Mayrhofen: the back story

About Mayrhofen: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Mayrhofen sits at 630 metres where the Zillertal ends and splits into four side valleys: the Zillergrund, Stillupgrund, Zemmgrund and Tux. Above it rise two very different ski mountains, the sunny Ahorn and the lively Penken, and a valley that has made hospitality its life for centuries.

The end of the valley

Mayrhofen lies at the very end of the Zillertal, at 630 metres, where the valley divides into the Zillergrund, Stillupgrund, Zemmgrund and Tux. The holiday region of Mayrhofen-Hippach gathers six villages, Mayrhofen, Brandberg, Ginzling, Hippach, Ramsau and Schwendau, beneath the 3,000-metre peaks of the Zillertal Alps, with the Zillertal Alps nature park on the doorstep.

An old tradition of welcome

Inns came long before ski lifts. The Alpenhotel Kramerwirt, next to the church, has offered hospitality since 1674, and families such as the Schneebergers of the Hotel Brücke, with its famous Brück’n Stadl, have kept music, dancing and celebrating at the heart of village life. The Zillertalbahn, the valley railway, still runs every half hour from Jenbach to Mayrhofen.

The Harakiri demands respect: up to 78 percent, experts only.

Two mountains, two moods

The Mayrhofner Bergbahnen call their ski area Mountopolis: 142 km of pistes and 61 lifts across the Penken, Ahorn, Rastkogel and Eggalm, with 89% of the slopes above 1,700 metres. The Ahornbahn, Austria’s largest cable car, lifts you to the sunny Ahorn plateau with its wide blue and red runs; the black ValleyRun Ahorn drops 1,300 metres over 5.5 km back to the village.

Across the valley the Penken is all action: PenkenPark, one of Europe’s best-known snowparks, the RacingParadise at Unterberg, and the Harakiri, piste 34, with a gradient of up to 78%, which the lift company calls Austria’s steepest slope experience. Try the Devil’sRun first: its steep finish is known locally as the “Harakiri test”.

Spring in Mayrhofen

The season runs from 4 December 2026 to 11 April 2027, and ends with Snowbombing, the music festival on the mountains and in the village, from 5 to 10 April 2027. With the Zillertaler Superskipass you can also ski every lift in the valley, the Hintertux Glacier included.

Our advice: ski the Ahorn in the morning sun and the Penken in the afternoon, test yourself on the Devil’sRun before the Harakiri, and take the ski bus: it serves all four valley lifts.

Mayrhofen through the years

From the Mayrhofen-Hippach tourist office, the Mayrhofner Bergbahnen, the hotels and Snowbombing, read October 2026.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Mayrhofen: the back story before you go.