Skiing Kaprun
Kaprun & The Kitzsteinhorn Glacier
The European Sports-Region Zell am See – Kaprun is a paradise of European standing for athletes and active holiday-makers as well as for gourmets. The surrounding area offers great snow with sure skiing for all ability levels. The extensive cross country trails in the valleys are endless and a walk across the frozen lake is a wonderful experience.
Kaprun and the neighbouring Zell am See are located in the heart of the Salzburg Region of Austria, approximately 80km from Salzburg which has a very convenient and well serviced international airport. Situated at the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier, in the midst of the majestic Hohe Tauern mountain range, they offer unlimited possibilities and 150km of superb year-round skiing.
The Kitzsteinhorn glacier at 3,203m (10,560 feet) guarantees snow throughout the year and provides skiers with a terrific selection of runs while the Maiskogel is an excellent ski area with an interesting number of red runs through the forest to Kaprun village. The mountain peak provides one of the widest selections of high altitude pistes in Austria and the area was one of the first ski resorts in Austria with descents recorded as far back as 1893.
Visitors can take a cable train – which runs on tracks and is pulled by a cable – up the slopes from the Kaprun valley station to the Kitzsteinhorn peak. The railway has been in service since 1974 and is the first mountain underground funicular train in the world. The system was modernised six years ago and can transport about 1,500 people per hour up to the Alpine centre on the glacier. From the top, there are spectacular views of the Grossglockner, Austria’s highest peak. Above the village of Kaprun, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier guarantees wide-open bowl skiing year round, while the majority of Zell am See’s Schmittenhöhe slopes sweep down through the trees, more reminiscent of Colorado’s Breckenridge or classic New Hampshire trails.
Kaprun and Zell am See boast fifty-seven lifts and 150km of pistes across four areas with a massive vertical range from 785 metres (resort) to 3,203 metres at the top of the Kitzsteinhorn glacier. In times of unpredictable climate and snowfall, the glacier gives the best guarantee for your playtime and work-outs on the white stuff.
Accomplished skiers will relish the contrast of wide-open pistes and the superb powder on the glacier. There are seven exciting black runs throughout the region, some with vicious moguls and especially challenging and exhilarating pistes on Zell am See’s Schmittenhohe Mountain.