Austria ski resorts :: Obertauern resort information

Best forIntermediates Apres-ski Ski in-Ski out hotels Short transfer Snow-sure High altitude

Resort Overview

Lying at an altitude of over 1600 metres, the resort of Obertauern is the highest in the Salzburg province and offers one of Austria’s longest winter seasons with snow-sure slopes and mainly ski in-ski out accommodation.

Once an important trading pass, Obertauern’s claim to fame was to host the Beatles in 1965 during the shooting of their film for ‘Help!’. These days, the resort is popular for its high altitude and lively après-ski especially with local weekenders. The resort is almost French in its style and layout with the village sitting at the bottom of the ‘Tauernrunde’ bowl yet still retains plenty of traditional Austrian charm in its hotels and mountain huts.

Obertauern ski area | Obertauern mountain hut | Obertauern resort, Austria

Lifts and Slopes

The ski area has north and south-facing slopes in a natural snow bowl with the village at the centre and the high altitude ensures great skiing and snowboarding conditions from late November through to May.

There are 26 lifts in total covering around 100 kilometres of pistes and the ‘Tauernrunde’ circuits offer a variety of different routes on wide, open terrain with the resort centre never too far away.

Skiing and snowboarding

The lower slopes are less steep and the nursery and beginner slopes are located here close to many of the hotels.

Whilst the resort is ideally suited to intermediates (60% blue runs, 35% red), skiing above the tree line and in particular the runs off Gamsleiten 2 offer good challenges for the advanced and expert skier.

There is an excellent Fun Park in resort - www.longplaypark.com - with kickers and rails for all abilities and Obertauern has become popular for snowkite-ing (a close relation to Kite-surfing) hosting the World Championships in 2005.

Off the slopes

Obertauern is a lively resort with many skiers opting for après-ski in the one of the cosy mountain huts at the end of the skiing day before heading down to the resort where there is a good selection of bars and nightclubs.

The resort sports centre offers tennis, squash, fitness and sauna facilities and there are also sleigh rides, snowshoe walks, a floodlit toboggan run and a good selection of restaurants.

Please note that the resort of Obertauern is not staffed (Snowscape Resort Managers).