Zillertal Arena

When the snows good Freeriders can spend a week here and still not ride half of what is available through out the Zillertal Arena. The terrain best suited to intermediates and it’s easy to spot most of the off piste faces to ride, with often no or a very short walk to access them. There’s nothing too mad but there is some well pitched open faces to have it down.

Both sides of the Isskogel peak are obvious faces and under and to the right of the Sonnwendkopt gondola has a bit of tree shredding but don’t drop past the path half way down or you wont make it back to the gondola. In Zell the left hand side, on the way down, of the Kapauns lift offers a laugh and the right of Ubergangsjoch peak has a big wide face, while riding to the Kreuzwiesen (painful) t-bar is always quiet.

Freestylers are best provided with facilities at Gerlos under the name of ‘Boarders Town’, which is a 400 metre fun park, which is not much to talk of and the pipe on piste 8 is ok but riders wanting man made features are best off elsewhere. But there’s plenty of scope for those who like a rock to jump off and with some imagination you can design your own piste long off piste park.

Riders have mountain that will keep then happy for the duration of their stay be it a week or two. The pistes are well maintained and there are some nice long trails to lick it down. If you like to clock up the miles there’s the Arena Tour to tackle which is from one end of the valley and back without riding the same piste or lift twice. Start early as if you get stuck on the wrong side of the mountain it’s a long taxi ride home.

You can ride back to the Zell car park under the Rosenaimbahn gondola but you do have to duck under a rope as you’re supposed to down load, don’t try to go under the new Wiesenalmbahn gondola or you’ll be walking through thr tree stumps for a very long way. Gerlos village is now reachable on you board on the new 1a piste, which is easy to miss.
 

Beginners are the ones who should appreciate this area the most because this is a first class beginners resort and any novice spending a week here should leave a competent intermediate rider, as long as they don’t party too hard with the Dutch. There’s hardly any t-bars and there’s a good travelator at the top of the Isskogelbahn gondola.