Kitzbühel

AWARDS

Gold - Best Ski Village, Best Tobogganing, Best Ski Race Events, Best for Having it all

Silver - Best Place for a Whole Week, Best Powder Skiing

Bronze - Best All Around Terrain

All that and a bag of meat chips
At the Hahnenkamm
Powder in Kitzbuhel

Kitzbuhel is like a big warm hug. So much good. So little bad. Untracked powder, many a skiers most valued commodity, is widely available. Basically the Austrians, pros in all that is skiing, so gallantly ski right beside your tracks in order to preserve the powder. No sweeping super g turns to ruin a whole slope of fresh snow round here.

Whether you’re walking through the picturesque town of Kitzbuhel in search of the best gluhwein or trying to see if you can even cover the entire mountain in a week, this place has major mojo. A blend of old school wooden lifts and tiny chalet restaurants serving up grosti, and newer high-speed quads and trams that launch you on top of killer elevation and incline. You really can ski it all.

Home to the most famous and badass world cup downhill, the Hahnenkamm, locals around here know a thing or two about skiing and ski racing. You can ski the downhill course and become immediately aware of why some racers, and even skiers, can’t make it down this pitch with a clean pair of ski pants.

Be sure to venture off the more modern and manicured slopes of Kitzbuhel over to Kirschberg to indulge in some natural, intimate, winding slopes that often have powder all year round just on the edges of the main groomed slopes.

If you love skiing and love a party, the Hahnenkamm is the Tour de France, the Superbowl, the Wimbledon, of skiing. Starting early, thousands of fans gather to watch the race in a drunken, glorious, frenzy. After that, the fans take to the streets to celebrate all day and night. The Londoner is the place to go. Try and get in by 2 p.m. and if you’re lucky and endurant, you’ll last till the Canadian and American ski teamers show up late night to serve drinks from the bar and maybe rip each other’s shirts off for the ladies.

The town during the Hahnenkamm

Be sure to stroll the streets of Kitzbuhel, pick up a curry wurst, or (Mark recommends) chips made of meat (so gross), at a street vender. Watch for falling fresh stuff that always seems to tuck you in at night so you can rest assured of fresh tracks in the morning.

And while Kitzbuhel makes me wax poetic, be assured, there are cliffs to drop, ridges to scale, gullies to climb out of after a killer descent. This mountain can challenge.

It can be hard to get a place here, especially for the Hanenkahm. Book early. Good news is, you can book nights and not just weeks. It’s also expensive and like most high profile resorts, has gone the way of luxury stores apparently to entertain the non-ski jet set during the day. Not the best place to find a great new toque unless you want original rabbit fur atop a Prada logo for 400 Euros.

If you can’t get into Kitzbuhel, try St. Johann. A short train ride will bring you to the hill in the morning.

Kitzbuhel is an easy drive from Munich (best choice), Salzburg or Innsbruck. It’s just under a two-hour drive, or one hour in your rented German sports car on the autobahn.

Stats

Top Elevation: 2,050m
Vertical Drop: 1,200m
Lifts: 56
Lifts in the area attached to Kitzbühel: 247
Avergae Snowfall: 1.8m
Skiable Terrain: 168 KM

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