Well well. Patscherkofel has become shiny & new. The new gondola has replaced all the older lifts (including the ancient cable car) and completely changes the mountain. 

All the good bits of the 'old' mountain remain - i.e the long pistes, excellent beginner area at the base, wonderful mountain huts & 'local' ski hill feel. Some of the old Olympic history has become hard to find & separate from the main resort, but that's not a bad thing. Patscherkofel was dwelling too much in the past.

We attended on a weekend with fresh snow in the alpine. The skin up to the summit was fun. The Gipfelstube served up basic & tasty food before an excellent ski down. The terrain was steep & included tree skiing down lower.

it is a shame that the mid station of the gondola is too high. The run down from the top to the 'mid' is way too short when there is no other ski lift option. Taking skis off constantly is a pain in the proverbial - especially when on telemarks.

The lift price is slightly high for the limited terrain & also a tad mean to have to pay for parking. Suppose they had to pay for all the new facilities somehow! 

Worth a day or two (or a fast morning) when in Innsbruck.
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Near Innsbruck, this ski hill has so much going for it. Has a brand new gondola with an easy skin to the summit that had a great little hut serving hot drinks, basic food and an excellent fun ski down. The top part used to be serviced by a lift but now it is easy slack country powder. Inside the resort was an excellent restaurant which served apple strudels three ways, all were delicious. The groomed runs are fun. Busy on weekends.
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Skied here in February this year with no real expectations other than it's close to Innsbruck.
The mountain suffers from a lack of elevation, but manages to extract the best out of what it has. Skied some very tasty powder turns in and around the groomed runs. Austrians don't do powder!
Visibility shrank to 0 at the end of the day which made some turns very tactile.
Also skinned up to the peak which isn't too much effort for some splendid terrain and snow.
Pleasantly surprised.
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We took the Line 6 tram from Innsbruck to the town of Igls and then walked up to Patscherkofel sk resort. Wonderful journey. Tram winds up through forest and then through rural countryside. The old cable car, the Patscherkofelbahn, gets you up top in two stages. from there its a long near 1000m vert downhill to the Olympiaexpress quad.

Terrain is surprising long and fun, but all intermediate and beginner. Off piste was boney, but looks to be some excellent terrain above the resort via a winter ski climbing route towards Patscherkofel summit and the Gipfelstube restaurant another 300m vertical above the lifts. Would be a worthy skin up in better conditions. Snow quality was excellent on the piste. Two base areas, one near Igls at the cable car base, and one further up the hill at the base of the Olympiaexpress quad chair had all you need including great outdoor seating locations to keep an eye on your children skiing or playing on the beginner lifts.

Views down the valley to Innsbruck and beyond are stupendous. Delicious food and drink on the Schutzhaus verandah taking in the view. Great ski hill on a sunny day.

Shame the official ski run down from the Olex base area to the cable car base is no longer open, but it looks like new plans for next season (17/18) spell the end of the old cable car and the chair lifts any way. All are being replaced by a 2 stage modern 10 seat gondola. We will have to check it out next season. Who's coming?
See our video here