Zell am See
Zell am See is a beautiful lake side resort 1 hour from Salzburg. The ski are – Europa Sport includes nearby Kaprun an the Kitzstein Glacier. Zell is a larger year round resort and now has a traffic free centre. Cobbled streets are lined with plenty of shops, hotels, bars and restaurants. For non-skiers and after ski activities there are plenty of walks, skating in the lake, tobogganing and also a leisure centre with water slides. Near Kaprun is the fabulous Tauren Spa.
In terms of getting on to the mountain – the closest lift is the City Express – a bubble lift that rises up from Zell it’s self. The Schmittenhorn lifts are a 5 minute ski bus away while Schuttdorf and the AreitXpress are between 5 and 10 minutes. There is a regular ski bus to Kaprun which takes around 15 minutes. From Kaprun the bubble lift now links in to the new 3K K-onnection which connects directly with the Kitzstein Glacier
Ski Statistics (inc Saalbach-Hinterglemm Ski Circus)
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Kms of Marked Piste
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410 kms
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Number of Lifts
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121
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Highest Lift
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3000m
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Closest Airports
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Salzburg 1 hour; Munich 2 1/2 hours
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Snow Report
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Click Here
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The Skiing
The Europa Sport Ski Area is the marketing name for Zell and See and Kaprun. 130kms of marked piste are connected by 57 lifts. There are two separate ski areas. The lifts from Zell rise up to Scmittenhohe, while in Kaprun has the Kitzstein Glacier with skiing upto 3000m. NEW for 2019/2020 season will be the connection to Saalbach accessible with the new ALPINCARD Ski Pass – a short bus ride is required to access the Saalbach system but on the way home you can ski back to the connecting lift to Zell.
Beginners
Beginners are served by nursery slopes with drag lifts and moving carpets near the AreitXpress base station outside Schuttdorf and also at the top of the mountain (bubble lift up and down) at Schmittenhohn. Once they have mastered their snowploughs stopping and turning, beginners will soon be exploring the blue and green runs that radiate from the summit down towards the mid station of the AreitXpress and further down to Zell on the glorious blue piste 5.
Intermediates
The Europa Sport region is a well suited for intermediates. Warm up on the blues coming off Scmittenhorn before tackling the red pistes over towards Sonnekogel and underneath the Zellamsee Express. The Kitzstein Glacier above Kaprun offers well over 1000 vertical metres of red and blue runs that crisscross the glacier from Gipfelwelt at 3029m down to Langwied at 1976m. The new 3k K-onnection opensup the runs above Kaprun with a choice of a blue red or black back to Kaprun at the end of the day. With some planning intermediate skiers can take advantage of the new Alpinecard ski pass and ski over to the Saalbach Hinterglemm Ski Circus.
Advanced
Advanced skiers will enjoy the blacks off Schmittenhorn – they start on wide open pistes before plunging steeply through the trees down to the base station. On the north side of Schittenhohe there are a number of off piste ski routes. Take advantage of the Alpincard ski pass, carve down red 21 underneath the Zellamsee Express bubble lift to connect into Saalbach. It is definitely worth taking a day to explore the Kitzstein Glacier – there are a fewblacks and a number of marked but not patrolled off piste routes – but please stay within the marked areas!
