encounter totally out of control morons.
There is a reasonable freeride area, but unfortunately has not been in skiable condition when I have visited. For those with suitable equipment and experience there is plenty of off piste to be found and some guides available in local ski schools. There are also freeride courses run - possibly only German language though. http://www.alpenverein.at/risk-fun/partner-und-resorts/resorts.php?navid=642677642677
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FAQ
