Sölden
Ötztal, TyrolSee it on the map
About Sölden
Sölden is where the ski season officially begins: the Alpine World Cup opens on the Rettenbach glacier every October, and the resort's whole identity is built around altitude. From a village at 1,370 m the lifts reach three summits above 3,000 m — Gaislachkogl, Tiefenbachkogl and Schwarze Schneid, marketed as the BIG 3 — and the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers, joined by a ski tunnel, keep the upper mountain skiable from autumn into May.
The main winter skiing is on two mountains above the village. Giggijoch is the wide, sunny, family side; Gaislachkogl is steeper and longer, with a modern gondola to the summit and the glass-walled restaurant that starred in the Bond film *Spectre* — there is now a permanent 007 exhibition up there. A gondola links the Gaislachkogl side to the glaciers, so on a good day you can ski from 3,300 m back down to the village in one long descent.
It is a busy, commercial place with a lot of hotels, a lot of Germans and Dutch and a loud après-ski strip, and the pistes below the mid stations get crowded. What it does better than almost anywhere in Austria is guarantee snow, which is why it fills up in December and April when lower resorts are struggling.
Last reviewed 13 September 2026
Best suited to
- Intermediates
- Advanced skiers
- Off-piste and freeride
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Where lessons start
Beginners are best served on Giggijoch, where the terrain above the gondola top station is broad and gentle and the sun stays late. There is a small practice area down in the village, but the valley floor is a shady corridor and most instructors will take a first lesson up the mountain. Sölden is really a resort for intermediates and above who value long verticals and certain snow; the glacier pistes are surprisingly easy, which makes an early- or late-season week here a good option for a nervous intermediate who wants full-width, empty runs.
Resort areas
- Giggijoch
- Gaislachkogl
- Rettenbach glacier
Getting there
Innsbruck airport is about an hour and a quarter by road, Munich around three hours. The nearest railway station is Ötztal Bahnhof on the main Innsbruck–Arlberg line, from where buses take roughly 45 minutes up the valley. The Ötztal road is a long, single-route dead end serving several resorts, and on Saturdays in high season the queue starts at the motorway exit.
Qualifications required in Austria
Teaching skiing or snowboarding for payment in Austria is a regulated profession: an instructor must hold the Skilehrer qualification. Instructors listed as certified on Alpine Pal have either sent theirs to us for review or are vouched for by the ski school that invited them.
Find instructors in AustriaSölden: common questions
Can you ski in Sölden in October and November?
Yes, on the glaciers, which usually open in late September or early October. Bear in mind that the glacier area is a separate, high sector reached by a long road or gondola from the village, that the pistes there are limited until the lower mountain opens in late November, and that national ski teams training for the World Cup will have parts of the Rettenbach closed off. Autumn weeks here are great for getting your legs back before Christmas, less so for a first ever week.
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