- Details
- Written by: Roger Fulton
Sponsored content
You don’t drive between mountains here. You ski between towns, exploring a single interconnected ski domain, the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental – 275km of groomed piste served by 81 modern lifts, making it one of the world’s largest and most modern ski areas.
Exploration is the name of the game in the Wilder Kaiser. Its villages are the gateway to the wider SkiWelt area and mountain access is easy. Here too you can ski from one valley to the next and have lunch in a village you’ve probably never heard of. Meanwhile beginners can happily stay local in their ‘home’ villages as they find their ski legs before venturing further afield. And if you love spectacular scenery, the Wilder Kaiser offers you panoramic views of more than 70 peaks topping 3,000m.
What’s so special about the Wilder Kaiser for intermediate skiers?
The only thing intermediate skiers love more than a well-groomed cruisy piste is a never-ending supply of them. And the stats make impressive reading: here, nearly 90% of the runs are either easy or intermediate. Enjoy 114km of blue slopes, 120km of red, 26km of ski routes and 10km of black runs, plus 3 fun parks – the Kaiserpark Ellmau, Snowpark Söll and Boarder’s Playground Westendorf. You’ve also got Austria’s largest night skiing area – 10km of floodlit pistes at Söll.
Everywhere you go in the SkiWelt, you can find hundreds of wide, lovingly-groomed slopes, including rolling blue runs and long valley descents. Thanks to the huge variety of slopes, every family member can ski the run that suits their ability and meet up again at the bottom.
Which Wilder Kaiser resort is best for intermediates?
All the villages spread along the valley floor are great for families and for intermediates. But Scheffau and Söll make particularly good bases for intermediates intent on racking up the piste mileage, as they offer the quickest access to the wider ski area. Scheffau is the quieter of the two but the upper slopes above the village cover the most central area of the SkiWelt domain.
Söll is especially popular with British skiers but while its valley-level beginners' slopes, lively nightlife, compact pretty village, and separate children-only ski area are popular with families, it is intermediates who will make the most out of the steeper gradients, longer descents, and big mileage possible on excursions out into the other linked sectors of the
SkiWelt domain. Söll’s Hohe Salve sectors have the greatest concentration of intermediate and advanced-level pistes, with the steepest terrain and the longest non-stop descents.
Intermediates will also fancy the challenge of the well-signposted SkiWelt Tour. You can ski this exciting circuit clockwise (green route, 69km) or anti-clockwise (orange route, 84km). The great thing about either direction is that you won’t have to ski the same run twice! Whichever you decide, be aware that the SkiWelt Tour is very much a full-on, full-day activity. If you do indeed want to complete the full circuit in one day, it’s best not to include a long lunch break!
Wilder Kaiser’s fantastic mountain cuisine
When you do need a pit stop, the region invites you to sample delicious Tirolean cuisine, such as schnitzel, Germknödel and the irresistible Kaiserschmarrn (shredded pancakes) at one of its 80 family-run mountain huts.
And after a day’s skiing, you’ll naturally want to sample the après-ski. Every sector has its favourites, such as the KaiserLounge at the top of the Hartkaiserbahn gondola in Ellmau, for chill-out tunes and mountain vistas, Hexenalm in Söll or Sunnseithütte above Hopfgarten.
What about the snow? Is it reliable?
Reliable? It’s actually guaranteed! SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental guarantees great skiing every day from early December through to late March thanks to its ideal location on the northern edge of the Alps. The natural alpine terrain and north-facing slopes are dotted with more than 1,800 snow guns (powered by green electricity) and maintained by more than 500 snow experts specializing in modern snowmaking and sustainable slope maintenance.
Wilder Kaiser is perfect for families too
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser - Brixental is also viewed as one of the most family and child-friendly ski resorts in the Tirol. It really is an ideal ski area for families: wide, gentle groomed pistes, many blue slopes and valley runs and countless experiences for kids, including childcare services, 4 fun toboggan runs and 22 ski schools, each with their own children’s area.
Three fun parks and the ‘Hans im Glück’ ski course in Söll, Ellmau and Westendorf offer exciting thrills, and teens will also want to try the fun SkiMovie giant slalom course in Scheffau, the SkiMovie ski cross in Söll & SkiMovie carving turn in Westendorf.
And in the 2026/27 winter season, children up to the age of 15 can ski for free during the FamilySkiWeeks!
As a base, Ellmau is a particularly good choice for families and beginners. An attractive valley village tucked away at the north-eastern corner of the extensive SkiWelt domain, it has stunning views north to the serrated ridges and peaks of the imposing Wilder Kaiser range. It also features its own compact ski hill in the quietest corner of the domain, shared with its neighbour Going, with a large practice meadow area. This hill is separated from the core circuit by an often-bypassed valley-floor link.
More experienced skiers don’t lose out either. They can access the main SkiWelt circuit via a funicular from the western edge of Ellmau village, and return via a lovely long red cruise back down from the Hartkaiser summit.
How do you get to the Wilder Kaiser?
Getting here couldn’t be easier. Wilder Kaiser is just 90 minutes from plane to piste. The airports at Munich, Salzburg and Innsbruck are each about an hour away by car. Land in the morning, ski in the afternoon. No connecting flight, no four-hour shuttle, no altitude headache. And once you’re in your chosen resort, the villages are walkable – you can ski, eat, sleep and go out without renting a car at all.
The villages of Ellmau, Going, Scheffau, Söll and Itter are also easily reached from Wörgl, Kufstein or St. Johann train stations.
Anything else I should know?
For the eco-conscious, this is a reassuring destination. The SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental has been called ‘the most ecological ski area in the world’, winning multiple awards for its sustainability. All 83 SkiWelt lifts are powered 100% by eco-electricity and the solar ski lift in Brixen is even 100% solar-powered. The area also has 100% eco-friendly snow-making, heat recovery systems supporting the heating system of mountain and valley stations, ski lifts and mountain restaurants, and charging stations for electric cars at all valley stations.
To find out more about taking a ski holiday in the Wilder Kaiser, go to wilderkaiser.info
