Why Ellmau?
Ellmau is part of the SkiWelt circuit, Austria’s largest, and brings together an attractive town with plenty of facilities, but which is quiter than others like Soll. Most of the ski guidebooks give the resort an excellent rating for beginners, and for intermediates too. In addition SkiWelt was rated the world’s best ski area by Ski Resort Service International for 2009; who are we to disagree?

Info
FirstChoice, Crystal, Inghams, and Neilson all organise packages to Ellmau. The resort is equidistant from Innsbruck or Salzburg airports; either transfer will take around an hour. See www.ellmau.at

The slopes
The main nursery area is down by the village, complete with a magic carpet. There are then six short lifts to help beginners find their feet without crowding each other. There’s also another at the top of the funicular. Once you are happy to move on from the nursery slopes, beginners are recommended to head for the plateau of Astberg to progress to further easy blues.
Almost half the slopes in the resort are classified ‘blue’ (there is no green category in Austria) and most are short and relatively easy. There are no breakdowns for the Ellmau area, but there are at least 35 blues marked on the piste map above Going, Ellmau and Scheffau and even more if you link up to Soll. Big investment in new lifts makes getting around quick and easy.
One of the problems Ellmau has had historically is a patchy snow record, but investment in artificial snow-making, especially on the nursery slopes, has helped a lot.

Facilities and staying
Guides mention the high quality of the ski schools, especially for children (‘Top’ ski school is singled out by WTSS), and an effort is made to put students in single-language groups. The Hotel Baer is the luxury option, well praised for its wellness centre and good atmosphere, while the Landhof apartments also feature a shared pool and sauna. Cheaper options praised by guides include Hochfilzer hotel right in the middle of town. Off the skis, the toboggan run is recommended and there’s plenty of other activities like sleigh rides, snowtubing, and a great swimming pool.

NOTE: This report is a compendium of info designed to assist making a choice about whether Ellmau is right for you, taken from reliable sources. We have not skied Ellmau.