Brandnertal Ski Area

Brandnertal’s family friendly ski area is well-suited for beginners, intermediates and mixed ability groups. The ski area is characterized by wide, well-groomed pistes with much of the ski terrain below the tree line, although at the southern end of the ski area (Paludalpe), the Glattjochbahn chairlift takes skiers and boarders to the top station at 2,000m where there are several open, treeless pistes. Brandnertal’s ski slopes are mostly served by an efficient ski lift system and around 75% of slopes have artificial snow coverage. Snow conditions on the predominantly east facing slopes hold up very well during the ski season, which lasts from December until April.

Brandnertal’s 29 groomed runs total 55 km and comprise 14 blue runs (22 km), 14 red runs (30 km) and a single (3 km) black run. With all but one of 29 marked runs designated either red or blue the ski area is clearly best for beginners and intermediates . Advanced skiers would be happy here for a short break as the pistes are generally uncrowded and offer sufficient changes in pitch and direction to maintain interest.

First-time skiers are fortunate to have their own learner area in the centre of Brand complete with a slow moving draglift and magic carpet. This is perfect for young children before they venture onto the mountain. Once beginners have found their ski legs there are plenty of easy blue runs for beginners higher up the mountain including four blue runs at the top of the mountain in the Paludalpe area and an enjoyable blue run from the Faregglift across the ridge that connects Bűrserberg to Brand.

The designation of 14 red runs doesn’t tell the full story, as they include a handful of ‘red diamond’ runs, which are unpisted and are more suited to confident intermediates and advanced skiers and boarders, rather than early intermediates. The distribution of blue and red runs is fairly evenly spread between Brand and Burserberg and many red and blue runs are in close proximity to each other and leading to the same lifts, making it easy for mixed ability groups to ski together.

Most visitors to Brandertal choose to stay in Brand, the bigger of the two villages, and this is reflected by the amount of uphill transport in Brand. The Dorfbahn gondola is in the heart of the village, and access is by escalator – so no trudging and jostling your way up flights of stairs with cumbersome equipment!

The ski area is adequately served by a mostly modern high-speed lift system capable of carrying 17,000 riders per hour. There are a few older 2-man chairlifts which work adequately well most of the time, but which will soon be replaced by new high speed chairlifts to reduce queuing at peak times.

On mountain dining is varied with six mountain restaurants (4 in Brand and 2 in Burserberg), and with a ski route back to the centre of Brand, its easy to take lunch in resort if you prefer, then ride the Dorfbahn gondala back up to the ski area.

In addition to downhill skiing and boarding, other activities include at least two toboggan runs, one of which is 6 km long, as well as 72 km of cross country skiing, which includes a glorious 15 km circular route at 1,250 m at Tschengla (Burserberg). Add to that snow shoeing and an extensive winter walking paths and all the ingredients are in place for a traditional Austrian ski holiday.