Mayrhofen

Mayrhofen is the best-known holiday resort in the rear Zillertal, with the mountains Penken and Ahorn. The Harakiri piste, with a gradient of up to 78 percent, is regarded as the steepest groomed run in Austria. In summer the village is a base for tours into the Zillertal Alps Nature Park and to the Schlegeis reservoir.

Highlights

• Local mountains Penken and Ahorn
• Harakiri, Austria's steepest piste
• Starting point Zillertal Alps Nature Park
• Schlegeis reservoir in summer

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

Mayrhofen lies at the head of the broad Zillertal and has always been the starting point for the four rear grounds, those wild side valleys that lead deep into the glaciated world of the Zillertal Alps. The valley is famous for its musical tradition, for from the Zillertal came the wandering singers and national singer societies who in the 19th century carried the Christmas carol “Silent Night” out into the world, and to this day the region cultivates a living folk music heritage.

At the head of the Zemmgrund stands the venerable Berliner Hütte, one of the oldest and most magnificent mountain huts in Austria, built in 1879 by the Berlin section of the Alpine Club, with an artfully carved staircase and a dining hall lit by chandeliers, more reminiscent of a mountain hotel than of a simple shelter and long since under monument protection. Above the alpine pastures around Mayrhofen rise the ice-armoured three-thousand-metre peaks of the Zillertal main chain, whose glaciers feed the rushing streams, and on the Hintertux glacier year-round skiing is possible. A special feature is the Harakiri, one of the steepest prepared pistes in Austria, which has earned the place a reputation among daring skiers. Thus Mayrhofen combines the cheerfulness of Tyrolean music culture with the gravity of the high-alpine mountain world at the end of the valley.