Großglockner Resort Kals-Matrei

Kals-Matrei
At eye level with 60 three-thousand-meter peaks

The mountaineering village of Kals has always stood for "its" Großglockner, but since the ski areas of Matrei on the Felbertauernstraße and Kals were merged in recent years to form the "Großglockner Resort", the gentle mountain idyll has come to an end in some places. Although the village of Kals in particular has retained some of its gentleness despite the mighty Gradonna Mountain Resort. Overall, the easternmost winter sports center in Tyrol has not quite reached the end of its development potential. However, ultra-modern lifts and newly developed pistes are increasingly rarely contrasting with older sections. So after several years of focusing on perfect snowmaking, an important lift was recently built: the 6-seater "Glocknerblick" chairlift - pleasingly with a weather protection hood and heated seats (!) in its exposed location - transports 2,400 people per hour 1.4 kilometers up on the Kals side. What takes just four minutes to get up is one of the best runs in the area down. Also new is a ski trail from the Adler Lounge down to Matrei. Families are also being considered: Goldried near Matrei is a typical family mountain with a children's area, magic carpet and warming room in the summit area, as well as five places to stop for refreshments along a single slope.

An important new extra offers the new short connection at the Goldried run, where you can now go left directly to the valley station. At the top, dedicated ski fans turn to the Cimaross (2,621 m), as do boarders, who can use a particularly high alpine snow park in the connection to Goldried. The way down to the valley is on several varied slopes, although the recommended No. 12 is only a real "black" in the middle section. At the highest point, the "Adlerlounge" is a must-see. Even if you don't want to enjoy the high alpine lifestyle in absolute tranquility with an overnight stay or food and drink, you should at least use the toilet facilities. Yes, even a quiet place like this can be worth seeing! The runs towards Kals are the best that the over 41 kilometers of slopes have to offer. Directly below the lift there is a real super-G slope. Seen from above, on the left there is a descent over the Kals-Matreier-Törl, on the opposite side there are a number of routes and variants, but there is space everywhere anyway. The black piste is number 13, but for most ski enthusiasts it is more of a suggestion to find your own variant on the other side.

repeat trips from the middle station (Kals II) are a must. The valley runs to Kals have long been in good shape, although they are rather flat further on. The contrast is particularly noticeable when you turn right from the Cimaross relatively soon onto ski route 15, which later leads directly into the valley run. To illustrate this area, it should be mentioned that the toboggan run that starts from the middle station runs parallel here. In Kals itself there are some nice lifts for beginners. And above all the independent Blauspitze. Its "exclusive carving piste" tempts you to bolt. The fact that the summit, which is accessible in two stages, is a "steep" affair is demonstrated by the lack of a "blue" here.