Wildkogel Arena: Family vacation at the test winner
Winter
75 kilometers of dream slopes, 85 percent of which are blue or red: this is how the Wildkogel Arena in the Hohe Tauern National Park vacation region attracts families, beginners and returning skiers to the slopes. The remaining 15 percent are “black” challenges for experts.
It doesn’t matter whether you choose the Wildkogelbahn in Neukirchen or the Smaragdbahn in Bramberg, which is celebrating its 10th birthday this year: Once you are “on top” at 2,100 meters, you have the entire Tauern panorama as a broadside in front of your eyes. Among them are some of the highest three-thousand-meter peaks in Austria including the Großvenediger (3,657 m) as the highest in Salzburg and the Großglockner (3,798 m). In addition, 75 kilometers of dream slopes spread out from the summit with challenges for all classes. Frühmesser, Pfeifferköpfl, Braunkogel, Gensbichl and Ganzeralm are available.
Skiing pleasure to the east
Highly popular is the nimble 10-person g ondola “Ganzer X-press”, which opens up some of the most beautiful blue and red runs. You might even get on the Skimovie track, which turns every ski day into a personal race. Those who want to can have themselves filmed by a special video camera and then analyze their performance in the Racer’s Corner of the panoramic mountain restaurant. The fact that 80 percent of the ski runs in the Wildkogel Arena are technically snow-covered ensures immaculate slopes. Nothing stands in the way of skiing fun from December until after Easter. And also “distance-wise” the skiing fun can be extended: in total to 395 kilometers of slopes through the large skiing areas Zillertal Arena and the Kitzbühel Alps, which are located within a radius of five to 20 kilometers. If you want to know more for a successful family ski winter, get all the latest information from the ski area with the free BB Wildkogel app.
Good marks from the experts
As part of the Skiareatest, the Wildkogel Arena is listed as “Adventure & Family Ski Area of the Year”. On skiresort.de the Wildkogel Arena is represented as a top ski resort with 16 awards. Extra class, according to the testers, is the “world’s leading ski resort up to 80 km of slopes” in the category “beginners”. Five out of five stars were awarded in the categories lifts & cable cars, snow safety, piste preparation, mountain restaurants and huts.
Kogel-Mogel and Kogel-Mia bring the little ones big time
In the well-equipped children’s areas with ski carousel, magic carpet and Kogel-Mogel Express, the mascots Kogel-Mogel and Kogel-Mia make it easier to get started with winter fun. For the very little ones from the age of three, there are separate dwarf courses. The older ones hone their cornering technique in the children’s areas at the mountain stations. Those who are already confident on the boards sweep down the slopes with the ski instructors. Then it’s off to the new Family Fun Arena with Funslope and Familypark. Stamina is required on the steep curves, exciting snow waves and in the giant snow snail. Budding freestylers and boarders get the flow for bigger challenges on the beginner’s slopes. The first slides are rehearsed on wide boxes. If the batteries are empty, it quickly goes to the newly remodeled children’s restaurant of the Aussichts-Bergrestaurant and the batteries are immediately recharged. Here, kids from the age of two can also spend half or full days crafting, painting and having fun together to their heart’s content under professional supervision (subject to a fee).
The world’s longest illuminated toboggan run
14 kilometers and 1,300 vertical meters: The longest floodlit toboggan run in the world leads down into the valley from the Wildkogel – and a real challenge on runners. From the Smaragdbahn mountain station (2,100 m), the route winds down into the valley to Bramberg. Big and small tobogganers really let it rip on the track, which is illuminated daily until 10 pm. The Wildkogel and Smaragdbahn cable cars take you to the top; the latter even runs until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. At regular tobogganing workshops, there are useful tips on how to make the best and safest turns. At the Skiarea Winter Awards, the Wildkogel Arena Neukirchen and Bramberg received the international toboggan run seal of approval.
The WildkogelAktiv program has it all
On the Wildkogel, winter hikers have also been on the move since the pre-winter. The new, panoramic trail runs between the mountain stations of the Smaragdbahn, the Wildkogelbahn and the Gensbichlalmbahn – with a view of the sea of peaks of the Hohe Tauern. As part of the Wildkogel Active program, snowshoe hikers set off with hiking guide Christoph far away from groomed trails: the Sulzbach valleys with the Großvenediger at the end of the valley and the Dürnbach valley on the “Sonnseit’n” are the destination. Big and small Wildkogel guests follow the footsteps of the hiking guide and set off on a torchlight hike, sometimes followed by a snow tube race. In the evenings, curling games are also on the agenda as part of the WildkogelAktiv program. The National Park winter program also has some highlights to offer: Together with a national park ranger, the high alpine rear Stubachtal valley and the Wasenmoos at Pass Thurn are targeted, with or without snowshoes. Extremely impressive and popular are also the game feedings in the Habachtal.
