Worldwide Ski Resorts • Germany • Garmisch
Overview
Garmisch Partenkirchen is Germany’s best known ski area. It has hosted the Olympics, World Championships and, most years, a World Cup race. Now one big town Garmisch is only 90km from Munich which means that it can be busy at weekends when the weather forecast is good. It has 53 lifts and 45 marked pistes across four different areas.
Profile
Garmisch Partenkirchen is Germany’s best known ski area. It has hosted the Olympics, World Championships and, most years, a World Cup race. Once two distinct villages it is now effectively one big town. Garmisch is only 90km from Munich which means that it can be busy at weekends when the weather forecast is good. With 53 lifts and 45 marked pistes across four different marked areas: the Eckbauergebiet, Hausberg/Kreuzeckgebiet, Osterfeldgebiet, Wankgebiet and the Zugspitze.
Mountain Information
The Eckbauer is a fairly small and tame hill which houses the main ski jump ramps. It is a good area for beginners with lifts to progress on to. Slopes are pretty smooth and wide. The Hausberg/Kreuzeckgebiet area is served by parallel cablecars aout 3kms apart. Above them are a network of 10 or so lifts which constitute a decent area of easy to mid intermediate terrain. It is the lower runs back to valley floor level which are used as the World Cup runs: the Kandahar, Horn and Olympia. Most have alternative routes to base station level for the more cautious, but these main runs can be hard and icy and really are best left to the confident, solid intermediate. For experts these can be fully prepared race tracks. The Osterfeldergebiet area offers another little circus of intermediate terrain with no really long lifts or runs. It is accessed via the Alpspitzbahn which links from the bottom of the Olympia and Kandahar runs. The Osterfelderkopf lies about 6724ft so it has good snowholding and some great Alpine views. The runs up here are a mix of wide, open snowfields and one or two narrower twisting runs for the more advanced. The Wankegbeit is accessed from a four seater gondola. From the top station of this gondola are six linked lifts which offer a network of varied skiing; from the benign to the steep. The Esterberglift is the most advanced and suitable only for good skiers and boarders.
Garmisch’s most famous ski area though is on the Zugspitze. For those who want a gentle start to their day the Zugspitzebahn cog railway will lift you from the town up to just below the summit of the mountain in somewhere around an hour. The alternative is to use just one part. From Eibsee it takes about half that time but there is also a cable car which reaches the summit in about ten minutes. From the summit a further cable car takes the skier or boarder down to the glacier area. From the summit mountain restaurant you can see into Switzerland,Liechtenstein, Italy and, of course, Austria which the mountain is partly in. The main ski area is in the expansive bowl under the summit, where snow lies from mid Autumn until late Spring, while further up on the glacier it lies all year. Up here the runs are good for most abilities — and especially for mixed ability groups. Some are full width autobahn cruises which advanced skiers will still enjoy attacking the fall line while less advanced skiers can make steady progress. There are some highly recommended Spring ski tours for advanced skiers and also plenty of good off piste routes revealed with a qualified local guide. Again there are good long runs down to valley level — up to 7km — long and most can be attacked by skiers of confident intermediate status.
Apres Ski
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is very much a year round holiday and week-ending destination. Traffic can be heavy at weekends, but so too if you are driving to and from the Austrian resorts it is worth a day’s stop. There is plenty of local accommodation, which can be modestly priced out of the main convention and conference season. The Partenkirchen side retains a more traditional alpine feel and is regarded as prettier.
German Resort Guide
Resort Information • Garmisch
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Resort Height | 720m |
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Top Station | 2830m |
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Bottom Station | 720m |
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Vertical Descent | 1350m |
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Drag Lifts | 24 |
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Chair Lifts | 14 |
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High Capacity | 8 |
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Opening Dates | Dec - May |
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Rating Expert | 8 |
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Rating Intermediate | 7 |
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Rating Beginner | 6 |
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Apres Ski Rating | 10 |
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Snow Reliability | 9 |
