Kaunertal Glacier: The Tyrolean pearl of glacier skiing
The nature park and glacier Kaunertal is one of the most tranquil holiday destinations in Austria. The north-south running valley in the Ötztal Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol surprised me during my visit last winter especially with one thing: an incredible separatingness and peace.
On the one hand, the reason for that is that the ski area is not exactly small, so that all the winter sport fans are very well distributed on the winding slopes. On the other hand, there is the actual isolation of the Kaunertal glacier.
The Kaunertal, which turns from Prutz in the Landeck district to the east and that makes a sharp bend to the east after five kilometers ends with the Gepatschferner, the second largest glacier in Austria.
One of the best experiences in Kaunertal is, however, already when approaching the glacier on the Kaunertal Glacier Road, which is becoming a tolled road a mile south of the the main city of Feichten.
At the rear part of the valley one can find the six kilometers big Gepatschspeicher Lake, a reservoir, that is especially impressive during the winter months and that is so picturesquely nestled between the mountain slopes, as if it was painted right in there by Monet himself.
From there, the narrow Kaunertal Glacier Road leads past the refuge Gepatschhaus and continues through high alpine terrain to the edge of the Weißseeferner at 2,750 meters above sea level.
The Kaunertal glacier is one of the highest resorts in Tyrol with guarantee snow from October to June. At a total of eight thousand meters above sea level it comes up with eight lifts and cable cars, around 30 km of slopes and another 30 km of Freeride Lines.
And the best thing above all is, that unlike in other ski resorts in Austria you will not see hundreds of other skiers right in front you, but you will often have one thing in front of your eyes: the eternal ice of the mighty peaks of the glaciated Weißseespitze. But for now, let these pictures speak for themselves…
HARD FACTS:
Snow guarantee: Kaunertal is Tyrol’s youngest glacier has snow gueranteed from October – June
Slopes: 32,5 km of groomed slopes, 30 km of combination runs; nearly no queuing at lifts. A slope plan is right here!
Ski tours: Kaunertal Glacier is also starting point for ski tours to the Glockturm or the Weisseepitze
Lift tickets: The six-day lift ticket and above also include the cable car tickets for Rifflsee and Pitztal Glacier. Find all prices on the official website.
Toll: The toll price is included in the ski pass
Arrival by train/bus:
Via Landeck train station and with a regular bus connection to Kaunertal
Arrival by car: There are several routes to Kaunertal glacier depening on where you come from. The main ones are:
Füssen/Garmisch-Fernpass-Imst-Landeck-Prutz-Kaunertal
Garmisch-Zirl-Imst-Landeck-Prutz-Kaunertal
Arlberg-Landeck-Prutz-Kaunertal
Reschenpass-Nauders-Pfunds-Prutz-Kaunertal
Brennerpass-Innsbruck-Imst-Landeck-Prutz-Kaunertal
Planning a trip? Check out my favorite Austria travel guides:
Two guide books that can really help you plan your trip to Austria and its ski arenas and glaciers are the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Austria and the Lonely Planet for Austria.
More Articles on Austria Travel:
• 5 days, 5 Tyrolean glaciers and 1000 impressions
• Dear Innsbruck Airport… – a love letter
Anekdotique was a guest of Tirol Werbung and the Kaunertaler Gletscherbahnen. Thank you! All opinions, exaggerations and bad jokes are my own.
