Intermediate Skiing in Austria

Kitz's local pistes alone should keep you busy for a week: Confident skiers should easily be able to tackle the ‘Saukaser Tour’ to Jochberg and back, via blues, reds and a lunch stop at the Kasereckhütte restaurant. To add an alpine legend to your achievements, the legendary Streif run is iced up and intensified during race season – but for the rest of the winter, its tamer alter ego (red #21) is a must-ski. And there are some easy detours if you want to make the route easier. If a chilled day is more your cup of tea, a sea of cruisy runs trail from the top of Ehrenbachhöhe down to Kircheberg, and Pengelstein down to Aschau. There’s also the option of getting the AllStar card for access to the massive Ski-Welt if you fancy unlocking 129km of new intermediate friendly descents.

The two mountains here have intermediate skiing covered, with the Penken Mountain dedicated to adrenaline-filled snow fun and the Ahorn to the more leisurely side of skiing. Open up a piste map and the whole Penken’s splashed red. Any of these from the Kombibahn are easy pickings, and there’s a cracking time to be had on the downhill sprints towards Finkenberg. To get your ski legs back first, head to the Ahorn for a collection of cruisy blues and a red. The other big player is the nearby Hintertux Glacier which is snow-sure, and packed with runs that are steep, but uncomplicated if you’re willing to take the plunge. From the summit of Olperer, blues merge into reds and vice-versa, but follow reds 5 through 8 and you’re in for a treat, in the form of insane views over the Zillertal.

The variety of slopes here is almost as mind boggling as the snow quality and Ötztal valley scenery... The Tiefenbach is a dream when it comes to pristine glacier snow, and the triplet of blues here are the perfect pistes to work on technique (with fabulous views of the Wildspitze on sunny days). Giggijoch's sprawling reds have a pleasant degree of steepness and you can make your descent as short or long as you like, doing the rounds on the chair lifts or zig-zagging your way through thick woodland to Rettenbach. To really test the stamina, ski 10km from the top of Gaislachkogl, following reds 1 and 7 into Innerwald, for some broad, smooth sections interspersed with short steeps.

If you’re looking to bridge the gap between intermediate and advanced skiing, there’s no place better. The blue and red runs here tend to be a bit more challenging than in other resorts, so you'll be upping your game without necessarily realizing you're doing it. Improver courses are the best bet for finding the slopes that suit you, and with Ski School Arlberg being one of the world’s leading ski schools (and, actually, the world's first thanks to the great Hannes Schneider), you’re in the best of hands. To get a feel for the pistes at your own pace, start by heading to the north-facing Rendl Mountain. It has some of the best snow in the area and being set slightly apart from the bulkier part of the piste map, it’s often nice and quiet, leaving a labyrinth of blues and reds free from speed-kings. When it's time to ski with the rest of the world, there’s a huge expanse of inter-connected terrain stretching across the Arlberg region through to St Christoph, Lech and Zürs for you to get stuck into. Top picks are the lengthy wide blues like #17 to Stuben, short, pitchy ones like Osthang #5, testing reds like Gstans #37 and the more ambitious #14 from Schindler Spitze, which will have you carving past the best of them in no time.

The best thing about this place is its position in the mighty SkiWelt area, putting the power in your hands to weave in and out of the 129km of reds and 134km of blues as you please. Head high across to Hohe Salve for a cobweb of routes going off in all directions. Start as you mean to go on with a 7km blast into Hopfgarten on a series of seamlessly connected red runs. It’s also worth trying the route that trails into Itter, if a swift cruise down the mountainside is your kind of thing. Zinsberg is a chairlift ride from Hohe Salve for a cluster of shorter reds, and from here you can travel as far as Ellmau on a series of reds and blues. In the country’s biggest interconnected ski area, the world is your oyster.

Passports at the ready: Ischgl’s the final stop before the Alps are handed over to Switzerland, and the nearness to Samnaun is a real perk for intermediates (and not JUST for the duty free…). A day trip or two across the border will put technique and stamina to the test as you rack up a whopping 35km there and back, but regular stops to enjoy the food (try the fondue at the Sattel – when in Switzerland…) and views (the sights from Greitspitz are unbelievable) make the journey manageable. For the rest of the week, there are tons of groomers to keep you occupied closer to home; our favourites are the wide open blue #64 that wiggles down the mountainside where you can really pick up some speed, joining onto red #10 for a powder-spraying trip to the snow park.

Red runs dominate the Lech-Zürs area, with lashings of blues thrown in for good measure. Immaculately groomed, snow sure descents can be found in swathes, both above the forest or diving right through it. Ski blue #62 through to red #34 if you want the best of both – it leads from Kriegeralpe, down the valley and through the pines into Oberlech. Make the most of your ski pass and pop over to Zürs for day (or two). Our favourite red here’s the #10 into the village, which starts off steep but eases into a long, panoramic cruise through the valley, while further out, the #12 under the Madlochbahn is a winner when it calls for cranking up the speed.

Spread across 14 peaks, there are miles and miles of runs to get your skis into - from endless ribboning blues including the Bernkogel into Saalbach, to short pitchy reds like ones at Asitz. Don’t miss a trip over to Leogang via the zig-zag of Asitz’s reds, have lunch at Alte Schmiede, then leisurely float down to Viehhofen via the sprawling blue in the afternoon. On the other side of the valley, build up your stamina on the massive 7km blue Jausern, where the Salzburgerland sights will take your mind off any burning thighs. Neighbouring Hinterglemm has a whole host of trails to explore with the same ski pass: Red runs stream down from the Hasenauer Köpfl and Reiterkogel peaks providing hours of fun. If you’re craving something a bit tougher, the Gratabfahrt from Reiterkogel is a dash down the mountain, tinkering on the side of an intimidating drop – but as long as your turns are down to a T, it’ll be a doddle.

Spanning three simply stunning mountains, the red veins of Zell am See’s piste map are the life-force of the whole area. A rewarding mix of terrain and difficulties will be sure to get your blood pumping too: Schmittenhöhe’s the closest mountain, and it’s perfect for refining technique on the wide blue groomers from the peak and web of reds at Sonnkogel. At the Mittelstation, a lengthy blue route passes through forest, across the mountainside and down into the village, for a shining end to the day. A bus ride to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier is the key to more exhilarating descents – some of the most snow sure and scenic we’ve ever skied.

Whether you’re a wobbly third weeker or a regular who gets thrills out of top-to-bottom reds, there are plenty of pistes to fill your (ski) boots with. As an added bonus, they’re some of the most snow sure in Austria – and with Obergurgl being the country’s highest parish, you’re straight out and onto them every day. The blues from the top of the Hochgurglbahn II chair are a good warm up for the resort’s high altitude routes (there are 29 of them from a whopping 3082m here). Or, the lifts directly above the village will take you to cruisy red #7, which leads onto black #8 - worth targeting for bragging rights – or blue #6 for an easier ski. For an all-red descent, piste #1 leads into #17 for a gloriously spiralling groomer.