Zell am See Sneeuwverwachting

Zell is a massive compromise. The town itself is lovely. Some genuinely interesting architecture and history, a great ice rink and ice hockey team, the swimming pool in the town is amazing with slides and boards as well as the best burgers and pizzas anywhere! The town has a 90 minute train ride from Salzburg for less than €15 at the best times. However, the skiing is pretty poor on the Schmittenhoe. It's a days worth for an average intermediate, is badly laid out, has a couple of pointless cable cars and it takes 3 lifts to get to the summit from most entry points, bizarre. For a ‘bowl’ type hill it’s a mess due to a legacy of strange lift choices and designs. Most of the runs are pretty short and limited. The SchnappsHans development on the summit is a gruesome eyesore now, which dwarfs the iconic Sisi Chapel, and drags the hill into the French domain of ugly buildings in incongruous places, a real shame. The new 2019 link to Saalbach opens up your eyes to a far better skiing domain. The ZellExpress is a fine new gondola, quick and efficient. Again it doesn’t quite take you to the summit but leaves you needing more lifts to access the mountain. The new red slope off the back of the Schmittenhoe down to the Saalbach valley is steep in places and icy most of the time as it gets no sun. Once in Saalbach the valley provides a more extensive and simpler place to ski with endless linked blue and red runs providing opportunity for all. Alternatively, take the 680 bus from Zell for €5 and you’re there in 30 mins. Kaprun and the Kitzsteinhorn provide great views and glacier skiing, but again it's a fair haul for limited skiing although some free-ride expanse can be found. In all, its a great town with much to like; however, it's as complex and hard work to get around as Chamonix with far less ski domain and even more walking!