Scheffau

One of nine SkiWelt villages

Scheffau is one of the nine villages that make up the SkiWelt, which bills itself as Austria’s largest interconnected ski area. Its partners in the network are Brixen im Thale, Ellmau, Going, Hopfgarten, Itter, Kelchsau, Soll and Westendorf, and a single lift pass covers all of them. Scheffau keeps the character of a traditional Tyrolean village rather than a resort town, and it tends to appeal to people who want the SkiWelt’s mileage without basing themselves in one of the busier villages.

The skiing

The numbers are the headline: 284 km of pistes and 90 lifts across the linked area, with 77 mountain huts scattered around it. Skiing runs from a base of about 745 m to a high point of 1,957 m, which gives a vertical of roughly 1,200 m but a top height that is modest by Alpine standards. The SkiWelt’s appeal is breadth rather than steepness. With close to 300 km of linked piste, the game here is touring from village to village and covering ground, and confident intermediates will get the most out of it. Beginners and families are well served too, because the sheer size of the area means there is always somewhere gentle to ski.

The modest top height is the one thing to plan around. Below 2,000 m, conditions on the lower runs back to the villages depend on the season and the weather, so the middle of the December to April season is the safest bet for reliable snow all the way down. On the plus side, the lift network is modern and extensive: 90 lifts for 284 km is good uplift capacity, and 77 huts mean you are never far from a lunch stop.

Village and setting

Scheffau itself is small and traditional, with the scenic views of the surrounding mountains that are part of the SkiWelt’s attraction. Because the area is interconnected, staying here does not mean being cut off from the rest of the network. It simply means returning each evening to a quieter village rather than a resort centre, which for many visitors is precisely the point. The 77 huts across the area also mean that a day out from Scheffau can be planned around lunch as much as around lifts, which is very much the SkiWelt way of doing things.

Practical notes

Innsbruck airport is roughly 68 km away as the crow flies. The season runs from December to April. The SkiWelt’s official website carries lift and pass information for all nine villages.