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Bars and Clubs
There is a great choice
of bars & clubs in the resort & because it is
flat…it's perfect for a pub crawl! Here are a few
choice ones for starters:
Schirm Bar & Pilz Bar - party
starts before you've even left the slopes at these two
umbrella bars at the top of the Penken Gondola. Anything
in a shot glass or a test tube is the order of the day.
Eis Bar - step off the gondola & fall in
here - very loud, very Dutch, very drunken & very,
very good fun! Should you end up working here as the
Ice Bear - you ARE the chosen one!
The Scotland Yard - hugely popular with workers
& guests alike. Darts, pool, Guinness & Walkers
crisps.
Mo's Diner - American menu, great food &
live music.
Lobby Bar - live music every night, always packed
& a great atmosphere.
Gerry's - cosy bar, not on the tourist circuit
so good for an escape.
Trödlkeller - underneath the Run Dum. Ask
for a wobbler!
Arena Night Club - part of the Hotel Strass.
2500 capacity & generally full every night. Frequent
live bands & entertainment (gets some good names
too).
Garage Bar - continue late night drinking when
you can no longer dance.
Schlüssl - late night haunt where workers
go to drink, dance & trap.
Apropos - another late night favourite with the
locals. I have no recollection of when it actually closes….or
even if it does!
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Skiing
With a lift pass that
covers over 400km of piste up & down the valley
& provides free transportation between 145 lifts,
the variety on offer is hard to beat. The skiing ranges
from 630m to 3250m & includes Hintertux, one of
the largest glaciers in Europe.
Every year sees new installations
& improvements to the pistes & lift systems.
The Penkenbahn opened in 1995, replacing the old cable
car & making the horrendous queues to get to the
slopes a thing of the past. Last year Zell am Ziller
was joined with Gerlos & Königsleiten (previously
1 hour on the bus), linking two of the best areas in
the valley. This summer, construction was underway to
complete a 150 pax gondola that will connect Mayrhofen
with Lanersbach & Vorderlanersbach in the Tux valley.
Off-piste
Zell & Gerlos both have great (& safe) off piste
between the trees & pisted runs.
Mayrhofen - Face of the Nordhang & under the Schafkopf
chair lift
Hintertux - due to the height & freezing temperatures
on the glacier, Tux has guaranteed powder form as early
as October. The off piste here is plentiful & fantastic
but go with someone who knows & be careful…it
is a glacier!
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Moguls
Mayrhofen - underneath
the Knorren, Nordhang & Schafkopf chairs. (Schafkopf
has a new express 6 seater chair this season).
Hintertux - bump-tastic!
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Speed
Zell - big, wide,
cruisy reds
Mayrhofen - Ahorn Abfahrt. 5.5km descent to the village
& a real favourite with experienced skiers. Since
the installation of snow cannons it is a speed demons
dream all season.
Hintertux - Race teams from around the world don't come
here to train for nothing. It is the steepest glacier
in Europe. Descend from the top station (3250m) to the
car park (1500m) - 11km.
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Snowparks
Mayrhofen has become
more & more famous over the last few years with
its hugely publicised SPC board park at Tux. Featured
in just about every magazine & video, including
Onboard & Snowboard UK, the resort has also hosted
the British Board Championships for the last 2 years.
Mayrhofen has its own dedicated board
park off the Hintertrett lift (express 4-man) with a
half pipe, race track & impressive kickers &
rails. The SPC board camp makes
Mayrhofen a haven for boarders year round.
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Events
British Snowboard Championships
- March
Ski Jumping - Boxing Day. Ski clubs from around the
country.
KISS/Vibe FM - various radio stations from around the
UK descend at the end of March with an entourage of
DJ's, live bands & club nights.
Fasching - mid-Feb - huge street party
SMT Ball - SMT Ski School organise a huge end of season
party for all resort workers in the Schlüssl bar.
Top prizes & lots of booze.
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Famous
Visitors
Although graced
by numerous Dutch TV start throughout the season, more
well known visitors have included Midge Ure, Boy George,
Ugly Kid Joe & Faithless (who performed a free gig
on top of the mountain!).
Famous people hailing from the
area are Stefan Eberharter, Austria's No. 1 downhill
skier & Tom Eberharter, one of the country's best
freestylers. Mayrhofen is also home to Uli Spiess, World
Downhill Champion in the late 70's & Peter Habeler,
a legend amongst mountaineers, being the first man up
Everest without artificial oxygen.
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Away
Days
There is plenty
to do if you fancy a day off the slopes. Innsbruck is
only an hour away for great shopping & much cheaper
prices than in resort. 1 hour in the other direction,
over the Gerlos Pass, is Krimml Waterfalls. They are
the highest falls in Europe & partially frozen in
winter making them a spectacular day out. They can also
be combined with a trip over to the pistes of Kaprun
& Zell am Zell, half an hour further on.
With such a variety of skiing
available, if you fancy a change from the Penken or
Ahorn mountains in Mayrhofen, just hop on the free transportation
& spend a day exploring Zell, Kaltenbach or Fugen.
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Shopping
The resort has great shopping opportunities, especially
for equipment. There are plenty of shops offering high
quality mountain clothing as well as fashion stores
such as Simpl & Klausner, when you tire of fleece
& Gore-Tex.
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Internet
Cafés
Raifaissen Bank
by the Church - free e-mail, usually quite busy.
Café Tyrol - Internet access for 50ATS per ½
hour.
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Eating
Out
There is a wide
variety of good value places to try, such as:
*Bar'n'Grill - really good Mexican food
*Manni's Hotel - pizzeria is well worth a visit
*Mo's Diner - American menu, great service & value
Mt Everest - a mixture of traditional & more conventional
tastes
Taverne - cosy & very local. Has the best tomato
soup in the world!
*Mamma Mia - very good pizza & pasta & reasonable
price
Grill Küchl - very good traditional food, a bit
more expensive, but worth it.
As Austria is not famous for being
a vegetarian paradise, those marked with an * offer
a good veggie menu.
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Mountain
Restos
If you are out guiding
guests, these huts are definitely worth a visit:
Zell am Ziller - Rosie's Sport
Alms (Run 8). Have the schnitzel.
Gerlos - Hansi's Sonn Alm
Mayrhofen - Vroni's. Has a fantastic outdoor grill area
& amazing views over the surrounding valleys &
up towards Tux.
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McDonalds
Unfortunately has made
it into the Ziller Valley, based at Strass, half an
hour back up the valley towards Innsbruck.
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Shopping
Day
There are several supermarkets
in town but the best prices & range of products
are found in Billa & M-Preis. If you have access
to transport it is worth going to Hofer in Zell where
you can buy goods in bulk/catering size packs.
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Transfer
Day
The fortunate thing
with the resort being based in a wide valley is that
the road does not have the risk of avalanches blocking
it. Volume of traffic is the only thing that slows transfers
down at the weekend.
Transfers are split between Innsbruck
(1 hr) & Salzburg (2.5 - 3 hrs). Salzburg buses
tend to combine with the Grossraum area which can make
transfers longer. Don't forget to check out the staff
room at Innsbruck which has free coffee & pastries
for reps - can be a life saver!
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Après-ski
Options
With so many bars
to choose from, it would be rude not to show the guests
around some of your favourites - pub crawls are always
a winner. Tobogganing is also very popular& there
are several excellent tracks to choose from. One of
the best is in Ginzling. Run by two English guys, Martin
& Gavin, a ski-do tows you to the top & then
you hoon back down 4km's of well lit track. Paragliding
is massive business in the valley & (company insurance
permitting!) you can jump off the mountain in your skis
at the end of the day & skip the last lift down.
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Living
Mayrhofen is definitely
the place to live & there are a large variety of
apartments & rooms available if you ask around at
the start of season. If you are arriving later on, you
could also try Laubichl, Hollenzen & Schwendau a
10 minute walk out of town but the prices are cheaper.
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CdS
Search
If you’re thinking of doing a season in Mayrhofen then why
not search through the Club
des Saisonniers to see who else has worked there and what advice
they may be able to offer.
Join
Anyone who has done a season or has a firm offer from
a tour operator may join
the Club des Saisonniers.
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[Thanks to Helen
McGrory for putting this Guide together]
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