Golden Ski

The presence of two Alpine glaciers, which allow all year skiing, and apres-ski bars, restaurants and wellness centres make Sölden the perfect place for winter ( but also summer ) holidays.

For centuries it was only several farms under governance of church, and so there were the priests who initiated the changes that changed quiet area into the modern resort.
In 1871 Franz Senn , a priest in Vent builds Ötztal’s first shelter on the alpine pass, which was soon followed by several other hospices built by Austrian and German Alpine Associations.
Before the World War II Sölden has already logged 88.000 bed nights, still mostly accounted for Summer vacations. Although the skiing fashion starts at the beginning of 20th century, it became well developed after the War with opening of first ski lifts.

The main feature of Sölden is BIG 3 – the tree three mountain peaks beyond 10.000 ft : Gaislachkogl (3,058 m), Tiefenbachkogl (3,250 m) and Schwarze Schneid (3,340 m).
The peaks are easily accessible by ski lifts and offer stunning panoramic views from special wooden platforms located close to the summits.
All skiers who conquer these three mountains in one day can be really proud of their skiing skills. They can look back on approx. 50 kilometers plus three breathtaking 360-degree panoramas unique in Europe. Schwarze Schneid is also the beginning of 15 km ski run which ends in Sölden.

Under the peaks stretches the ice of Tiefenbach Gletscher and Rettenbach Gletscher that make Sölden the popular and one of the best summer ski resorts in Europe.
The glaciers are connected with the rest of slopes by the fast, modern gondola ‘ Golden Gate’. The area is popular field for testing of new ski equipment by big names like Salomon, Atomic or Fisher, and at 2700 m on Rettenbach Gletscher starts the run, which is a traditional place for FIS ski competitions held traditionally every year in October.
There are ski runs for skiers of all levels of experience, freezones and large ( 400 m ) SWATCH snowpark with Quarterpipe, Halfpipe, various tables, rails and jumps. The 4m of slope from Gaislachkogl are illuminated on wednesday evenings.

There are 16 km of Nordic ski runs around Sölden and 50 km in nearby Langenfeld.

The main town – Sölden is the main sport and apre-ski center. Worth mention is new opened Aqua Dome with various indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
The hamlet Hochsölden bursts the residences just outside the ski slopes at the latitude over 2 000 metres.
The other hamlets tha consist the municipality are Vent and Zwieselstein which is located near another ski area Obergurgl and Hochgurgl.

The slopes around Sölden are named Ötztal Arena after the valley Ötztal, but in the valley there are also other separated ski resorts : Obergurgl and Hochgurgl, Vent,Hochoetz,Niederthai and Gries, so if you get accustomed to glaciers you can try the other runs, there is a convenient road connection between all of them.