It would've been nice to check out more of the 12 Innsbruck areas; however, the entire region counts as one ski area covered under the "Ski Plus City Pass," so you only get two days there on the Indy Pass. That's why we decided to drive an hour west for our final day of the week at Hochzeiger above the Pitztal (Pitz Valley), one of Tirol’s quiet side valleys that has a string of small villages and farms while the high-altitude skiing is another 20–25 minutes farther up the road at the Pitztal Glacier.
Hochzeiger sits on the sunny side above the village of Jerzens and functions as the valley’s family-oriented ski mountain exemplified by the resort’s cartoon mascot Pitzi, who appears on signs and kids’ zones around the mountain.
Per the weather theme for our entire week, the spring thaw/refreeze cycle left things pretty bulletproof until late morning. Our first two runs were on rock-hard corduroy; however as we've noted, Austrians seem to thrive in a setting more appropriate for racers:
... so we decided to pass the next hour in a more productive manner and headed over to the cute Stalder Hut for pastries and coffee. Like most Austrian ski huts, it’s not a quick snack stop but rather a social hub with a wooden deck, a nice view, and a full menu.
At 11:15, we headed back out and spent the next few hours following the sun on increasingly smooth sugar with wide views down the green Pitztal. Most of the haze from the Sahara dust that had blown over Europe the previous three days had cleared out.
The lift-served terrain on the upper half of the mountain spreads horizontally across roughly two miles of ridgeline terrain. It’s not tall by Alps standards — about 1,500 to 1,800 vertical feet depending on which runs you connect — but the layout makes efficient use of that vertical. The sector to the upper looker's right had nice steeper terrain; however it was facing mostly north and never softened up so we didn't go over there.
And that’s it from my 2026 visit to the Alps. Conditions could've been better, but the overall experience was great and I enjoyed skiing a number of new-to-me areas that I wouldn't have even considered if not for the Indy Pass.
Hochzeiger sits on the sunny side above the village of Jerzens and functions as the valley’s family-oriented ski mountain exemplified by the resort’s cartoon mascot Pitzi, who appears on signs and kids’ zones around the mountain.
Per the weather theme for our entire week, the spring thaw/refreeze cycle left things pretty bulletproof until late morning. Our first two runs were on rock-hard corduroy; however as we've noted, Austrians seem to thrive in a setting more appropriate for racers:
... so we decided to pass the next hour in a more productive manner and headed over to the cute Stalder Hut for pastries and coffee. Like most Austrian ski huts, it’s not a quick snack stop but rather a social hub with a wooden deck, a nice view, and a full menu.
At 11:15, we headed back out and spent the next few hours following the sun on increasingly smooth sugar with wide views down the green Pitztal. Most of the haze from the Sahara dust that had blown over Europe the previous three days had cleared out.
The lift-served terrain on the upper half of the mountain spreads horizontally across roughly two miles of ridgeline terrain. It’s not tall by Alps standards — about 1,500 to 1,800 vertical feet depending on which runs you connect — but the layout makes efficient use of that vertical. The sector to the upper looker's right had nice steeper terrain; however it was facing mostly north and never softened up so we didn't go over there.
And that’s it from my 2026 visit to the Alps. Conditions could've been better, but the overall experience was great and I enjoyed skiing a number of new-to-me areas that I wouldn't have even considered if not for the Indy Pass.
