Oberstdorf Ski Area

The country’s most southern region has always been highly rated for alpine and cross country skiing, and also has excellent snowboarding terrain. The three main ski areas are the Nebelhorn, Fellhorn/Kanzelwand and the Söllerek. An electronic guest card, the Allgäu Walser card gives skiers and boarders access to all buses, as well as special offers.

The Nebelhorn (2224m), Oberstdorf’s original ski area, which is reached from the centre of town by the Nebelhorn cable-car, provides the highest and most challenging slopes in the region, and the German ski instructors’ exams are held here. The Fellhornbahn (Fellhorn/Kanzelwand) serves a much bigger area which in turn is linked with the geographically bizarre Kleinwalsertal enclave of Austria – a valley completely surrounded by Germany. From the scenically-placed and often sun-drenched Panorama restaurant at the top, right on the border, you can look down on German slopes on one side and Austrian on the other, although there is only one main run down to Austria. The long Kanzelwand run to Riezlern is in fact an intermediate super-highway (though it gets narrower later) which connects the two countries, enabling skiers from either side to explore each other’s ski areas. Riezlern’s main runs – and those of neighbouring Hirschegg, Mittelberg and Baad – are in fact on the opposite side of the Austrian valley. The main Fellhorn and Kanzelwand ski areas, some five miles out of town, can be reached by ski bus. A two-part ride in one of Germany’s biggest cable-cars takes skiers and boarders to the top station at 2037m. Those who want to get out at the top of the first cable-car can stop at a mountain restaurant and still enjoy the network of chairs and above-the-treeline intermediate skiing, before either skiing down again or pressing on to the top, from where they can continue all the way down to Kleinwalsertal.

The Nebelhorn ski area (it means “misty mountain” and sometimes lives up to its name as any bad weather coming through the valley normally strikes here first) is reached by cable-car from the town centre. You need to take three sections to reach the top, where black and red runs offer an excellent high-mountain experience with breathtaking scenery: they say you can see as many as 400 peaks between the Zugspitze and Switzerland’s Mount Säntis. The Nebelhorn has some good off-piste opportunities, and it’s also the start of some of the area’s best ski-touring routes. The 7.5 km run from the top all the way down to the bottom is reputed to be the longest in Germany. The final section meanders through glades all the way down to the base station.
A third area, perhaps the most delightful though not the most challenging, is the Söllerek. It has the smallest vertical drop, but it’s a beautiful sunny area for intermediates and families, with long gladed runs, particularly the twin runs off the long Höllwies draglift, where visibility in bad weather is always improved by being on forest trails. A children’s fun area has been added at the bottom gondola station.