Exploring Sölden: Austria's Massive Dual Glacier Resort

Sölden: Austria's Monster-Sized Ski Resort That Dwarfs North America's Giant

When people talk about big ski resorts, Sölden isn't just big—it's colossal. With 31 lifts, 3 peaks towering above 3,000m, 2 glaciers, and 145km of piste across all difficulty levels, this Austrian powerhouse is genuinely massive. To put it in perspective, we mapped out the entire ski area using calcmaps.com and discovered Sölden spans a whopping 8,190 acres—larger than both Park City and Whistler Blackcomb, North America's two largest ski resorts. And Sölden is considered just a "medium" resort in Austria!

After driving up from Ambach near the start of the Ötztal Valley, I parked at the Giggijoch base. Sölden has two main base areas, and I planned to tackle one each day of my two-day visit. Collecting my lift tickets (thanks to the Ötztal Tourism Team) at the gondola base was straightforward, and then it was time to board what might be Europe's fastest gondola up to the Giggijoch zone—home to fantastic terrain for beginners and intermediate riders.

I completed a few warm-up laps in this area. This was my third day skiing in Europe but only my sixth day ever on skis. Had I taken on more than I could handle? I was about to find out. Without checking where it went, I hopped on a chairlift that whisked me to the top of a zone where the only way down was via two advanced trails. With no alternatives, I had to give it a go. To my surprise, I made it down without falling! It wasn't pretty, but I survived.

Now it was time to experience what Sölden is famous for—the glaciers! This is where one of Sölden's drawbacks becomes apparent: it's so vast that reaching the glaciers takes considerable time. Getting from the car park to the glaciers involves riding at least three gondolas and two chairlifts with barely 100m of skiing between connections. This teaches you to plan your day—once you're at the glaciers, stay there. It's not an area you can visit multiple times in one day. The journey's views, however, are world-class and provide plenty to admire along the way.

Upon reaching the summit of the Rettenbach Glacier (Sölden's highest point), you can choose to ski Rettenbach or continue to the Tiefenbach glacier. I chose the latter, which meant descending slightly and then travelling through an incredible ski tunnel carved through the mountainside. When you emerge on the other side, the views of the glacier and surrounding mountains will leave you breathless. From this vantage point, you can see across the entire Otztal valley and even spot mountain peaks in Italy. It's hard to tell precisely where Austria ends and Italy begins, but it's somewhere in that direction.

The Tiefenbach glacier offers brilliant beginner skiing above 3,000m with a decent amount of vertical. It's typically the first area in Sölden to open and one of the last to close. Early or late in the season, you can drive your car up through the mountains and tunnels to park directly at the glacier base. Most runs here are beginner-friendly, with a gondola rising from base to summit and what might be the longest T-bar I've ever ridden. A must-do activity while you're here is the BIG3 Panorama Footbridge Tiefenbachkogl - a suspension walkway extending over the glacier with spectacular views of the mountains, glaciers, and even Pitztal Glacier ski resort in the distance.

3S Summit Gaislachkogl. Credit: SnowStash

After a few runs on the Tiefenbach glacier, lunch beckoned. For €18, I enjoyed a pizza and an Aperol at a restaurant at the base, which refuelled me for the afternoon ahead. Then it was time to take the six-seater chairlift back to the Rettenbach glacier. Being my third consecutive day skiing after a six-month break, my legs were definitely feeling it.

Back on the main side of the resort, I needed to make my way toward the Giggijoch area. This journey involved skiing down a run, then riding a magic carpet that functions as a connector to bring you back to the glacier gondola mid-stations. The coolest part about this magic carpet? As you glide along, you can see the actual glacier to your left—genuine bluish ice that could be thousands of years old.

After riding the glacier express and completing a few more runs and lifts, I found myself back at the Giggijoch area. Before heading down, I cruised through Sölden's fun park, which is perfect for beginner riders, kids, and families. These fun parks have a good amount of vertical with a gentle pitch that lets you cruise through effortlessly.

Now came the most challenging run of the day—piste number 19 would take me back to the base of the Giggijochbahn. But first, I stopped at the Panorama Alm bar, a must-visit spot in Sölden. The drinks are fantastic, the views exceptional, and live DJs play the best tracks while fire cannons blast from the roof. I hung out for 30 minutes before continuing, imagining how nightmarish the ski down would be for those who partied all night at Panorama Alm.

I followed piste 19 all the way down, then cut onto piste 22—a short, steep advanced run I hadn't known about—to reach the car park. Arriving back at the multi-storey car park meant my first day at Sölden had come to an end. Time to drive back down the valley to my accommodation, find dinner, and get some sleep before day two. The forecast was calling for fresh snow, so we'd have to wait and see what the morning would bring.