Ellmau
Ski Resort

Ellmau is part of the large SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental ski area. It’s a quiet, family-oriented ski resort, mostly composed of small hotels and cosy restaurants, so whilst there are apres-ski bars up the mountain and some late-night bars in the village, those seeking a more vibrant party scene would be better off in lift-linked Soll or nearby Kitzbuhel. The village is still attractive but rather stretched out, and most of the accommodation is a long walk or a short bus-ride away from the main lifts.

There is a lot of skiing in the SkiWelt – over 270kms of runs and more than 80 lifts – which is more than enough for a week’s ski holiday. Perhaps the most impressive statistic though, is the number of the mountain bars and restaurants, known as ‘mountain huts’: at the last count there were about 80 of them! Most of the pistes are short, treelined, gentle blues, or red runs that are only slightly steeper. These are great for novices and intermediates who like easy cruising. And Ellmau is a good resort for beginners too, with nursery slopes on the edge of the village and also up the mountain. The Ellmau ski schools have a good reputation for those who want to learn or improve.

Experienced skiers who want to be tested will soon grow tired of the few local black runs and ski routes like ‘East’. There are some steeper slopes in the SkiWelt above Soll but not enough for a whole week. Fortunately Kitzbuhel’s more challenging ski area (called ‘KitzSki’) is less than 30 minutes away by bus or car, and there are various lift passes that cover both ski areas, or you can buy one-day supplements. You can also reach KitzSki by skiing across the SkiWelt to Westendorf, where a short ride in a ski bus connects the KitzSki lift at Skirast with the SkiWelt lift at Ki-West, but if you’re coming Ellmau this is a long journey and getting there and back will take up most of the day.

The SkiWelt is very low for a ski area – all the slopes are below 2000m and Ellmau itself is sited at just 820m above sea level. Over 90% of the SkiWelt pistes, however, have artificial snow-making so its runs remain skiable if night time temperatures are cold enough for the snow cannons to work. That is unlikely to be a problem in January, particularly around Ellmau where most of the runs face north, but if the weather is warm in the run up to Easter, the SkiWelt ski area will noticeably contract or become very slushy.

Ellmau Pros & Cons

+ Family-friendly quiet village
+ Large lift-linked ski area
+ Good resort for beginners
+ Impressive artificial snowmaking
+ Stronger skiers have access to more challenging slopes at Soll and Kitzbuhel

– Resort is rather stretched out
– Lifts can be far away from accommodation
– Too low to be snowsure in warm weather