# Ski instructors in Obertauern

> A pass village at 1,740 m ringed by pistes, ski-in ski-out hotels, one of Austria's longest non-glacier seasons and a walk-on part in a Beatles film.

- Region: Salzburg
- Country: [Austria](https://alpinepal.com/en/ski-instructors/austria)
- Time zone: Europe/Vienna
- Currency: EUR
- Coordinates: 47.25176, 13.54748
- Official website: https://www.ski-obertauern.at/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60727349

Page: https://alpinepal.com/en/resorts/obertauern
Last reviewed: 13 September 2026

## About Obertauern

Obertauern is a string of hotels along a mountain pass at 1,740 m, the Radstädter Tauern, and the skiing surrounds it completely: lifts go up from both sides of the road and the pistes come back down to the hotel doors. There is no old village, no church square and no pretence of one — it is a purpose-built resort in the Austrian manner, which means comfortable, unfussy and entirely organised around the mountain.

The altitude gives it one of the longest seasons in Austria without a glacier, from late November to early May, and a snow record that lower Salzburg resorts envy. Around 100 km of piste rise to about 2,300 m in a ring of peaks, and the Tauernrunde is a circuit that goes all the way round the village in either direction — a satisfying day for a decent intermediate. Most of it is open, treeless and moderately steep, with a few genuinely hard pitches on the northern side.

The village's other claim to fame is that the Beatles filmed the snow scenes of Help! here in 1965, and it has never quite got over it. Obertauern runs its own lift pass rather than joining Ski amadé, which is worth knowing if you were planning to combine it with the areas down the valley.

## Where lessons start

The nursery slopes are in the village itself, between the hotels and beside the road, and thanks to the altitude they are reliably snowy all season — a rarer thing than it sounds in Salzburg. From there the easy blues on the south side of the pass are close and gentle. Obertauern is a genuinely good beginner and family resort that also keeps a strong intermediate busy for a week; the compact layout means an instructor can meet you at your hotel door and a child cannot get very lost.

## Getting there

Salzburg airport is about an hour and a half by road — motorway to Radstadt, then twenty kilometres of climbing pass road. Munich is around two and a half hours. The nearest railway station is Radstadt, with buses up to the resort in about half an hour. The pass road is kept open all winter but it is a real mountain road, and in a storm the last stretch is slow and chains may be required.

## Instructors at Obertauern

_No instructors have joined here yet._

## Qualifications required in Austria

Teaching for payment in Austria requires the Skilehrer qualification, issued by Landesskilehrerverband.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Obertauern on the Ski amadé pass?

No. Obertauern sells its own pass and is not part of Ski amadé, even though Radstadt, Zauchensee and Flachau just down the valley are. In practice that matters little — a week here is a week on Obertauern's own hundred kilometres, which is enough for most — but if you wanted to roam the wider region, base yourself lower down instead.