Hippach Ski Resort Review 2026

Scored honestly

Hippach suits families and intermediates who care more about value and calm than about stepping straight onto snow. The Mayrhofen ski area it shares is a genuinely good one, with the gentle Ahorn plateau for learning, the busier Penken for cruising, and the famously steep Harakiri run for show offs to look at. Staying in Hippach rather than Mayrhofen can knock a useful slice off the accommodation bill for a week, money that goes a long way for a family.

Beginners and young children do fine here because the Ahorn, Mayrhofen's dedicated learning mountain, is a wide, gentle, sunny plateau served by a big cable car, ideal for first turns. Intermediates get the most out of the area's wide blues and reds. Experts get one celebrated steep pitch and some off piste, but will want more variety over a week. Non skiers should know that Hippach is quiet: the valley has walking trails, swimming pools and a train to Innsbruck for a day out, but the buzz is all down the road in Mayrhofen.

Terrain by ability

The skiing is the Mayrhofen and Hippach area, around 140 km reached from the valley by gondola and a short ski bus. The two main mountains have distinct characters: the Ahorn is a sunny, gentle plateau that is one of the best beginner and family learning areas in the Zillertal, while the Penken and Horberg across the valley offer the bulk of the intermediate cruising on wide, well groomed pistes.

Beginners and children should head for the Ahorn, where the gradient is forgiving and the big cable car keeps the walking to a minimum. Intermediates will spend most of their week on the Penken, lapping long blues and reds. Experts get the steep Harakiri, one of the sharpest pitched groomed runs in Austria, plus some off piste after a fresh fall, but the steep terrain is limited. Because the village is low, the reliable snow is on the higher lifts, so this is an area you ride up to rather than a snowy resort at your door.

Photos via Google. Contributed by Josef The Wall Bna, Vihra Rogacheva and Zillertal Arena.

Charm, convenience and evenings

Hippach is a tidy, traditional Zillertal village strung along the valley floor, with a church, a few guesthouses and hotels, a couple of restaurants and a relaxed, residential feel. It is not a resort in the marketed sense, which is precisely why it is cheaper and calmer than Mayrhofen next door. For a family that wants an easy, unflashy base, that quiet is a feature rather than a flaw.

Convenience is decent but not ski in ski out: you reach the slopes by a short drive, ski bus or the local gondola, so plan the morning around that hop. Evenings are gentle, a good local restaurant or two and an early night, with the bars and apres ski all a short bus ride away in Mayrhofen for anyone who wants them. The Zillertalbahn railway runs through the valley, which makes getting around without a car straightforward.

Chalets and where to base

Lodging in Hippach is mostly family run guesthouses, bed and breakfast pensions and self catering apartments, which is a big part of why a week here costs less than in Mayrhofen. For the easiest mornings, choose a place near the gondola or on the ski bus route so the trip to the lifts is short and predictable with children in tow. Half board pensions here are friendly and good value, taking the evening meal off your hands.

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What a pass costs

A Mayrhofen and Hippach area day pass runs around $65, and the wider Zillertal Superskipass, which opens the whole valley's separate areas, costs a little more per day. For most families the local Mayrhofen pass is plenty, since around 140 km is more than enough terrain for a week. Family and child rates make a noticeable difference here, and buying online before you arrive is usually cheaper than the resort window.

Schools and kit

Mayrhofen's ski schools run reliable English lessons and use the gentle Ahorn plateau as their main learning ground, which is exactly what a first family trip needs. Because Hippach families share these schools, your children get the same well organized lessons for a base that costs less. Ski hire is available in Hippach and Mayrhofen, and reserving online before you travel is usually cheaper and saves queueing on the first morning when you are already wrangling boots and toddlers.

The journey

Innsbruck is the nearest airport at roughly a 50 minute transfer, one of the shortest in the Alps, with Salzburg about 1 hour 45 minutes and Munich around 2 hours. The drive up the Zillertal is easy and the valley floor roads are well maintained, so a booked transfer or confident driver reaches Hippach without drama. The Zillertalbahn train down the valley, connecting to the main line at Jenbach, makes a car free family trip genuinely practical.

Timing your trip

Hippach's local skiing runs from mid December to mid April on the higher Penken and Horberg lifts, but because the village is low the timing matters. January and February give the coldest, most reliable mountain snow and suit families over the school holidays, though the Zillertal can be busy in peak weeks. March brings longer, sunnier days that children enjoy, our pick for a relaxed family week, with the caveat that the lower runs soften in the afternoon. Early December and late April are the riskier windows for cover at village level.

Hippach FAQs

If Hippach is not quite right

These three sit in the same corner of the Tyrol, each trading off ski area size, village buzz and price for a family.

See the full Zillertal region guide or the wider Austria guide for more options, or compare picks in our best family ski resorts in Austria guide.

Where should you stay and when should you go?

For month by month snow, crowds and prices in Austria, see skiing in Austria in December, January, February, March, April.