From this point of view, we can take advantage of those ski courses that you reach by rail since you can cover the distance up the mountain without any wind. (Such places are Mölltal and Pitztal. It's well-known that the Kaprun railway hasn't run since the memorable accident on November 11, 2000.) Lately cable ways have been built (in Hintertux, Kaprun) which are less sensitive to wind.

Although getting up to the bottom of the glacier doesn't help too much if the ski-lifts aren't going due to the strong winds. It's obvious for any experienced glacier visitor that - mainly in autumn - you have to give up the idea of skiing for one or two days owing to the stormy weather. And that's exactly what makes Pitztal especially advantageous among all the other glaciers. The glacier - or to my mind glaciers - are situated behind a ridge to the north and that tends to keep back the wind a little.

The route

Reaching Pitztal is quite evident from Hungary. You leave for Vienna on the M1, but don't forget to go off the motorway at Schwehat, before Vienna and turn to the right on the new ring road (S1), this way you can gain quite a lot of time. Then after Vienna the long Salzburg section comes (300 km), but don't forget to keep to the left towards Munich. In Germany you should go towards Rosenheim as far as the Inntal junction from where the next destination is Innsbruck. On the left you can have a look at the Castle of Kufstein (according to friends it's no worth trying to visit it as there's nothing special to see, but that's very expensive).The next trap that you can fall into is in Innsbruck where you can easily move onto the Brenner motorway which doesn't only take you to the wrong way, but they charge you for it. Leave the motorway after Innsbruck at Immst and drive towards Pitztal and the end of the journey is where the hotel is. This time I came here for a Polish invitation as a guest instructor so my trip ended at Hotel Sonnblick in Plangerots in Sankt Leonhard.

Accommodation

There are cheaper places in the valley than Sonnblick (its prices are € 50-100 in the winter season and € 40-50 in the summer with partial board. But if you can afford it, I can really recommend the hotel mentioned above. I haven't had the pleasure to have such a spacious room for ages (though I didn't see other rooms), the shoe-drier and the ski-storage worked well, the restaurant was pleasant (where I met Andor, the Hungarian waiter), friendly staff, digital cable TV, common rooms, sauna and others are also there for your comfort.

Going up to the glacier

It's not at all of lower importance that the glacier railway station is only about two kilometres far that can be covered with your own car or you can take the ski bus too. (There are hotels closer to the station, but right at the railway you can't find anything really.) Choosing the latter is more practical as the car parks get full around 8.00-8.30 at the weekend, and you can only park further away. If this is what happens, it's worth waiting looking around a bit because the ski buses take passengers to the station from here too.

You can get the chance to go up in the glacier railway after waiting some time (according to my personal experience the left side is a little quicker, though I've seen it otherwise). I'm not a fan of underground railways but their independence from the weather is a doubtless advantage.

Restaurants, common rooms

When you arrive at the upper station you can first see the storage compartments for rent. (After inserting 2 euros, you can take the key - take care, the next coin can only go after opening it first!) Getting further inside it, the ski storage holes - working with 1 euro - can serve the safety of you skis (Take care again: don't leave the clamps and other movable parts on the ski; I learnt from my mistake...). You can choose from two restaurants (the upper one is usually less crowded), what's more there you can find the public conveniences (there are two of them: one is just opposite the exit of the lift, the other is at the back of the restaurant downstairs).

In case of nice weather you can stay on the terrace as well, and in the spring there's often live music on the stage nearby.

If we have got bored with skiing, you take a few minutes' walk to the modern chapel of Virgin Mary built from enormous granite and crystal blocks.

You can find various kinds of entertainment facilities after skiing. The more relaxed can choose from comfortable restaurants, but I can recommend the legendary club of the area called Hexenkessl where dance already starts in the afternoon, and where we can run into the stars of the skiing world (as Benni Raich's racing teams trains in Pitztal). By the way, very authentically, the forerunner of the bar was a victim of an avalanche...

Lifts and courses

Leaving the building, on the right we can find a poma lift for beginners and opposite us a long T-bar lift can take you up. The location of the beginners' course near the building of the lift is absolutely suitable; however, it isn't that good when people try to make the first steps down the slope just outside a building. If you really need to learn skiing on the glacier, find an instructor and he/she should find the right place to make the „poor" beginner free and not disturbed by the constant traffic.

The T-bar lift also starts close from the railway station up to the Brunnerkogel (3262m). The journey takes quite a long time, I would say about a quarter of an hour. This lift also serves the racers, who usually get on at the middle station, so don't be surprised to find every second
T-bar free, as they must be free to use. When looking at it from the bottom it's interesting to see that the left side is mostly used by racers, but there's a pleasant blue course on the right.

About a hundred metres to the left of the central building the bottom station of the Panoramabahn can be found. The cabin lift goes up to the 3440-metre-high Hinterer Brunnerkogel and as far as I know that's Austria's highest station for a lift. There are four cabins in every train taking up 25 people each, i.e. 100 people in every ride. Although if we are late for one, you have to wait until the next arrives from half way, that's not too long, going up is reasonably quick.

At the summit it's worth looking around since the look-out tower is within 50 metres' walk. It would be a pity to miss the fantastic round view: you can see Austria's highest peak (Wildspitze, 3774m, for ski trekkers there are treks going there, it's worth finding out more), the Silvretta Group, the Dolomites and a number of other beautiful mountains and glaciers.

There are red courses going from here, and take it seriously, they're not bluish-purple reds, but bright red ones (e.g. today it wasn't simple to get down in snowfall and low visibility). If we head to the left on the flat part, we can get back to the central building, and to the right you can approach the new cabin lifts (or if you could have done so if they had been open in November 2008).

Skiing past the bottom station of the Panoramabahn you arrive at the bottom station of the Mittelbergbahn with its 8-person cabins. From here you can go back to the central building in 6-seat lifts. These cabin lifts currently (November) serve easy red courses; there are some steeper slopes only in the bottom section (only there are the reasons for the colour red, otherwise I would call them wide and easy courses.

For the lovers of cross-country skiing here's a hint: cross-country courses start from the bottom station of Mittelbergbahn.

If the snow conditions are good, you can find a black course as well, though I personally haven't been so lucky to try it.

With good snow conditions we can select from quite a lot of outside course opportunities, you must never forget: this is a high-mountain, glacier skiing area, therefore you must reckon with serious danger factors, so be absolutely cautious and careful!