Slopes With a Lakeside View at Zell am See

So first of all, I apologize for basically no updates last season. We really only took one trip and it was a repeat visit to Scuol. I don’t usually shop for reasons to post outside of visiting ski areas so there just wasn’t much to drone on about. ANYWAY.

Dec 2025 – Much against my own advice to others, I’ve gotten worse at planning ahead in order to secure reasonably priced holidays. Later bookings have started creeping into my behavior and I’m really starting to be annoyed with myself as a result of it. Luckily, there are alternatives to Booking.com and AirBnB in the form of forking over tons of my own credit card points to secure a late season hotel or apartment for my family. Both my awful planning and my point repository led me down a strange road which ended at Zell am See 🇦🇹.

The only thing I had ever known about Zell am See was from the song Schifoan (which is essentially nothing). I also knew it was a ski area situated right next to a big body of water which I hadn’t experienced since visiting Narvik…so naturally I thought it’d be cool to ride the slopes again with water in view and play Schifoan in some earbuds over and over for five straight days. The fact that it’s not insanely deep into the Alps requiring a 7-hour drive was also a massive plus. Additionally, we had the pleasure of bringing along a relative who was new to snowboarding and letting her have a taste of alpine slopes and Apres Ski.

This was a weird season. The latter part of November saw an insane amount of snowfall all over the Alps and then……it just stopped. Like for an entire month. Nearly nothing in the form of a single flake of powder fell on the Austrian Alps for nearly the whole month of December. So we arrived with a surprisingly light amount of snow cover in the lower valley. It was kind of a bummer to arrive at such a state; however, with the weather pattern changes over time, it isn’t much of a surprise to have to experience, these days.

One of the first things about the place I noticed was the cost and type of ticket the ski area has for all. Normally I wouldn’t have cared, but we had a beginner family member with us who wasn’t even going to come close to taking advantage of even half the total kilometers available across the entire region…and the only ticket possible is an all-region-inclusive ticket coming in at a painful 231.00 euros for 3-days…

For four days the cost would end up being almost as costly as the 4 Valleys of Switzerland. No easy feat. Well played Zell Am See 😅.

We did take advantage of a really great snowboard school both for beginners and for more experienced riders that I’ll mention later (or click here to skip further down).

To this point, the total ski area is divided into three separate mountains in a relatively close proximity to the actual village: Schmittenhöhe, Kitzsteinhorn, and Saalbach. All three areas amount to over 300kms of groomed runs‼️ Since we didn’t want to leave our newcomer alone after her lessons were over, we stuck to the Schmittenhöhe ski area for our trip. We’d done enough searching to understand that, had we wanted to visit another area, there was infrastructure in place to take us via bus and/or train. We never ended up using it, though, as we did a fair amount of Schmittenhöhe exploring over the 4-days we were there for.

The conditions over the course of our stay went from warm near Spring-like conditions to new fallen snow and frigid winds at the top of Schmittenhöhe ski area. The first day’s warm temps had me horrified at the prospect of warm slushy slopes, but the weather gods were on our side for a 24-hour period that saw just enough new snow fall to make off-piste a possibility in certain places and the groomed slopes felt a hell of a lot nicer. However, even with some of the milder temps that began during our week’s stay, the slope conditions in the mornings were pretty good.

SLOPES! The entire reason all ten of you readers 😅 might be here. Schmittenhöhe has a pretty solid mixture of groomed slopes giving the experienced skier or rider everything they could want. There are some nice wide areas with some off-piste action to enjoy on the northern side of the mountain and there are some aggressive red runs (nearly blacks) on the southern side that lead down to the valley/town.

After a little exploring, I found the north side of Schmittenhöhe to be a lot more fun with the kids as the south side just didn’t have enough snow and was steep, icey and too ski’d out by 11AM. After a few connecting runs, the slopes really opened up nice and wide giving all of us a lot more room to move around in. Also, the huts on the north side I felt were a lot more charming, tucked away, and more homey feeling than those on the south side which I’ll always gravitate towards.

Crowds were just as varied on the Schmittenhöhe area as the weather…especially with New Year’s Eve and day. The first few days were BUSY on the south side of the mountain. Not so insane that you’re waiting 20 minutes for a lift, but busy enough that on some of the thinner connecting trails we got a claustrophobic “please don’t run this kid over” feeling every now and again. However, New Year’s Day was the absolute best morning ever because everyone was too hungover from the night before to get on the slopes early‼️ Christmas Day and New Year’s…that’s when you want to be out there early in the morning. We were able to get several long runs in before there was a moment’s wait at the mid-slope station.

With some new snow, I think Schmittenhöhe is pretty great in general. The valley runs would be a lot less icey or sketchy and some of the good side-piste options would open up nicely. Most of the mountain is sun-kissed (when it’s out) so the afternoon can get a bit crunchy/slushy…but as a family we still had a very good time out there.

I made mention of and posted a photo of a rustic but busy Hütte called Blaickner’s Sommalm. My dear spouse was taking things slow on the south side of Schmittenhöhe and wanted us to move along to the north side and Blackner’s Sonnalm is where we ended up for lunch at least twice during our time at Zell am See.

Everything there was amazing from the food, the old wooden paneling and ceilings, the history on display in knick-knacks and photos behind the bar, to the insanely beautiful view over the valley directly out the front door. If I had to criticize (which really I’m not doing), the place gets a bit crowded if you don’t time it right…but honestly this is a testament to the quality of the place.

I thought one of the best parts of the south side of the mountain was honestly the ability to ski or ride an icy slope straight into more than one aprés ski bar. We didn’t fully partake due to the crowds and fact that we had our kiddos with us, but they’ve been skiing in Europe long enough they fully understand Mommy and Daddy dropping by the aprés bar for a post-slope drink or two. They’re troopers about hanging and letting us relax for a few…so long as the hot chocolate continues to flow. Just FYI: I probably wouldn’t take my kids to Dorfschenke , but if you’re without kids, it’s pretty awesome looking.

Our beds were located at the Haid Vogel Hotel in Schüttdorf which is just a few minutes south of Zell am See proper. The hotel’s spa area was awesome and the indoor pool was great; however, the outdoor heated pool (which was a big draw for me) just wasn’t hot enough to really enjoy. We all felt like we were freezing in it after a few minutes.

The village was more our speed in terms of crowds, etc. Some of the better pizza I’ve found in German-speaking areas of Europe was found at Slow Down Pizzeria and there was a late-operating basic food and drink store just around the corner, as well. Plus it was an easy walk to the AreitXpress lift, equipment rental, ski schools, etc. The only pain in the butt was the fact that we were in a hotel room with no microwave or any method to re-heat leftover food.

Tip: Don’t go into Zell am See for dinner without a reservation thinking you’re going to get a seat. You won’t and the hostess will make you feel like a loveable idiot for trying.

The final aspect of this visit that I wanted to highlight was the private lesson that Mrs. Snowboarddad booked. She had a nasty sledding accident a few years ago and has been a bit more cautious and nervous on the mountains over the last few years, so she wanted to grab a lesson from someone and regain some of that confidence.

I don’t know how many of you married folks know this, but oftentimes teaching or being taught between spouses oftentimes does not work out. Also, I’m a horrible teacher in general. So she landed on Snowboard School Boardslide. Our family member beginner was also already in a class with them (shoutout to Marieke) so we gravitated towards them due to her experience earlier during the week.

While I wasn’t there to make any direct judgements, Mrs. Snowboarddad gave me all the feedback necessary to describe her experience.

Firstly, the school had someone available on the most hungover morning of the year: New Year’s Day. This was not something I expected which I appreciated. Peter was the designated and sober teacher of the day and, from what I was told, he did a great job helping her regain some of her slope confidence. Peter was super patient and took a lot of time to tweak some of the technique and finesse that her cautiousness as a result of her accident had overtaken. The pricetag of €135 to her felt well worth it for nearly two hours of instruction on the mountain. Confidence regained is kind of priceless, anyway.

Zell am See was a good spot to visit and is well-known for a lot of reasons: most notably the kilometer range of slopes connected by bus and train. The town is up-scale but the surrounding villages maintain a low-key vibe with some good after ski places to visit. While pricey ski passes are a pain point, if you’ve got the time and flexibility to move around to the adjacent ski areas, you’ll get the most value out of what you spend. Schmittenhöhe alone had something for all types and we all ended up having a good experience, to include our newcomer.

Get out there and see for yourself!

Bis zum näschtes Mal!

-Me