Love Hintertux? Where to go next for the snow, with more mountain around it
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
Hintertux is a resort people choose for one reason, and it is a good one. Our own line is the only Austrian glacier open every day of the year, and year round glacier, snow sure and training are the three things on our list of what it does best. It is snowy and no frills by our read, and you fly to Innsbruck.
So the question of where to go next is really a question about what you would add. Few people leave Hintertux to find more snow. They leave for more mountain, more of a resort, a longer stretch of easy skiing, or a different country with the same certainty under their skis. Each of those points somewhere different.
Hintertux, measured
The snow is the whole point, and the figures back it. Ninety six percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, 91 percent is above 2,000, and half of it sits above 2,853 metres. That makes Hintertux snow sure on our measure by a wide margin. Nobody can promise snow, but on our measure no Austrian resort we cover comes closer.
It is a red mountain with steep blues. Fifty nine percent of the piste is red, and the blues are not the soft option they are elsewhere. They average 19.3 percent, the steepest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and the second steepest of the 55, against an Austrian average blue of 16.4. The reds, at 22.1, are actually kinder than a typical Austrian red at 23.4. These are average gradients per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but the pattern is plain: a Hintertux blue is a proper test for an improver.
There is hardly any black. We measure 2.9 kilometres, the second least of the 55 resorts we cover, and no marked itinerary. The split between easy, red and black is the least even of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. This is a glacier for skiing a lot of red, often, not a mountain with something for every level.
Sölden: if it is the snow, with a whole resort around it
- VillageVillage
- 1,368 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,340 m
Sölden: 135 km of piste we measure. 77 km blue and easier 57%40 km red 29%19 km black 14%
Sölden is the closest match to Hintertux we measure, anywhere, and it keeps you in Austria, flying to the same airport. Its one line is two glaciers and a serious top height, and it is snow sure on our measure: 89 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 3,306 metres, the highest top of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and 67 above yours. The village is at 1,368 metres, 132 below Hintertux.
What it adds is the rest of the mountain. We measure 135 kilometres of piste around Sölden, 25 more than around Hintertux, and there are 77 kilometres of blue and easier, 35 more than your 42. The blues are kinder too, averaging 17.3 percent against your 19.3, which matters if someone in your group has found the Hintertux blues a stretch. And there are 19 kilometres of black against your 2.9.
The trade is the calendar and the mood. Sölden runs from late November to May, not all year. And it is sporty and lively by our read, with nightlife on its list of what it does best, where Hintertux is snowy and no frills. Our matching marks Hintertux's modern trait as the one that does not carry over. If the no frills feel is part of why you go, that is the thing to weigh.
Tignes: if it is the snow and the plain living, in France
- VillageVillage
- 2,100 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,456 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 300 km
Tignes: 130 km of piste we measure. 76 km green and blue 58%34 km red 26%21 km black 16%
Plus 14 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Tignes is the French resort our matching puts closest to Hintertux, and it is the only pick here that keeps the modern trait. Practical and high is our read on it, with snow sure skiing, a long season and value against its neighbour on its list. The snow and the modern trait carry over, set higher still.
The village is at 2,100 metres, the second highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 600 above yours. The skiing reaches 3,449 metres, measured, the highest of the 17 French resorts we cover and 210 above your top, and 97 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. Snow sure on our measure, and a point ahead of Hintertux on the share that counts.
Then it gives you more room and more variety. Espace Killy, shared with Val d'Isère, is 300 kilometres. Around Tignes itself we measure 130 kilometres, 20 more than around Hintertux, with 76 kilometres of green and blue, 20.5 of black and 14.2 of marked itinerary where Hintertux has none. Only 25 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 32, though the blues still average 17.6 percent, the second steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, so the character is not lost. French grades run differently from Austrian ones, so read those gradients rather than the colours.
The trade is the season, and the country. Tignes runs from late November to early May, which is long, but it is not every day of the year. And you fly to Geneva, not Innsbruck.
Livigno is the second closest match to Hintertux we measure, anywhere, and it takes the snow argument as far as it goes. All of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, joint highest share of the 55 resorts we cover. The village is at 1,816 metres, 316 above yours, and the season runs from late November to May. Snow sure on our measure.
It skis with the same steep edge. Forty percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the fifth highest share of the 55, against your 32. Its blues average 17.8 percent, joint fourth steepest of the 55, the nearest of these picks to your 19.3. Italian grades are set differently again, so trust the measured figures. There is more black, 8.9 kilometres against 2.9.
The trade is the top and the mood. Livigno's skiing stops at 2,767 metres, measured, 472 below yours, and you leave the glacier behind. Its area is two sectors facing each other across the valley with no lift between them, and we measure 81 kilometres around the village against your 110. And it is high and lively by our read, with duty free and value on its list. A different kind of week, around the same kind of snow.
Zermatt: if it is the glacier all year, in Switzerland
- VillageVillage
- 1,620 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,899 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 322 km
Zermatt: 151 km of piste we measure. 33 km blue and easier 22%107 km red 71%11 km black 8%
Plus 23 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Hintertux and Zermatt are the only resorts of the 55 we cover whose season runs all year on the glacier. If that is the thing you cannot do without, this is the other place to find it. The skiing reaches 3,869 metres, measured, joint highest of the 55, though that is the lift top station Zermatt shares with Cervinia. The village is at 1,620 metres, 120 above yours, and 99 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. Snow sure on our measure.
There is more mountain, too. We measure 150.5 kilometres around Zermatt, 40 more than around Hintertux, and 23.1 kilometres of marked itinerary, where Hintertux has none.
The trade is how it skis and how it feels. Zermatt has the smallest share of piste steeper than one in four of the 55 resorts we cover, 12 percent, against your 32, and its reds average 17.2 percent against your 22.1. It is an easy cruising mountain, not a steep one. And it is elegant, upmarket and car free by our read, with iconic scenery first on its list. If the no frills feel is part of the appeal, Zermatt is its opposite.
So, which one
you want snow sure skiing and the same airport with a bigger resort around it, and a livelier evening does not put you off.
you want the snow and a resort we also tag modern, with a higher village, more piste and some itinerary, and can live without the year round season.
every run being high matters more than the glacier, and you would enjoy a livelier week in Italy.
the glacier all year is the part you cannot give up, and gentler skiing in a smarter resort sounds like a fair price.
It keeps more of Hintertux than the closest match does: the snow, with a point more of its piste above 1,800 metres, and the modern trait that Sölden trades for nightlife. It sleeps you 600 metres higher and adds size, black and itinerary. What you give up is the glacier every day of the year, and for a winter week that costs you nothing.