Špindlerův Mlýn: the back story

About Špindlerův Mlýn: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Špindlerův Mlýn lies in the Krkonoše, the Giant Mountains, where the young Elbe runs through a deep valley. Skiers have come here since the first skis appeared in the mountains in 1880, and from December 2026 its two great ski areas, Svatý Petr and Medvědín, are linked on skis for the first time.

Miners, woodcutters and a miller

Until the sixteenth century these valleys were virgin forest. Prospectors came first, for iron ore and then silver, and the mines and ironworks of Vrchlabí, at the foot of the mountains, brought woodcutters from the Alps to fell timber and float it down the river. They stayed, built mountain huts and turned the clearings into the meadows you still see among the forests today.

A name by mistake

In 1765 the miller Špindler moved his mill from Svatý Petr, after meltwater washed it away, to what is now the town centre. When the mountain people petitioned for their own church at the end of the eighteenth century, they signed their letters at ‘Špindler’s mill’, and the name stuck to a village that did not yet exist. Svatý Petr, Bedřichov and Labská live on as districts of the town.

A town named by a clerk’s slip, and Czechia’s most popular slopes.

The first skis in the Giant Mountains

The road from Vrchlabí, built in 1872, brought the first tourists, and the mountain huts became hotels. In 1880 the Kraus brothers appeared on Petrovka with what the town calls the first skis in the Giant Mountains; in 1899 a Vrchlabí factory worker, Guido Rotter, gave skis to all the mountain schools of the district, and in 1910 an electric sledge lift began to run.

Two sides, one resort

Today Skiareál Špindlerův Mlýn, operated by Melida within the Tatry Mountain Resorts family and sold on Gopass, spreads across Svatý Petr, Medvědín, Hromovka, Labská and Horní Mísečky, with about 90 km of cross-country trails prepared each winter. The two biggest areas, Svatý Petr and Medvědín, face each other across the valley; the idea of joining them dates from 1994. In December 2026 the first stage opens: the heated six-seat Audi Line Přehradní chairlift, with protective bubbles, and the new Přehradní and Lesní runs, crossing the Elbe and the main road on two new bridges. A ten-seat gondola from the P1 terminal to Medvědín, due for the 2027/28 winter, will complete the link in both directions.

Every budget

From Hotel Savoy, open since 1881, to family hotels by the lifts, Špindl suits every budget. Gopass prices reward early booking, and the town ski buses, which cost nothing, mean you can leave the car at your hotel.

Our advice: book passes online, ski Medvědín for the sun and Svatý Petr for the steeper runs, and dine at SAVOYA or Soyka, both in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide.

Špindlerův Mlýn in brief

From the town of Špindlerův Mlýn (mestospindleruvmlyn.cz) and Skiareál Špindlerův Mlýn (skiareal.cz), October 2026.

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