 Poster: A snowHead
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My boyfriend and I have just booked a holiday to mayrhofen for march. we are 19 and 23 and both compentant skiers. Has anyone been, and does anyone have any recommendations in terms of skiing areas and apres ski?
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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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alexski, I know nothing first hand about apres ski in mayrhofen, although it has a reputation for being pretty raucous 
As far as the skiing goes, I would suggest not to limit yourself to just skiing the Mayrhofen areas, but also explore the rest of the Zillertal. It is all included on your lift pass, as are the connecting buses and trains. Zell am Ziller and Kaltenbach particularly are quite easily accessible, and are likely to be much quieter than the Mayrhofen areas.
If you are accessing the Penken side of the Mayrhofen area, you might again find it better to take the bus down towards Hippach, and enter the area using the Horbergbahn gondola, rather than the Penkenbahn godola, as there tend to be far shorter queues there.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just been Zillertal Valley for a week and checked out every one of its
Fugen (small unlinked part of Hochzillertal Arena)
Hochzillertal
Zilllertal Arena
Gerlossteinwand ( small unlinked part of Zillertal Arena)
Penken/Horberg/Finkenberg (generally associated with Mayrhofen)
Ahorn (generally associated with Mayrhofen and regarded as part of Mayrhofen)
Hintertux
All of then are not linked to each other but the main areas of Mayrhofen, Zillertal Arena and Hochzillertal are pretty busy with apres activities. My impression is every major Austria resorts are like this now. Loud music and apres bars at the every major lift station. Skiers can drink all day and all night.
We stayed in Mayrhofen between walking distance to Penken and Ahorn gondola stations but drove every day to sample what the valley could offer. I found the music rather loud myself.
Mayrhofen main area is made up by Horberg, Penken, Finkenberg, Rastkogen and Eggalm each has its own gondola to a fully linked area covering 157km piste. Other areas require bus rides. Penken is the nearest gondola station for Mayrhofen although Ahorn is also part of Mayrhofen but it has only an unlinked small area which was good enough for 1/2 to a day's skiing. Ahorn is a good place to warm up but it has only have 4 lifts and 5 runs. The 160 capacity cable car is being claimed the world's largest though. We were able to ski to the valley floor from Ahorn.
Mayrhofen does have two black runs that stand out. No 17 "Devil's run" and the No. 18 "Harakiri". The latter is being claimed the steepest in Austria and is possibly the steepest "groomed" piste as I saw from photo of a snow bashing machine needed to be pulled by a cable in order to grooom it.
The wife and I are not good skiers but we only try the black slopes if they cross our way. We skied the Harakiri the last day after warming up 5 days elsewhere in Zillertal Valley. She felt on that slope and I just managed it. During our brief moment there I witnessed about 6 skiers fell. My estimate is about 15% of the skiers trying Harkiri did lose it although none suffered injury. The worst one I saw was having one ski dropped 50% of the run. The 78% gradient slope isn't the steepest we have come across in the Alps but the steep section is the longest though. The Devil's run is different because it is terraced slightly. The gradient gets steeper as one descend further and the steepest is at the last section where there is an blue run crossing it as an escape route for those who doesn't want the full whack.
Mayrhofen is enjoyable because the bowl between Penken and Horberg is well shielded from the wind, has sunchine and the area is always well prepared.
Lastly the valley level in Mayrhofen, or the entire valley, is wide and warm and so remains foggy most of the time. The skiing level is clear of the fog and appears to be above the cloud. Pretty stunning view.
Hinterlux has claimed consistently being the resort with the deepest snow in Austria. It is the galcier at the extreme end of the Zillertal Valley. As already pointed out by other snowheads skiing in a glacier is the experience of resisting wind, cold and icy condition. The latter happens because the wind blows the power snow away at isolated points. Thus it can be miserable to ski at the top of the glacier. \the wife got blown down once there. Condition gets a little better once a skier comes off from the peak. Gondola lifts are liable to close if the wind condition is strong. Yes Hinterlux has a lot of wind and you will experience it in the gondola. I can only nominate it as an experience. It is pretty stunning if you try to ski at the back of the glacier too which seemed to be a lot calmer.
Rest of the Zillertal Valley has a long resort called Zillertal Arena with 163 km piste going sideways. It starts from Zell, then to Gerlos, then Konigstieten and finally ends at Krimml. It can be a day's skiing to the far end and back. We met a British family of three when skiing from Zell to Konigsleiten and they told us in previous years they stayed at Krimml to ski to Zell. The wife and I only managed to reach Konigsteiten and returned back because the weather was getting poor.
The other big area in Zillertal is the Hochzillertal with 134km of piste near the front of the valley. Hochzillertal is most ambitious among the resorts in Zillertal Valley. It could be due to its being the first major resort into the vallley the place has 7 large car parks, one with a 4 storey purposely built accessible from the main road, to attract visitors. Hochzillertal at the chairlift station has the most modern look and full of shops and other facilities.
When one visits other unlinked resorts within the Zillertal valley, from inside to outside, while staying in Mayrhofen the distances are
Hintertux 12 miles
Tux-Vorderlanersbach (Eggalm chairlift, the furthest part of the linked Mayrhofen area) 7 miles
Mayrhofen 0 miles
Zell (starting point of Zillertal Arena) 6 miles
Konigsteiten (far end of Zillertal Arena but not sure if bus ride available or not) 22 miles
Kaltenbach ( access point of Hochzillertal) 10 miles
Fugen ( Unlinked part of Hochzillertal) 15 miles
Weising ( Junction of motorway A12 between Muchen and Innsbruck or starting point of Zillertal Vallley) 20 miles.
A very enjoyable valley to ski. Will need 2 to 3 weeks to sample the full 639km piste and 167 lifts with a Zillertal Superski pass, averaging less than 30 Euro per day on a 6-day or above pass. All major areas offer own cheaper ski passes. In our experience a car will make the skiing more mobile to tackle this valley.
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saikee, great review of Mayrhofen, thanks. I'm going on the 9th of Feb for the first time and I can't wait. I've skied in France mostly and once in Solden so I'm looking forward to some more wild Austrian apres!
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Mayrhofen rocks! Like someone else has said, be sure to be adventurous and ski everywhere you can on your pass instead of sticking only to Mayrhofen. Enjoy! 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Me and my girlfriend went March 2007, I'm 21 she's 22. We loved it!
Our favorite bars
WIN WIN, very modern and a little casino!
Ice bar, them bottles of grolsch where mint after a long day boarding!
Scotland Yard, always busy but good!
Have a trip to Hintertux, well worth it.
Overall, excellent apres ski, good food, good fun!
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We're going to Mayrhofen in march for 2 weeks, staying in Lanersbach. What sort of prices can you expect to pay for say lunch on the slopes, a hot choc and rum, a bowl of pasta, a steak and a bottle of wine?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Must admit I don't care much about food prices at a mountain top restaurants but Mayrhofen should be cheaper than most French resorts as far as food is concerned. I suppose a hot drink should be around 1.5 Euro, a bowl of pasta may be around 8 to 9 Euros, a steak may be 12 to 15 Euros. Never tried a bottle of wine while skiing so no information but at the supermarket I came close to get some cheap red wine sold at less than 4 Euro each. Austria red/white wine may start at about 5 to 6 Euro. Decent ones should be close to 10 Euro.
The wife and I spent on average 15 Euro for lunch as we tend to have one person's food with drinks for two. For dinner we would be eating rather well if we spend 50 Euro. Piza type dinner should be around 20 to 25 Euro for two of us around Mayrhofen. Austria meals are catered with the big German in mind and one dinner may be large enough for two persons from UK. In my experience no skier should complain about food in Austria.
Lanersbach is at the end of the Mayrhofen domain near Eggalm and Rastkogel gondolas. Think the food would not be much different from Mayrhofen which appears to have the biggest population.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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when we eat in austria we tend to get a meal and share it - complimented by some swiped rolls from breakfast!
the food in mayrhofen on the mountain was pretty good and quite reasonable - stay away from the resteraunts near the penken though - they get v busy due to the ski school
scotland yard gets mental from about 4 onwards - dont go there if you just want a quiet drink and a sit down though! scotland year (scottis) is also meant to be good although i think i only went there once or twice
something new for this season that seems to be a must visit is a bar inside an igloo that has been built on the ahorn - will definately be checking that out when I go.
lynseyf, gudo216, make sure you post a snow report when you get back! im going the first week in march! 
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lynseyf, Only had one meal on the slopes in Mayrhofen, but I think the prices are fairly similar across the Zillertal. These are the prices I was seeing early January this year.
A hot chocolate with cream was usually around €2.5-3. I never tried it with rum, and didn't notice the prices.
A bowl of Gulaschsuppe was usually around €4-6. Pasta meals usually around €8-10, other meals from €8 upwards. (But a very nice 1/2 chicken with bread above Konigsleiten for €6).
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You know it makes sense.
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It's almost like a mid season bash....I will be there first week of march aswell. Fourth return visit over the last 20 years so I guess that counts for something.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Check out the trip sections and lets see if we can organise to meet up?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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whoops
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FAQ
's. First ever skiing trip was quite a few years ago but I do remember the apres. The whole day seemed to be based around partying. Umbrella bars on the slopes and big mad bars by the main cable car up at 5pm. Great place, to old for it now 
It is now my happy place . Then after 8 Scotland yard and back to hotel Strass for the night club.
