Somewhere in the valley of Oetz - the most spectacular valley in Austria and close to the Italian border, lies the jewel of this long valley, the famous ski resort of Soelden.
Soelden has well-equipped and advanced mountain lift infrastructures, three peaks higher than 3000m, aka the Big 3, with spectacular viewing platforms. It’s famous for its lively après ski scene and its main street, the famous Soelden party mile, and was featured in the 2015 James Bond film: Spectre.
Soelden is one of the most popular ski destinations in the Alps, and is particularly favoured by Dutch and German skiers.
As the jewel in the crown of the Oetztal, Soelden gets the benefits from new developments in the area.
In this video, we will present these developments and show you the most important things you need to know before booking a holiday in Soelden. If you stay until the end of the video, you will get some great tips that will help you to make better decisions, save time and money and have a more enjoyable holiday.
The closest airport to the ski resort is Innsbruck, in Austria, at just 83 km away - or 1 hour and 10 minutes’ drive. Other close airports are Friedrichshafen at 211km away - or two hours and 46 minutes, Memmingen at 177km away - or 2 hours and 40 minutes - and St Gallen at 182km away - or 2 hours and 25 minutes.
Two major airports near Soelden are Munich and Zurich, but both are just over a 3 hours’ drive away.
Soelden’s ski area is comprised of 144km of slopes for skiing and snowboarding with altitude ranging from 1,350 to 3,250 m.
As mentioned earlier, Soelden has one of the most advanced and well-equipped lift infrastructures in the world, comprised of 31 lifts that can carry an incredible 66,020 passengers per hour.
Unlike times gone by, if you buy a ski pass for more than three days, then you’ll get the Oetztal super ski pass, which includes 361 km of slopes and 91 lifts, among them the resorts of Obergurgl and Kuthai. 6 days ski pass will cost you between €277 to €288 most seasons, or as low as €243.50 in early Dec and late April. The lift company ESTABLISHED a dynamic pricing system. These prices are only valid online at least five days before the first day of skiing.
The prices at the ski desk can be up to 20% higher than those prices mentioned. There’s also a free cancellation policy if you cancel up to five days before the validation point. If you buy a pass for six days or longer, you receive free admission to 007 elements in Gaislachkogl peak, and other attractions like free use of the toboggan runs and one-night skiing!
The ski season in Soelden is from late November until early May, but if you want to have an early warm-up for the season ahead, the glaciers ski area in Soelden is open for skiing from late September.
Out of the 144 km contiguous ski runs at the ski area of Soelden, 49% are blue, 32% are red, and 19% are black.
We can divide the ski area to 3 different sub-areas:
If you are a beginner or plan to take skiing lessons, the Giggijoch lift top station is the meeting point of most ski schools. The runs on the Giggijoch vary from blue to black but are mainly comfortable, wide, well-groomed slopes. Here you can find the “area 47” snow park which was shaped by designers from 8 countries. The Giggijoch area is also known as the Soelden-Hochsoelden area and it connects between the two other areas.
If you are a freerider, and looking for off-pistes, the Gaislachkogl, the 2nd area, and one of the big 3 peaks, offers many great freeride routes, most of them quite challenging. Here you can find various slopes for all levels and also the toboggan and night skiing runs.
The 3rd area is the glaciers area, which is comprised of 2 glaciers around the Schwarze Schneide peak, the highest of the famous “big 3”. The glacier on the north side is Rettenbach, where you can find the World Cup run in black.
The glacier to the south is Tiefenbach, where you can find a range of beginners runs. Tiefenbahkogl, the top of this glacier, is the 3rd of the big 3 peaks, with an amazing suspended long balcony over the abyss. The glacier area is excellent for beginners, who can explore a circle of blue runs. This is the area that is open for skiing each year from late September.
The BIG 3 phrase was coined by Soelden’s marketing team, to emphasise the fact that it is the only ski resort in Austria with three peaks above 3000 meters.
By the way, there are only 7 ski lifts that cross the 3km altitude.
Another feature unique to Soelden is the largest vertical drop in Austria, at almost 2 km, from a top altitude of 3250m to 1340m at Giggijoch bottom station level.
Soelden’s longest ski run is the longest in Austria.
thanks to FATMAP.COM for the use of their 3d maps.
thanks to the Oeztal tourist office for the use of the helicopter shots, aqua dome shots , and Obergurgl ski shots.