Hintertux or Mayrhofen: one Zillertal pass, two very different villages
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Hintertux and Mayrhofen share the Zillertal lift pass, so this is a question of which village to stay in rather than which ski area to buy. But on the Zillertal, the village also decides what you ski from the door. The pass covers four separate areas that are not joined by lift, and the Hintertux glacier is a bus ride from the Mayrhofen side. Whichever you choose, the other is a day out, not a run.
And the two villages could hardly be more different. Hintertux is a glacier resort, snowy and no frills by our read, open every day of the year. Mayrhofen is a lively, welcoming town 870 metres lower, with nightlife, families and the snow park on our list of what it does best. So the question is whether you want the snow outside the door, or the town. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Hintertux | Mayrhofen |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,500 m | 630 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,239 m | 2,412 m |
| Ski area from the village | The glacier itself, 62 km | 142 km across Penken, Ahorn, Rastkogel and Eggalm |
| Lift pass | Zillertal, shared | Zillertal, shared |
| Piste we measure around the village | 110 km | 90.5 km |
| Blue and easier | 42 km, 38% of the piste | 28.5 km, 31% of the piste |
| Black | 2.9 km | 14.1 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 32% | 32% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 28% | 32% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 96% | 55% |
| Season | All year, on the glacier | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Innsbruck | Innsbruck or Salzburg |
Neither has marked off piste itinerary in our data, so that row is gone. The height rows go to Hintertux by a distance. The steep row is level. For most groups, the rows that decide it are the black row and the gentle row, and both lean to Mayrhofen.
Size: close on our measure, whatever the area figures say
Mayrhofen's own domain is 142 kilometres, across Penken, Ahorn, Rastkogel and Eggalm. Hintertux's is the glacier, 62 kilometres. The pass covers both and more, but the bigger pass figure you will see quoted counts some slopes twice, so we never add the areas together.
Our own measurement of the piste around each village tells a closer story: 110 kilometres around Hintertux, which takes in more than the glacier itself, and 90.5 around Mayrhofen. Both are under the 116 kilometres of a typical resort we cover. Size is not what separates them.
Altitude: 870 metres apart at the door, and nearly as far at the top
Hintertux's village is at 1,500 metres, the third highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Mayrhofen's is at 630, the second lowest of the 55 resorts we cover. On the hill the gap holds. Hintertux's skiing reaches 3,239 metres by our measure, the second highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and Mayrhofen's 2,412, which is 827 metres lower. Half of Hintertux's piste sits above 2,853 metres; half of Mayrhofen's above 1,829.
That is the difference between snow sure and not, on our measure. At Hintertux, 96 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the highest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, up to 3,239 metres. Mayrhofen has 55 percent at or above 1,800, which passes the first half of our test, but its skiing stops short of the 2,500 metres the second half asks for, so we do not call it snow sure. Higher up the gap is starkest: 83 percent of Hintertux's piste is at or above 2,200 metres, against 4 percent of Mayrhofen's.
Nobody can promise snow anywhere. But if your dates are early or late in the winter, or fall outside Mayrhofen's December to April season, this section has already made your choice.
The skiing: equally steep, built the other way round
Measured, the two are level on steepness: 32 percent of the piste at each is steeper than one in four, against 26 at a typical resort we cover. Both are red mountains, more than half red by the kilometre. The difference is in how the rest is arranged.
Mayrhofen is the more even mountain. It has 14.1 kilometres of black, the same as a typical resort we cover, and 32 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 28 at Hintertux. Hintertux has 2.9 kilometres of black, the second least of the 55 resorts we cover, and its piste is the least evenly spread between easy, red and black of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Hintertux does have more blue and easier, 42 kilometres against Mayrhofen's 28.5, which is the least of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover.
The gradients are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. Hintertux's blacks average 35.9 percent, the fifth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, but there are very few of them. Mayrhofen's average 27.5, the third gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and under the Austrian average for a black of 30.3. The reds are close: 22.1 at Hintertux and 23.3 at Mayrhofen, both under a typical Austrian red at 23.4.
Mayrhofen also has the long descent. The longest piste we measure there is a 4.3 kilometre red with 1,161 metres of vertical. At Hintertux the longest is a 2.3 kilometre red with 482.
Who each one actually suits
Hintertux suits people for whom the snow is the trip. Year round glacier, snow sure and training are the three things on our list of what it does best, and our read of it is snowy and no frills. It suits confident red skiers, anyone there to train, and anyone whose dates fall at the edges of the season or outside it. If the evening matters to anyone in your party, nightlife is on Mayrhofen's list and not on Hintertux's.
Mayrhofen suits groups who want the town as much as the mountain. It is lively and welcoming by our read, and we class it as both lively and family. It suits a group of friends who want the nights, a family whose children want the park as much as the piste, and a mixed group with nervous skiers in it, for a reason the next section explains.
The bit nobody tells you
The same lift pass covers the steepest and the gentlest blues of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Hintertux's blues average 19.3 percent, the second steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. Mayrhofen's average 12.7, the fourth gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover. A typical Austrian blue is 16.4.
That turns the blue row in the table on its head. Hintertux has more blue and easier piste, but Mayrhofen's is far kinder. For a nervous skier, a Mayrhofen blue is a gentle run; a Hintertux blue asks more than most blues anywhere we cover. If your group includes anyone in their first or second week, that matters more than the snow line.
So, which one
the snow has to be outside the door: your dates are early or late, you are training, or you want to ski outside December to April. Also if everyone in the group is a confident red skier who will not miss the black.
you want a lively town, a family week or the park, kinder blues for the less confident, more black for the strong and the long descent. Book the heart of the winter.
It gives a mixed group the better week: the town, the gentlest blues of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and 14.1 kilometres of black against 2.9. The shared pass keeps the glacier within reach, a bus ride away, for a day when you want the height. Hintertux is the right answer when the calendar, or the training plan, has already chosen.