Stubaital Ski Resort

The Stubai valley, or Stubaital, has four bus-linked ski areas including Schlick 2000 and the famous Stubaier Gletscher, the high snowsure glacier at its head, with excellent skiing in winter, spring, summer and autumn. The main villages are Mieders, Fulpmes and Neustift.


The Stubai Valley offers traditional Tirolean mountain holidays and excellent glacier skiing within easy reach of Innsbruck and Innsbruck Airport. You can therefore stay either in the valley or in the picturesque old town of Innsbruck itself and commute to the skiing: there is a tram service to Fulpmes and buses to the individual ski areas. But there is nothing suburban about Stubaital’s magnificent alpine scenery, with 80 glaciers and over 100 peaks above 3000m, topped by the Zuckerhütl peak at over 3500m.

Stubaier Gletscher / Mutterberg

The Stubai glacier, or “Stubai valley, or Stubaital” is open for skiing for most of the year and is frequently named the best glacier ski area in the world. It’s certainly Austria’s largest, and probably the biggest in the world, with about 25 lifts (10 of which rise above 3000m) and 30 runs. In winter all the skiing, including even the home runs back to the car parks and valley-level lift at Mutterberg, is above 1695m, and most of it is above 2600m and north-east facing, so snow quality is excellent, although the cold can be a problem. There is skiing for all standards: absolute beginners have good, high-mountain nursery slopes at Gamsgarten (2620m); improving novices and less confident intermediates have about 10 easy blue slopes that cover most of the ski area including descents from the 3210m Schaufelspitze or “Top of Tyrol”; while intermediates and above can choose between a handful of pisted red runs, a solitary black and about 10 official ski routes which are usually left ungroomed. Keen off-piste skiers, freeriders and ski tourers can use the high lifts as starting points for even longer itineraries with a guide. At the end of the day, there are long ski routes back to the two base stations at Mutterberg, although beginners and less confident intermediates will have to return in the lift because there is no easy way down.

Schlick 2000 / Fulpmes

Schlick 2000 is the ski area above Fulpmes, the main ski resort in the valley. This has skiing above and below the treeline, from 1000m to 2240m. Although there are fewer than 10 numbered pistes, they each have several variants and there is a good mixture of nursery slopes, blue pistes, red pistes, black pistes, an official ski route and some very unofficial off-piste for which you will need a guide.

Serles / Mieders and Elfer / Neustift

The other Stubaital ski areas, at Serles above Mieders, and Elfer above Neustift, have very few pistes for skiers but excellent tobogganing runs, winter walking paths and snowshoe trails. Elfer is also a noted paragliding centre and there is high quality cross-country skiing all over the valley and several ice skating rinks. This reflects the prevailing attitude that downhill alpine skiing should be just one of several activities you try on a winter holiday here, and if you adopt this, and use the bus service to visit all the ski areas, including the glacier, there will be more than enough runs to last a week. All the skiing is covered by the Stubai Super Ski Pass and there are ski schools and guides based in all the main villages.

Staying in Stubaital

There is a string of villages where you can stay if you don’t want to stay in Innsbruck and commute to the skiing. Meiders, Fulpmes and Neustift are the main ones, but there are also tiny hamlets closer to the glacier, such as Ranalt, Falbeson, Volderau, Krossbach and Gasteig, and self-contained isolated hotels. There is also one hotel within walking distance of the glacier base-station at Mutterburg, the aptly-named Alpensporthotel. All the villages and hamlets are connected by the efficient Stubai Valley bus service. There is not much nightlife because the accommodation is too scattered, but what there is, is mostly in Neustift and Fulpmes.

Recommended Hotels in Stubaital

Alpensporthotel, Mutterberg
Relais & Chateau Hotel Jagdhof
Alpenhotel Kindl Neustift
Alpeiner Nature Resort Tirol Neustift
Happy Stubai Hotel Neustift
Sporthotel Neustift
Vitalhotel Edelweiss Neustift
Schönherr Haus Neustift
Hotel Forster Neustift
Hotel Angelika Neustift
Hotel Erika Neustift
Hotel Waldhof Fulpmes
Hotel Montana Telfes

Search Accommodation in Stubaital & Book Online >

Ski Equipment Rental in Stubaital

There are equipment rental shops up and down the valley, but it’s hard to negotiate discounts if you simply walk into them when you arrive. ALPINRESORTS.com works with several shops and can secure discounts of up to 35% if you book online >

Stubaital Pros (+) Cons (-)   

+ Good skiing for all abilities
+ Snowsure glacier ski area
+ Wide choice of quality accommodation
+ Good transport infrastructure
+ Easy to get to
+ Good facilities for families and beginners

–  Limited apres-ski
–  Not a central hub resort
–  Commuting by ski bus or car to main ski area
–  Limited piste skiing for experts

Stubai Ski Area

Stubai Valley is a snow-sure destination that appeals to the skier's skier and the boarder's boarder. As well as the Stubai Glacier itself, the mellow, more family-oriented ski area of Schlick 2000 at Fulpmes, 15 minutes from Neustift, boasts stunning alpine scenery, a good sun record and a lovely mountain hut next to practically every run.

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Stubai Glacier

Stubai's impressive glacier stands like a giant meringue at the head of its long, wide eponymous valley. About an hour from Innsbruck, along the route you'll also find a few bijou family-oriented ski areas, including Hoch Serles at Mieders, the 11er (Elfer) lifts at Neustift and Schlick 2000 above Fulpmes . Though most head for the more extensive terrain of the glacier, these areas are included on the Super Ski Pass, adding variety to a ski week and especially useful on white-out days when the relatively featureless glacier makes visibility a blind joke. Apart from the small, continual clusters of hotels and B&Bs that dot the road's edge - sleeping communities for those serious about early skiing and early nights -- the primary village to stay in is Neustift, a quiet family oriented spot 20km from the valley station lifts to the Stubaier Gletscher skiing.

From Neustift, mostly Germans, Austrians, eastern Europeans and now more  Brits either drive to the huge free parking lot at the valley station gondola base for the Stubai Glacier each morning, or hop aboard the free valley shuttle bus. The better hotels also lay on their own shuttles for guests. Two side-by-side gondolas depart from the Mutterberg base station, one branching off at the middle station Fernau in two further stages to reach the top and both offering two further alternatives to ascend by different routes to the ‘Top of Tirol’ just below Schaufelspitze at 3210m..

At the end of a day peeling around a great choice of 110km of red, blue and black trails, you can conveniently 'drop rather than drag’ your equipment at two Intersport shops on the mountain at Eisgrat (2900m) and Gamsgarten (2620m). There is also a very impressive mountain facility at Gamsgarten, which serves as the focus for children’s skiing here as well as the remarkable 2 km. cross-country track there.  This is a really practical arrangement for family skiing and takes a lot of the strain out of a parent’s lot in looking after kids’ early skiing experiences. More ambitious skiers will want to keep their skis on though, to drop nearly another kilometre in height down the wonderful Wilde Grub’n ski route back to the valley station, although this can get busy at close of play. 

Stubai Glacier ski area is snow-sure and will appeal to skier's and boarder's keen on putting miles under their feet during the day, not shopping or dancing them off at night. Also its combination of Kindergarten, blues, reds, blacks and off-piste genuinely offers something for everyone. Comparing Neustift to the partytown of Sölden, whose lifts are visible across the abyss from the 3,000 metre-plus peak at Schaufelspitze, "we sleep a little bit longer," says a local instructor.

Schlick 2000

Some 15 minutes up valley from Neustift, away from the glacier, is the charming Tirolean village of Fulpmes and its ski area, Schlick 2000. This mellow, more family-oriented ski area boasts surprisingly stunning high alpine scenery, is wind-protected by limestone peaks, and has a good sun record too. While there are just 18 km of pistes, there is practically a lovely mountain hut on the edge of each of them, most with charming terraces doing a mean trade in ‘vodka feigen’ (vodka and fig drinks).

Get dragged along a pretty forest trail by snow cat and water-ski ropes to the Galthut restaurant, on the half hour between 11.30-1pm. The Sennjochhutte at the mountain top has comfy bar stools from which to watch the world ski by. If you want to drop of the kiddies first, Big Ron’s Kinderland at the top of Kreuzjochbahn1 is an adventure playground with all-day care for 3-13 year olds.

There's a nice bit of off-piste to be had if you time it right, like the far right traverse off the top T-bar, and a couple of ski routes snaking off the blue runs. All the lovely trees and views in Schlick make a nice contrast to the open white-white-white of the Stubai glacier and the Super Ski Pass works here.

 

Stubai Glacier Ski Area Statistics

Country                                  Austria

State                                     Tirol

Region                                   Stubaital

Base                                      1,750 m

Summit                                  3,215 m

Elevation                                1,465 m

Snowmaking                           25%

Number of runs                        26

Beginner                                40%

Intermediate                           34%

Advanced                               26%

Longest run                            10 km

Number of ski lifts                    26

Cable Cars                           -

Gondolas                                5

Chairlifts                                7

Surface lifts                            10

Magic Carpets                          4

Riders per hour                        36,000

Day Lift Pass                          Euros 43 ( Stubaital Superski)

6-day Lift Pass                        Euros 228 (Stubaital Superski)

Season starts                          Late Oct

Season ends                           Early May

Web                                     www.stubaier-gletscher.com

Email                                    [email protected]

 

Schlick 2000 Ski Area Statistics

Country                                  Austria

State                                     Tirol

Region                                   Stubaital

Base                                      1,000 m

Summit                                  2,240 m

Elevation                                1,240 m

Snowmaking                            75%

Number of runs                         26

Beginner                                 63%

Intermediate                            31%

Advanced                                6%

Longest run                             6 km

Number of ski lifts                    12

Cable Cars                               -

Gondolas                                 2

Chairlifts                                 2

Surface lifts                             5

Magic Carpets                           3

Riders per hour                         12,600  

Season starts                            Mid Dec

Season ends                             Mid April

Web                                       www.schlick2000.at

Email                                      [email protected] 

 

Stubai Ski Lifts & Lift Passes

Stubaital's ski lifts provide fast and easy access to 3,000 metre peaks at the main glacier ski area as well as to easier family skiing, winter hiking and night tobogganing lower down the valley. The modern high-speed lift system includes 26 lifts at the Glacier, another 12 lifts at Schlick 2000, a gondola and 3 drags at Serles and a cablecar and 3 drags at Elfer

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Stubai Glacier Ski Lifts

At Stubai Glacier itself, a swift network of 26 high-speed and modern lifts, starting with gondolas at the bottom, provides fast and easy access to a world of 3,000 metre peaks. Indeed, the glacier is riddled with metal for your convenience: five gondolas, the super comfortable eight-man Rotadl chair with heated seats, three six-man chairs, one quad, three double chairs and nine drag and practice lifts. Recent improvements to capacity have reduced waits, making the only noticeably busy periods in November and December, Easter weekends - and late in the season when other resorts have long since lost their base. Unless you're at least intermediate off-piste worthy, skiers must download at the end of the day.

Schlick 2000 Ski Lifts

Lower down the valley at Schlick 2000 the recent Zirmach six-man chairlift with its canopy and seat heating has been a big hit and replaces two older drag lifts. The Kreuzjoch cable car gets you up from the base station at 1000m to over 2000m in short order, breaking at 1300 m for Big Ron’s Kinderland, part of Stubai Valleys BIG Family offering.

The Sennjochbahn chair forms the central spine to Schlick 2000’s skiing taking skiers up to the Sennjoch hut at 2225m and opening access to the main part of Schlick’s higher skiing with a variety of blues, reds and blacks, many crossing the bottom of the Zirmach chair and the opportunity to go back up to 2240m at the Sennjoch itself.

Stubaital Ski Bus Service

The ski bus service serves the whole of the Stubai valley every 30 minutes with stops at regular intervals up to the valley to the Stubai Glacier based station. It also connects the Schlick 2000, Elfer and Serles ski areas. The ski bus service is free for Stubai Superskipass holders and provides an efficient and reliable means of commuting from the villages to the main ski area at the glacier (20-30 minutes on average). That said, there’s also free parking at all bases stations and having your own transport is better still.

Stubai Ski Lift Passes

The Stubai Superskipass gives access to all lifts in Stubaital and to the frequent free bus service along the whole of the Stubai Valley. It allows free parking at each of lift stations. The lift pass is free for children under 10 years old accompanied by paying adults.

Stubai Ski Lift Companies

Wintersport Tirol AG & CO
Stubaier Bergbahnen KG
Mutterberg 2
A-6167 Neustift
Tel: +43 5226 8141
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.stubaier-gletscher.com

Schlick 2000 Skizentrum AG
Tschaffinis Umgebung 26
A-6166 Fulpmes/Stubaital
Tel: +43 / 5225 / 62270
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.schlick2000.at

Stubai Beginner Skiing

The Stubai Valley is a great place for beginners to learn to ski or snowboard. Stubaital really bends over backwards in its efforts to please families and beginners alike with superb child-friendly skiing presented through their BIG Family programme.

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Beginner Skiing in Stubaital

The BIG Family Stubai offering is a concept built around mascots B.BIG at Stubai Glacier, BIG Ron at Schllick 2000 as well as Mini B. It is specifically given material form through the BIG Family ski camp at Gamsgarten on the Stubai Glacier and BIG Ron’s Kinderland at Schlick 2000. Both these facilities are up the mountain (ie. a ride by gondola or cable to arrive from the base station) and that is a plus in not only creating a proper mountain feel for kids but also in gaining better snow through the season. Both these facilities are outstanding.

At the Stubai glacier, children have  wonderful choice of four magic carpets, wave runs, and arches. There is also BIG Family boardercross and once a week pistenbully rides. Recently added is the popular BIG Family Funslope, a 1km long piste with small obstacles, steep curves and jumps. Children can eat in the BIG Family children’s restaurant designed for kids. And kids can play during or after skiing in the play area, which has a climbing tower.

Over at Schlick 2000, BIG Ron welcomes kids and, just a few yards away from Kinderland itself, is the BIG Family crèche where babies from the age of 4 months can be looked after. Children from three years old, who do not ski, can also be looked after in the kindergartens in Schlick 2000 and on the Stubai Glacier.

Both on the Glacier and at Schlick 2000, as beginners and children progress, there are good blue runs accessible by excellent lifts, taking them above the BIG Family camps. And these are great Tyrolean high mountain surroundings to start to develop your skiing experience in. The Glacier has a good selection of well served blue runs right across its range from the tops of Schaufelnieder on the left (as you look at the piste map) to Schaufelspitze itself in the centre of the range and Wildspitz taking you off to the right down Piste 7 back to the camp at Gamsgarten. Beginners on the Glacier will want to take the lifts down at the end of the day, either from Gamsgarten itself or from Mittelstation Fernau, as the only marked descent to the base station is the technically challenging ski route Wilde Grub’n from Gamsgarten.

At Schlick 2000 beginners can similarly enjoy some very scenic blue descents from Kreuzjoch at 2136m and from the top of Sennjoch at 2240m all the way down to the valley station at 1000m, below a beautiful row of five peaks to the front and on your left as you ski down, the highest of which is the Schlicker Seespitze at 2804m. What a great experience for someone learning to ski and this in some seriously beautiful Tyrolean scenery, that even has a resonance of the Dolomites to its look and feel.

Families and beginners can have a great day out as well on a limited number of straightforward runs at either Elfer in Neustift itself or Serles in Mieders, lower down the valley.  

Ski Schools & Ski Lessons in Stubaital

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Stubai Intermediate Skiing

The Stubaital is a red and blue run heaven, perfect for intermediate cruising or perhaps learning to board. As well as all the blue runs mentioned in our Stubai 'Beginners' section which are also great fun and good for intermediates to build confidence on, both Stubai Glacier itself and Schlick 2000 offer some great intermediate skiing.

Stubai Glacier Intermediate 660x260

Up on the Stubai Glacier wide smooth runs like those off the Eisjoch draglift below Schaufelspitze and the Fernau chair below Schaufelnieder are perfectly groomed and represent great carving terrain. More challenging pitches are found on the edges of the ski boundary: number 11 off the Fernau chair either splits back to the foot of the chair to join Ski Route 19 or you can join the Ski Route 13 higher up, both leading down to the middle station at 2300m; and on the opposite side red run 9 from Wildspitz and then, from lower, red run 17 both down to Gamsgarten at 2620m put you in the neighbourhood of joining the 10km Ski Route 14 (Wilde Grub’n) all the way to valley floor at Mutterberg.

Or for some variation from Wildspitz start on blue 7 and splinter of one of two Ski Route options 15 or 18, again finishing at Gamsgarten and then ascend through middle of this range on the Eisjoch chair to Eisgrat at 2900m, giving further two red options – Piste 2 down to the middle station at Fernau or 1b back to Gamsgarten. High up on the right the Daunscharte t-bar gives you Piste 20, a shorter red joining 9 towards its end. The point is all of this easily accessible skiing opens up and connects very efficiently to provide some really excellent intermediate skiing. Coupled with numerous opportunities to test yourself in deeper snow on the edges of the pistes, in better snow conditions, means Stubai Glacier offers a significant all mountain experience but as always tread warily and preferably with a guide if you leave the safety of the pistes.

Intermediates will definitely want to spend a day over at Schlick 2000 where the combination of stunningly beautiful scenery and great long descents from the high up at the Sennjoch hut via a choice of some good reds 2, 3 and 4, which themselves divide with options as you come down make for a fun experience. Worthy of note as well for more adventurous intermediates is Ski Route 1 down through the middle from Kreuzjoch to the bottom of the Sennjoch chair. And supported by the super Zirmach chair higher on the right means you can get back up high quickly to try the different options.

And back in Neustift at the charming Elfer area you can drop 1000m through runs 1, 2 and 3, all red and through the trees, to the valley below. Good for whiter days perhaps when you want to get out for a bit and the Glacier is invisible. And likewise over at Serles there is some relatively easy intermediate skiing through the trees. Very useful indeed in mid season for these conditions.

 

Stubai Advanced & Expert Skiing

The Stubai Glacier has seven marked ski routes for experts including the 10km Wilde Grub'n all the way down to the valley station at 1750m and loads of opportunity for freeriding. On piste, the opportunities for experts are more limited; just a few black runs on the glacier and a couple or more so over at Schlick.

Stubai Advanced & Expert (1) 660x260

Glaciers being glaciers - fairly flat as snow features go - there are just a few black runs, and pretty light black ones too. Piste 7 is a short steep pitch off Widspitz; to its skier's left is an ungroomed bump run. A longer run weaves off the four-man Rotadl chair.

Looking at the piste map for Stubai Glacier to the right will indicate the Daunjoch chair ascending to below the Daunkopf at 3225m which gives you Piste 22 a relatively narrow and steep descent back to Gamsgarten, which can usefully be connected to Ski Route 14 - Wilde Grub’n (see below here). Perhaps more interestingly, there are four marked ‘proline’ ski routes to explore, none of them groomed or patrolled according to signs.

The ski route Wilde Grub'n is a twisting and varied off-piste route that winds through a dramatic open bowl and finishes down at the base station, covering a vertical drop of over 1 kilometre with snowmaking the entire way. If you connect this to for an easy start from blue 7 from Wildspitz at 3000m you have a great and varied descent over 10km to the valley station. More challengingly, strong skiers can head down under the Gamsgarten gondola to get first tracks in the morning avoiding Wilde Grub'n crowds at the day's end - like the ski instructors do.

Over at Schlick 2000 a couple of shorter blacks in the middle of the range accessible from the Zirmach chair probably don’t make Schlick an advanced skiers’ place per se but coupled with the much longer Ski Route 1 from the Kreuzjoch , they do spice up a good fun day’s skiing in this most beautiful area.

For Freeride opportunities in the Stubai Valley see Stubai Off-piste.

Stubai Off-Piste

Stubaital offers excellent opportunities for high snowsure skiing off-piste mainly at the Stubai Glacier where the Powder Department has designated 15 runs, the conditions on which are regularly updated and safety information provided.

Stubai Advanced & Expert (2) 660x260

Freeriding in Stubaital

Stubai have taken their off-piste skiing to a new level with the 15 designated off-piste runs on the Glacier from their Powder Department. Essentially these are all lift-accessed (some with a little climbing) and they can all be seen in video form online and through GPS downloadable and trackable form.

With names like Hard Rock, the Wall, Canonball and North Face, the level of information provided in Stubaital has put off-piste skiing more transparently (and more safely) on the agenda. But it is important to remember that freeriding is only for advanced and expert skiers and that’s is just the start of it - preparation and safety are absolutely essential however good you may be: Stubai should be applauded for making it much easier for skiers to obtain the correct and up to date information.

The Stubai Glacier website contains all the relevant details and so freeriders and powder hounds are really recommended to read up and prepare for their trips here as well the ‘outdooractivities’ app, available to download to your mobile. Visit the Freeride Checkpoint at Gamsgarten where the latest mountain and avalanche information is displayed in digital info panels. Transceivers can also be checked there.

There are more opportunities for skiing with guides as well. For example it is possible with a bit of ski-touring to ski off-piste to Solden in the Otztal. See our page on Stubaital Ski Schools & Mountain Guides or contact Stubai Tourism for more information.

Off-piste group classes can be booked at the Freeridecenter in Neustift at three different levels: Rookie, Advanced and Pro. They meet at Zum Steinbock bar and café at Eisgrat high up on Stubai Glacier and, subject to conditions, ski between 9am and 4pm only stopping for a short lunch.

Ski Touring in Stubaital

Stubaital is also popular for ski touring. Most ski tours, with 30-45 minutes of up-work, end up back in the resort or at a hut with taxi back.

For extremists, the couloirs to the right of the Gamsgarten gondola are only a few metres wide and make even the resident mountain goats nervous. From the top of the Schaufelspitze, 3333m, which takes about 45 minutes to reach on foot, there's a steep 45 degree couloir.

Easier, less threatening and more accessible powder runs can be found off the double chair Wildspitz and the four-man chair Rotadl. There are lovely touring runs off the top of Daunkopf, accessed from the top of the ski route Wilde Grub'n. 

Photo: TVB Stubai | Stubaier Gletscher | Andre Schoenherr

Stubai Boarding & Freestyle

The Stubaital Glacier’s fabulous Stubai Zoo snowpark is a must for keen boarders and freestyler skiers and there’s also plenty more opportunities for snowboarding off-piste, particularly the Powder Department’s 15 designated freeride runs.

Stubai Boarding & Freestyle 660x260

Stubai Zoo is one of the highest and largest parks in the Alps and it is serviced by its own lifts. It is open from October until late April or early May. Hardly surprising therefore that it is popular with the international freestyle and boarding scene.

Stubai Zoo offers much to slopestyle riders with four levels of snowpark experience from pro-line down to easy-line on bumps and jumps, which are shaped daily. This is a really excellent facility accessed from the Top of Tyrol, Schaufelspitze all above 3000m.

Lower down the valley, the family-friendly Schlick 2000 ski area above Fulpmes includes the Stubaipark Schlick 2000 offering numerous kickers and rails.

Photo: TVB Stubai | Stubaier Gletscher | Andre Schoenherr

Stubai Mountain Restaurants

The Stubai ski area offers an excellent choice of mountain eating and drinking from haute-cuisine to good quality self-service and coffee and snack bars. The star turn is the Schaufelspitz restaurant at Eisgrat on the Stubai Glacier.

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Stubai Glacier Mountain Restaurants

This is the Tirol and standards are, as you would expect, high at almost every level. Add to that traditional and modern Tirolean charm and you have here in Stubaital a really good offering of mountain huts.

At Stubai Glacier for Alpine character a must-visit is the Dresdnerhutte, a lovely old mountain hut by the Fernau middle station that serves decadent hot chocolate with rum, apple strudel, as well as real Tyrolean food. This also has some accommodation- there are bunk rooms, hot showers, an internet computer and atmospheric taxidermy snagged from the surrounding mountains. The cozy wooden out-hut serves snacks and drinks, and is a perfect suntrap.

For modern table service or out on the sun terrace, Zur Goldenen Gams restaurant in Gamsgarten mid-station is an attractive, large post and beam restaurant -- handy for ski school meeting and the Intersport Gamsgarten, where you can drop your skis and boots at the end of the day. Also good childrens dining facilities in the Gamsgarten’s self-service restaurant.

Eat and drink at Jochdole on Top of the Tyrol, the highest mountain restaurant around. It's a chic and modern counter service restaurant that juts out of the glacier over a precipice. From one gondola to another, up here at 3,150 metres they claim you can see "almost to Venice", so hands up if you spot St Mark's!

Top marks though goes to the Schaufelspitz restaurant set at 2900m at Eisgrat. This is evolved Austrian cuisine of a very high order (Gault-Millau have awarded a Toque) accommodated in a slick modern interpretation of wood glass and steel. Very stylish indeed and as good as anywhere else in the Alps at this end of the spectrum .

Nextdoor the equally stylish Zum Steinbock café serves up coffees, pastries and schnapps. As pleasant a pit-stop as you can get in the high Alps. The Kaiserschmarren here is to die for. Also here is the Eisgrat self-service restaurant, which is as nice as self-service gets in the Tirol.

The Bodelehutte above Fernau on the way up to Schaufelnieder is another good pit-stop venue for a snack and a drink. The Schneekristall Bar on the Gamsgarten terrace upstairs is a popular après ski hangout. Outdoors and surrounded by a glass rondel, on a sunny afternoon this is a great spot.

For an apres drink, an absolute gem on the road back below Stubai Glacier is the Tschangelairalm  - an old wooden pasture Alm that has not been brought into the 21st century yet. Stop for a drink or a simple meal and you are transported back in time to the rural origins of these beautiful hills.

Schick2000 Mountain Restaurants

And over at Schlick 2000 as well there is a good choice of mountain huts and self-service restaurants. Of particular note the Sennjoch hut is as nice place to chill outside on a sunny day or snug inside on a more wintery one.

The Panorama restaurant at Kreuzjoch is a large self-service facility which serves big hearty tirolean mountain fare and, as its name suggests, commands fabulous views from its perch above 2100m. Lower down above the middle station and adjacent to Big Ron’s Kinderland, the Bruggeralm serves rustic local fare with charm and ambiance.

Photo: TVB Stubai | Stubaier Gletscher | Andre Schoenherr

Stubai Villages

Stubai Valley is all about the villages and hamlets that thread their way up the valley, finally reaching, some 30 minutes or so later, Mutterberg, the valley station at 1721m, where you catch the gondola lift system up to the Stubai Glacier skiing, some of the highest and most snowsure long season skiing you can get in the Alps.

Stubai Village Neustift 660x260

The Stubaital is home to a number of traditional Tirolean villages and hamlets – Mieders, Telfes, Fulpmes, Niederau, Milders, Volderau and Mutterberg. And by the time you have reached the Stubai Glacier base station at Mutterberg you will have driven the length of the impressive Stubaital valley floor.

Fulpmes 

After turning off the Innsbruck road into Stubaital you go immediately through Mieders and the first opportunity to ski at Serles above the village. Serious skiers will press on though leaving Telfes to the right and will soon see Fulpmes off to the right. Fulmes is a really charming bit of Tirolean charm and architecture supported by some classy hotels and shops. And of course steering through the village and above you will come the Schlick 2000 ski lift station and car-park.

Neustift in Stubaital

Next up the valley, Neustift is the largest village in Stubaital and probably as close as you can get to a central resort hub. Neustift has more accommodation, bars and restaurants and other activities than any of the other villages in Stubaital, but it’s quite spread out until you climb up its central hill.

Milders & Volderau

The valley road runs on from Neustift into Milders with more hotels and out on the road to Volderau and more hotels all angling their terraces up at the Stubai Glacier. You now are getting ever closer to the Glacier station and serious skiers wanting fresh tracks, might want to consider staying closeby here.

Getting to the Ski Lifts

For those without their own transport, all villages and main ski lifts in Stubaital benefit from an efficient free bus service which connects the whole valley and makes it work most efficiently. There’s even a scheduled bus service from Innsbruck to the Stubai Glacier for day visitors. 

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Photo: TVB Stubai 

Stubai Apres Ski Bars & Restaurants

Après ski in Stubai begins at the gondola base and usually ends at the bars and clubs in the centre of Neustift or Fulpmes. These can be pretty quiet depending on the night of the week so if high voltage Apres-ski into the early hours is what you are looking for, then Stubai probably isn’t for you.

Stubaital Apres Ski Bars

Après ski begins at the gondola base in the Wilde Grub'n and Schirmbar Mutterberg (the umbrella bar) further down past the bus stop. The American Bar is a local favourite and the Dorf Pub in Neustift comes alive with live music every Wednesday, when great bands attract a crowd from up and down the valley. For a slightly more laid back approach the try the Rossini pub and pizzeria. The Pia cocktail bar has welcome modern décor.

Stubaital Restaurants

Neustift has plenty of restaurants to choose from including many good hotel restaurants also open to non-residents. If you are after pizza and pasta try Bellafonte or Don Camillo. The casual Grill Stube, with its open oven does grilled meat specialties.

Tuesday is the dishwasher's night off at the Restaurant Schallerhof, where they serve dinner without cutlery as a once a week treat. Further along the Stubai valley there are more extravagent restaurants in Fulpmes; the Bel Ami and Gasthof Grobenhof.

Fulpmes is the place for more extravagant dining. For typical Austrian beer and fare, the Volderauhof Jausenstation at Volderau bus stop, five minutes from gondola base, looks quaint, as does the lovely old painted house of Geier Alm.

Stubaital Nightlife

The Rumpl Disco in the centre of Neustift is the main club. The après-ski bus runs from 7:00 p.m. and 2 a.m. between Kampl and Mutterberg, so no worry of being Cinderall'ed in your ski boots at midnight.

Surprisingly Fulpmes has a table dancing bar, the Kratzbaum, which looks all very stylish in its quaint old building right in the entrance to the village. Although this shouldn’t be surprising in Austria any more, since such establishments are becoming pretty commonplace, it’s not quite what you might expect in a small traditional village like Fulpmes.

Stubai Other Activities

Join the lively moonlit toboggan nights, go Nordic walking, snowshoeing, sign-up for a cross-country skiing tour on the Stubai Glacier or learn to ice climb. These are just some of the activities that make Stubaital such an interesting and genuinely varied winter sports destination.

Stubai Tobogganing Night (2) 660x260

Tobogganing in Stubaital

Stubai has the largest tobogganing arena in the Tirol. With eleven tracks and over 40 kilometres of downhill. These are superb natural toboggan runs through the trees. Elfer is the tobogganing Mecca of the Stubai Valley and illuminated runs there mean that night tobogganing is a popular event three times a week.

Winter Walking & Snowshoeing in Stubaital

Loads of laid out winter hiking paths make the Stubaital special for hikers and snowshoers. Cleared and rolled routes come up the valley from Schonberg to Neustift and with routes through beautiful winter wonderlandscapes also in Serles, Schlick 2000 and on the Stubai Glacier, some laid out as circuits, there is a feast on offer here.

Cross-country Skiing in Stubaital

Well prepared groomed cross-country trails run all through the Stubaital. There are over 70km of trails to run on, so Nordic skiers can have a field day here. As well as the valley trail there are trails at Schlick 2000 as well as a cross-country trail high up on the Stubai Glacier. Through the ski school at Gamsgarten, you can sign up for a mini cross-country skiing tour on the Glacier that involves a short ascent and lovely long descent. Take a spin on the tubing run or learn to ice climb on the on-mountain tower at Gamsgarten.

Ice-climbing in Stubaital

There is also an ice climbing tower on the Stubai Glacier near the Gamsgarten station, where every Froiday at 1pm introductory courses are held. When available there are some frozen waterfalls for proficient ice climbers.

Ice-skating in Stubaital

With two ice rinks, one at Neustift and one at Fulmes, there is fun for families. With curling and ice –discos also on the agenda. When it is cold there are natural rinks in Schonberg and Mieders as well.

Paragliding in Stubaital

For those wanting to go higher still both hang-gliding and paragliding are available from mountain stations at Elfer and at Schlick 2000. Tandem flights can be arranged through a number of flying operators locally. If you want to see what it’s all about, visit during March and watch the annual Stubai Cup competition.

Stubaital Tourism

Stubaital Tourismus
Stubaitalhaus, Dorf 3
A-6167 Neustift im Stubaital
Tel: +43 (0) 501881-0
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.stubai.at

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