Ski Area Guide for Zugspitze/Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Below you'll find Information on the German ski area of Zugspitze Ski Area, including links to the surrounding resorts, webcams, slope information, lift details etc.

Ski Resorts of the Zugspitze Ski Area Ski Area

The Zugspitze Ski region covers the following resorts:

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Detailed review of the German ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Includes detail on the slopes, the town itself, all the links you need, and some useful local knowledge.

Getting to the Slopes of the Zugspitze Ski Area Ski Area

In general, to get to the lifts to take you up to the slopes above Garmisch-Partenkirchen you'll need to use the bus or get on the cogwheel train unless your hotel has it's own taxi or mini-bus service. Or you're driving and park your vehicle at the main lift centre car parks.

Here's a rough guide on how to get to the slopes in the main ski areas:

Classic area

Hausberg-Kreuzeck - there are two gondolas up to the Hausberg-Kreuzeck area from the edge of Garmisch Partenkirchen. One is called Hausbergbahn and goes up to 1300m at Hausberg. The other is the Kreuzeckbahn that goes up to Kreuzeck at 1650m. The cogwheel railway that goes right up to the glacier drops off at both of the gondola bases.

Zugspitze Area

There are two methods of getting to the Zugspitze area, the first is the cogwheel glacier railway that starts right next to Garmisch-Partenkirchen's main railway station and goes to Grainau before tunnelling up into the mountain until it reaches the Zugspitze glacier. The second method is the dramatic cable car ride from Eibsee that climbs nearly 2000m to the top of the Zugspitze. To reach the ski area you then need to get a cable car down to the slopes as there are no runs down.

Zugspitze Ski Area Skiing Areas

The ski area is mainly suited to confident intermediates and advanced skiers. Apart from the nursery slopes, the only other easy runs for beginners are high up on the Zugspitze Glacier area, which is a real trek to get to, so therefore not really ideal for beginners, especially youngsters. Likewise, early intermediates will struggle to find easy reds to hone their new found skills on.

For confident intermediates and advanced-level skiers there are plenty of good reds in the Garmisch Classic area, the bottom runs are particularly challenging, especially the World Cup Kandahar run. Be aware that some sections are extremely steep and prone to get very icy, making them quite a test.

Garmisch Classic Area

There are two main parts to the Garmisch Classic area - Hausberg-Kreuzeck on the lower section and Alpspitz below the Zugspitze Glacier area. Hausberg-Kreuzeck has lots of tree-lined routes whilst the Alpspitz and the Zugspitze Glacier areas higher up, hardly have any. The snow conditions can often be poor lower down, suffering from the low altitude of Garmisch-Partenkirchen at resort level. The runs back down to the gondola stations are pretty testing, so it's definitely not a wise move for beginners or nervy intermediates to be skiing these, especially the final sections of the Kandahar World Cup run.

Zugspitze Skiing Area

The Zugspitze area is pretty typical of glacier ski area with plenty of drag lifts to access a network of pretty gentle blues. Below the blue runs are some steeper reds that lead down to the Alpspitz area.

Piste Maps for the Zugspitze Ski Area Ski Area

Zugspitze Ski Area Ski Area Webcams

News for Zugspitze Ski Area Ski Area

Useful Links for Zugspitze Ski Area Ski Area

Official Adelboden-Lenk Ski Region site: www.adelboden-lenk.ch