Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildshönau was always one those places to visit on our ‘Must Do European Ski Resorts’ list. The allure of combining a stay in ‘Austria’s most beautiful village’ with skiing powder is something not to be sneezed at (a ‘non-covid’ into the elbow sneeze of course!).
And so it was that we spent a glorious weekend in January at Alpbach. Glorious because it pewked snow from Friday to Saturday night, then was bluebird on the Sunday. And whilst the sun coming out on the Sunday did attract quite the crowd, the resort lift, pistes & terrain handled it well, providing a ‘very high pass mark’ for the most difficult test of any ski resort worldwide - the ‘lift lines on a bluebird, weekend powder day’ test.
Skiing a new resort in seething white-out blizzard is not the best way to get to know a location, but it certainly forces one to concentrate & use your imagination! Thankfully the mountain is not too hard to navigate, and aside from one early happy* mis-step where we went too low below the base of the Gmahkopf chair, we managed to go exactly where we intended. Note the * on happy. We say 'happy mis-step' because it meant we did a full top to bottom back to the valley station of the Wiedersbergerhon gondola on an untracked, fresh snow-covered piste trail with no one else having touched it. Nothing like skiing over 1000 vertical metres of untouched powder groomers. Probably should have taken some photos or video, but it was way too much fun, and to be fair, it was our first run in the resort. Not a bad way to start one's Saturday though. Things only got better from there as the snow intensified through the day and the off-piste depth increased dramatically.
With a white out up top, a fantastic zone was just above Inneralpbach village. Only a few hundred vertical metres and with uplift via the T-bar or Pöglbahn to its low elevation 'mid-station', the area's alpine meadows, mixed with hay barns, gates & barbwire fences provided fantastic turns right up until lifts closed. We love this type of skiing in Austria's rural countryside, and it highlights how, when the visibility is poor and winds are blowing, one doesn't need a whole of terrain to have a great time. That said, we did explore the main Ski Juwel sector all the way from one end, the Wiedersbergerhorn gondola base to the other at Auffach.
We loved Ski Juwel's long valley trails. They are certainly (and rightfully) popular with the masses, even of a low-crowd, storm day. We lamented not knowing the area well enough to avoid the gondola download back to Inneralpbach from the Wildschoenau sector, but we know for next time! It involves a long off-piste freeride from the summit ...... enough said! Overall the resort's terrain is great for intermediate and advanced skiers & boarders, but less so for beginners and experts. We never got a chance to ski or see the Niederau sector of the resort but imagine it would be awesome on a storm day due to its tree lined, lower elevation slopes. It reputedly has some great advanced terrain too, so we will have to return one day to check it all out.
Of the mountain dining options, we were impressed with the facilities but disappointed with the food at the new Hornalm hut at the top of the Hornbahn chair. In its first season (a covid season too!), no doubt it will improve over time. Most others were fantastic though. The likes of the Schatzbergalm serve seriously delicious Austrian cuisine. Nothing truly struck us as being a great option for après ski action, but to be fair, après ski ‘action’ was in some ways banned due to covid restrictions. Regardless, whilst replete with bars including loads of tents & ‘umbrella bars’, Ski Juwel doesn’t seem to be a party hill ….. and that’s ok!
For accommodation, whilst all the kudos goes to Alpbach, we think the best place to stay is the central Inneralpbach village, right near the lifts to both main sectors of the resort. Look at one of the large hotels or the smaller guesthouses. All are of a high standard. Alpbach similarly has a high standard of accommodation, and whilst not close to the ski lifts, is well connected via a regular free ski bus. We got some last-minute accommodation at the fabulous Guesthouse Jakober, but there is a large range of superb hotels and other lodgings throughout the village. The best bar (and most welcoming restaurant) was at the Jakober, dating back to the 1600s.
The resort’s major caveat is that whilst we encountered super-nice snow conditions, we could tell that before this snowfall, the lower parts on the resort were quite bony. Luckily much of the lower alpine meadow terrain doesn’t require much cover to make it skiable. It is instructive that some for the funnest turns we had on the mountain were in amongst the hay barns & barb wire fences on the lower slopes near Inneralpbach! When these areas have powder, it is a quintessential Austrian ski experience.
Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschoenau is one of those ski resorts that international travellers imagine when coming to Austria for the first time. And being so close to Innsbruck, why wouldn't you start here when visiting this amazing part of the world?