Austria is the birthplace of downhill skiing and is therefore very famous for it. However, many visitors snowboard too, and lots of them happily do both on the same trip (like me).
In this article we show our top 5 ski resort picks for snowboarding and we further elaborate on what makes a resort good for snowboarding.
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Best Snowboarding Resorts in Austria (Top 5)
St. Anton
Modern gondolas and high-speed chairs link St. Anton swiftly into Lech/Zürs. The STANTON Park adds fun, progressive features between red laps. High-alpine terrain and cold aspects keep mid-winter snow dependable. St Anton and the Arlberg region is known for off piste snowboarding. The Arlberg is reachable from Innsbruck, Zurich and Munich.
Find out more about traveling to the St. Anton or traveling to Lech.
Mayrhofen
Modern lifts from town drop you onto Penken’s quick-lap terrain fast. PenkenPark is top notch and offers multiple lines. Reliable grooming and strong snowmaking keep surfaces consistent through thaws. Wide, steady-pitch red pistes between hubs are perfect for intermediate snowboarders.
Mayrhofen is easily reachable from Innsbruck and Munich. Find out more about traveling to Mayrhofen.
Ischgl
One of Austria’s most modern lift systems—gondolas and (often heated) chairlifts everywhere. The Idalp Snowpark sits right off the hub for easy lap-after-lap sessions.
High altitude and shadier aspects hold snow quality well into spring. Long, well-marked red links let you roam valleys without awkward flats.
Ischgl is reachable from Innsbruck, Munich and Zurich. Find out more about traveling to Ischgl.
Stubai Glacier
Glacier gondolas and char lifts span sectors. The Stubai Zoo has a long season with lines for all levels. The high-alpine altitude ensures snowy conditions from autumn to spring. Wide red slopes deliver good snowboarding conditions. The Stubai Glacier is easily accessible from Innsbruck.
Find out more about how to get to the Stubai Glacier. You can also stay in Innsbruck and take a day trip to go snowboarding.
Flachau
It is the only ski resort in Salzburg with modern gondolas and chairlifts, which make short, repeatable laps around Flachau easy. The Absolut Park adds world-class features that are easily accessible in the connected Snow Space ski area. The wide, well-groomed blue and red runs are ideal.
There are good transport links from Salzburg and Munich.
Take our interactive quiz to find your perfect ski resort based on your preferences and skiing ability.
What Makes a Resort Good for Snowboarding?
The ski lifts are mainly gondolas some chair lifts and preferably fewer draglift – especially long T-Bar draglifts. As a snowboarder its my advide to take as little long T-bar drag lifts – like the ski lift in Solden Tiefenbach Glacier Area – which is longer than 2km!! – your thighs will thank me later.
It’s also ideal for snowboarders to have linked terrain with wide slopes rather than long, narrow, flat blue traverses (also called catwalks). Even the best snowboarders sometimes have to unbuckle their bindings and walk because they were too slow, which is very annoying.
Furthermore, well maintained parks with a variety of lines and a mix of aspects/altitudes allow you to chase the best snow.
As with any sport, learning to snowboard is a progression. Don’t tackle too steep a slope too soon; focus on balance, edge control, and how to stop safely on gentle terrain. The resort recommendations are the same as in our beginners skiing guide. The journey of both skiing and snowboarding usually starts on a beginner-friendly hill with the help of an instructor.
Intermediate snowboarders can make clean, controlled turns on blue runs and enjoys riding most red ones in decent conditions. Enjoys some fun park action, already hates T-bar lifts and often tries to avoid blue narrow traversers and the icy black pistes in the afternoon. An intermediate snowboarder will be happy with any of our five picks! An intermediate snowboard already knows how to “apres snowboard” and can still make it down the last run.
Expert snowboarders can ride all marked terrain no matter the condition. He also enjoys getting into powder off piste, between trees and stones while controlling speed and line and is comfortable making big jumps in fun parks. All of the mentioned ski resorts are perfectly suited for an expert snowboarder. Often expert snowboarders are also good skiers in both cases they would enjoy our recommended ski resorts for expert skiers.
