Skiing in St. Johann

The main access to the skiing for those staying in the town itself is likely to be via the Harschbichl gondola on the edge of St Johann’s central area.

Although there area a couple of short chairlifts in the Hochfeld area, these act more as an intermediate practice area and as a means of access to the gondola base station from another part of town.

There is a mid-station on the gondola (more precisely around two-thirds of the way up) for those who only want to sample blue slopes on the way back down to the town.

But the runs from the top station to the mid-station are relatively simple red routes which are unlikely to strike much fear into the hearts of intermediate skiers.

Getting to the other parts of the St Johann ski area essentially requires using the top station although there is a long traverse around to the Penzing area from the mid-station.

Heading around to the Penzing side from the Harschbichl top station is an attractive red run with stunning views over to the Wilder Kaiser mountains and the nearby SkiWelt ski area. The red run heads down the line of the Penzing chairlift and, from the bottom of the chair, there is a blue run which leads down to Oberndorf and the base of the Bauernalm gondola. (This lift is marked Bauernalm on the lift map but also known as ‘Bauernpenzing’.)

An alternate route down to Penzing is the black run under the Bauernalm lift. Although not particularly demanding from a technical viewpoint, the run is in the afternoon sun and can get icy in places.

The route back into the Harschbichl area is either via a red run from the top of the gondola (which necessitates going down to the town) or from the top of the Penzing chairlift, from where a blue run accesses the runs above the Harschbichl mid-station and the blue route over to the base of the Jodlalm chairlift.

This chairlift is part of the area to the left of the Harschbichl looking up the mountain. Like most of St Johann’s skiing, the runs are confidence-boosting wide red and blue intermediate-level slopes.

Skiers can take a blue route all the way to the base of the Harschbichl gondola or they can cut off further left to the Eichenhof draglift area.

Although the two lifts are long T-bars the runs they serve are not without interest. The Eichenhof II draglift has an easier intermediate route on one side and, on the other, a ‘sporty’ red run with some of the steeper drops in the area (although the steep sections are very short and easily traversed).

The large car park at the base of the Eichenhof lifts is probably the best way for drivers, especially those arriving from the Salzburg direction, to access the St Johann in Tirol ski area.