Winter Sports in the Alps: Patscherkofelbahnen, Tyrol, Austria
In this blog post, I'll show you how quickly you can get to the slopes from the city centre of Innsbruck. This is the 2020 updated version of an older blog post about the Patscherkofelbahnen, one of the ski resorts that is closest to the capital of Tyrol, to show you that outdoor fun is never far away here.
For this blog post, let’s head to the southern side of Innsbruck, and I’ll start by explaining why this ski resort is so great for a quick getaway from the city. The bus line ‘ J’ brings you directly from the old town to the Patscherkofel. It also connects the city with the Nordkette, which is why it is even called ‘from peak to peak’. It is a great way for people in the city to decide spontaneously which ski area they want to visit. You can get there by car as well, which takes you about 15 minutes from the city centre. Just parking is a bit difficult during the weekends, so the bus is really a great choice of transportation.
The Patscherkofel is advertised as the “home mountain” of Innsbruck and the villages in the surroundings. The cable car is really new – about 2 years old and most locals are not big fans of it as it was really expensive, payed with lots of tax money and the Kofel (as the mountain is also called) is often exposed to heavy winds, or even storms (due to its location right where the Wipp valley meets the Inn valley), which means the cable car needs to get closed on those days. This wind is called ‘Föhn’, meaning ‘hair dryer’ in German as it’s a rather warm, but really strong wind.
As you now have realized, this ski resort is located just next to Innsbruck. It is quite obvious that this close to the capital of Tyrol, there is not much space, and therefore, the resort is rather small. Despite not having a vast number of lifts, cable cars or slopes, it is really fun skiing there. The location is beautiful, and you are presented with a great view over the city of Innsbruck and the Nordkette and the slopes are way longer than they appear (so more time for fun!). I even went off-piste, and I was surprised by how great the conditions were. While the Nordkette is the most iconic mountain range of Tyrol, skiing there had one major disadvantage: you can't enjoy the view on the Nordkette FROM the Nordkette. But the Patscherkofel is located just on the other side of the valley, which makes for amazing views!
On the Patscherkofel, there are 3 different huts. At the mountain station, you can find the Kofel, which is a great restaurant. From the terrasse, you have a great view of Innsbruck and the surrounding mountain ranges. But it is rather 'fancy' and not everyone's cup of tea while skiing. Just a few metres from there is the Schutzhaus Patscherkofel, which is just way more traditional and has great Tyrolean food. If you make it to the top of the mountain, you'll find the Gipfelstube, which does not have a big range of food but amazing views.
To be honest, the Patscherkofel looks rather small. I even heard people refer to it as a hill instead of a mountain. Well, I guess this makes it a good start for trying out ski touring or splitboarding. If you are just starting out, head to the top station of the Patscherkofelbahn, and try to head to the peak of the mountain. It should take you around an hour and is not too steep. I never did it myself, but I did hike the trail at the very end of the season. On the pictures, you can see that it's really not steep, but just take a look at the amount of snow on the mountain. Even though it does not look like that at first, even in April, when the season is ending, there are metres of snow found near the top of the mountain. I guess this show that this mountain should not be underestimated, but is a great way to start into winter sports.
I honestly haven’t ben to the Patscherkofelbahnen in ages until last year, and I have to admit I really underestimated the resort. I headed there due to a spontaneous change of plans due to heavy snowfall, and it was a great decision. As I know, it is a great location for hiking as well, and therefore it is now ranked up way higher on my personal list of favourites! If you are planning on heading to the Patscherkofel, I recommend you check out the link below to get directed to their official website, where you can obtain all the latest information about snow, weather and more importantly the wind.
The SNOW CARD TIROL, FREIZEIT TICKET TIROL & INNSBRUCK CARD are valid for this resort.
If you, instead, are not sure about which ski resort to choose for your next adventure, head to the link below to read about many more resorts that have different kinds of advantages. If you cannot find the resort you are looking for, leave a comment with your suggestion or write me a message.
Little disclaimer: none of these posts are sponsored. Sponsored posts are clearly marked and if you are curious about how I handle that, I suggest you read about that here.