Spring Glacier Skiing in Tyrol: Five Resorts Still Open Above 3,000 Metres

Tyrol's five glacier ski resorts are still turning lifts well into spring, offering some of the most reliable late-season snow in the Alps

When most Austrian resorts have packed up for the season, Tyrol's glacier ski areas keep running. The Kaunertal, Pitztal, Sölden, Stubai, and Hintertux glaciers all operate above 3,000 metres, where altitude keeps snow quality consistent long after lower resorts have turned to slush and closed their doors.

Between them, the five glaciers offer around 300 kilometres of marked pistes across a range of abilities, from wide groomers and family-friendly terrain through to steep descents and off-piste routes.

Spring conditions at altitude tend to deliver a good combination - firm morning snow softening into corn as the day warms up, longer daylight hours, and noticeably fewer people on the slopes compared to peak season.

All five resorts also run spring event programmes, making April and May some of the most atmospheric months on the Tyrolean ski calendar.

Kaunertal Glacier

Kaunertal is the westernmost of the five glaciers and arguably the one with the strongest identity. It runs from October through to late May and has built a reputation around two things: freestyle skiing and accessibility.

The Kaunertal Snowpark sits at around 2,900 metres and features what the resort claims is the longest jib line in the Alps - the Half Mile Jibline - alongside kicker, slopestyle, and beginner lines shaped daily through the spring season.

The Spring Classics 2026 event series runs from April 11 to May 25 and includes the OPEN FACES freeride contest, UK Snowboard Spring Break, and the season-closing KTE party weekend.

Beyond the park scene, Kaunertal is also a serious ski touring base. The Glockturm (3,355 metres) and the more demanding Weißseespitze (3,532 metres) are both accessible from the glacier, with descents reaching up to 1,648 metres of vertical.

The resort was the Austrian winner of the EU's EDEN Award for accessible tourism, having pioneered barrier-free infrastructure since the late 1970s - monobob lanes are built into the valley and summit stations of both main lifts, making it one of the few glacier resorts in the Alps where adaptive skiing is genuinely well catered for.

• Elevation: 2,150m - 3,113m
• Pistes: 55km across 23 runs, plus 36km of marked off-piste routes
• Lifts: 9 on the glacier
• 2025-26 season: 3 October 2025 - 25 May 2026
• Steepest run: Black Ibex (Schwarzer Steinbock) - 41.3° gradient, marketed as Europe's steepest groomed piste
• Notable: 100% barrier-free, EDEN Award winner, Spring Classics event series (11 April - 25 May)

Kaunertal holds snow well in April thanks to its high elevation.

Pitztal Glacier

Pitztal holds the single most impressive elevation claim of the group. The Wildspitzbahn gondola takes you to 3,440 metres at the Hinterer Brunnenkogel - the highest lift-accessed point in Tyrol and the highest aerial cableway in Austria.

At the top sits Café 3440, Austria's highest café and registry office, housed in a cantilevered glass building with views across more than 50 three-thousanders to the 3,770-metre Wildspitze, Tyrol's highest peak.

The glacier itself spans from 2,685 metres up to 3,440 metres, and when combined with the complementary Rifflsee area (1,640 - 2,800 metres), you get a ski-able range of 1,800 metres of vertical.

The other significant piece of infrastructure is the Gletscherexpress funicular, opened in July 2022 - a 3.8-kilometre underground line that runs from 1,730 metres to 2,840 metres in eight minutes with 200-passenger trains, powered in summer by Tyrol's highest on-site solar array.

For spring 2026, the Pitz Spring Weeks programme bundles ski touring events, the Pitztal Wild Face freeride qualifier on the Mittagskogel's north face, wine tastings at Café 3440, and a closing weekend around May 3. A combined ticket with neighbouring Kaunertal is also available for spring.

• Elevation: 1,640m - 3,440m (glacier + Rifflsee combined)
• Pistes: 40km on glacier, 68km combined
• Lifts: 7 on glacier, 13-18 combined with Rifflsee
• 2025-26 season: 27 September 2025 - 3 May 2026 (glacier); Rifflsee 13 December 2025 - 13 April 2026
• Café 3440: Austria's highest café, with cantilevered glass terrace and views to the Wildspitze
• Notable: Highest lift-accessed point in Tyrol, new Gletscherexpress funicular (2022), Pitztal Wild Face freeride qualifier

Pitztal Glacier is the highest ski resort in Austria.

Sölden

Sölden is the biggest of the five by a comfortable margin. With 146 kilometres of pistes across three connected sectors - Giggijoch, Gaislachkogl, and the glacier zone - serviced by 31 lifts with a combined capacity of around 65,500 people per hour, it operates on a scale the other four can't match.

The resort spans from 1,350 metres in the village to 3,340 metres on the Schwarze Schneide, and the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers sit between roughly 2,675 and 3,250 metres.

Sölden is the only resort in the group with three lift-served peaks above 3,000 metres, branded as the BIG3: Gaislachkogl (3,048m), Tiefenbachkogl (3,250m), and Schwarze Schneide (3,340m). Austria's longest continuous descent runs 15 kilometres with nearly 2,000 metres of vertical from the Schwarze Schneide to the Gaislachkogl valley station.

Off the slopes, Sölden has invested in cultural infrastructure that sets it apart. The 007 Elements installation on the Gaislachkogl summit is a 1,300-square-metre cinematic experience spread across nine interactive galleries, built adjacent to the ice Q restaurant used as the Hoffler Klinik in the Bond film SPECTRE.

For spring 2026, the two headline events are the Hannibal glacier spectacle on April 10 - a 25th-anniversary staging of up to 500 performers re-enacting Hannibal's Alpine crossing on the Rettenbach glacier - and the Electric Mountain Festival from April 13-18, centred on Giggijoch at 2,300 metres.

• Elevation: 1,350m - 3,340m
• Pistes: 146km (approximately 34km on glaciers)
• Lifts: 31, with ~65,500 pph capacity
• 2025-26 season: 2 October 2025 (glacier) - 3 May 2026 (glacier spring closing)
• Terrain split: Approximately 72km blue, 41km red, 26km black; 77% snowmaking coverage
• Notable: BIG3 viewing platforms, 007 Elements, Hannibal spectacle (10 April), Electric Mountain Festival (13-18 April), 33 mountain huts

Solden ski resort is home to three peaks over 3,000m and the skiing in April is world class.

Stubai Glacier

Stubai is Austria's largest glacier ski area at 1,450 hectares and 65 kilometres of prepared pistes, running from the Mutterberg valley station at 1,750 metres to the Wildspitz mountain station at 3,210 metres.

It's close enough to Innsbruck - about 45 minutes by car with free ski-bus links - to work as a day trip, which gives it a different feel to the more remote glacier resorts.

The flagship lift is the 3S Eisgratbahn, opened in 2016 as the longest tricable gondola in the Alps, using 32-person Pininfarina-designed cabins. The terrain splits heavily toward intermediates and beginners - roughly 60% blue, 36% red, and just 4% black - making it the most family-friendly of the five glaciers. Children under 10 ski free year-round with a paying parent.

The resort punches above its weight in both gastronomy and freestyle. The Schaufelspitz restaurant at 2,900 metres holds two Gault Millau toques, making it one of the highest-rated dining options at altitude in the Alps, while the Jochdohle at around 3,150 metres ranks as Austria's highest restaurant.

The Stubai Zoo snowpark at the Gaiskarferner runs four lines in its autumn XL configuration and transitions to the Jibs & Kicks Spring Garden at Gamsgarten through to mid-April.

Spring 2026 events include the Freeride Testival on March 21-22 (marketed as Europe's largest freeride test event), and the Stubai Wild Ride giant slalom on April 17-18 - a 6-kilometre course with 920 metres of vertical and around 160 gates.

• Elevation: 1,750m - 3,210m
• Pistes: 65km plus 30.6km of marked ski routes
• Lifts: 26 installations, including the 3S Eisgratbahn
• 2025-26 season: 3 October 2025 - 17 May 2026
• Terrain split: ~39km blue, 23km red, 3km black (60/36/4%)
• Notable: Austria's largest glacier ski area, Top of Tyrol viewing platform, children under 10 ski free, 45 minutes from Innsbruck, Stubai Wild Ride GS (17-18 April)

High in the mountains south of Innsbruck lies Stubai Glacier.

Hintertux Glacier

Hintertux is the outlier of the group - it's the only glacier in Austria that operates 365 days a year, or it tires to however the weather plays a role in this. Continuous skiing has been running here since the world's first glacier chairlift opened in 1968, and the resort now offers 60 kilometres of pistes from 1,500 metres at the Hintertux valley station to 3,250 metres at the Gefrorene Wand.

The three Gletscherbus funitel gondolas form the lift spine, with Gletscherbus 3 ranked as the world's highest bicable gondola. The glacier sits at the head of the Zillertal and anchors the broader Ski- & Gletscherwelt Zillertal 3000 combined area, which covers 206 kilometres across 65 lifts - though it's worth noting there's no direct ski link to Mayrhofen or the other Zillertal sub-areas; the connection is via a free ski bus running at roughly ten-minute intervals.

The spring programme at Hintertux is the most structured of the five. Glacier Spring 2026 runs from March 21 to May 3 under the banner of "40 Days, 40 Events," bundling daily guided glacier safaris, gourmet ski-hopping across six mountain huts, the free Hintertux Glacier Open Air concert on March 27, and the Zillertal Välley Rälley freestyle final on April 25-26. Beyond skiing, Hintertux has two genuinely unusual attractions accessible from the mountain stations.

The Spannagelhöhle is Europe's highest show cave at 2,531 metres - a marble cave system with around 12.5 kilometres surveyed and guided tours covering 500 metres over two hours. The Natur Eis Palast is a walkable glacier crevasse 35 metres beneath the slopes, featuring ice stalactites, a glacial lake reached by boat, and extended tours offering stand-up paddling and ice climbing.

• Elevation: 1,500m - 3,250m
• Pistes: 60km (glacier); 206km combined across Zillertal 3000
• Lifts: 20 on glacier; 65 across Zillertal 3000
• 2025-26 season: 27 September 2025 - 31 July 2026 (year-round operation)
• Vertical drop: 1,750m - Zillertal's longest descent is 12km (Schwarze Pfanne)
• Notable: Austria's only year-round ski area, Glacier Spring programme (21 March - 3 May), Spannagelhöhle show cave, Natur Eis Palast, Betterpark Hintertux (one of the Alps' highest freestyle venues)

Hintertux offers high alpine skiing along with incredible beginner runs on the glacier.

Why glacier skiing works in spring

The appeal of spring glacier skiing is straightforward. Altitude keeps snow reliable when lower resorts can't hold cover, the sun is stronger without the biting cold of midwinter, and crowds thin out considerably. Together, these five resorts form a continuous ribbon of spring ski operation stretching from late March into late July - a depth of late-season coverage that no other region in Austria can match.

For Australian skiers planning a European trip, glacier resorts also extend the booking window. If your travel dates don't line up with peak season, a spring glacier trip through Tyrol can be a solid alternative without compromising on snow quality. A combined Kaunertal-Pitztal ticket and the broader Zillertal Superskipass make it possible to link multiple glaciers on a single trip without buying separate passes at each resort.