Austria’s most underrated ski resort opens giant new mountain area for first time

The Austrian ski resort of Zell am See is a lovely place to stay, with its beautiful eponymous lake that is a pleasure to walk around and a charming medieval car-free centre of cobbled streets and ancient buildings. 

However, up until this season, its drawback for many skiers and snowboarders has been the small size of the ski area. The local Schmittenhöhe mountain only has 77km pistes, supplemented by the slopes of nearby Kaprun and its Kitzsteinhorn glacier, a short bus ride away. 

While together this adds up to a 138km of varied slopes to suit every standard, the attraction of Zell am See as a place to stay has now been transformed, thanks to the opening of two new state-of-the-art gondolas…