Hintertux Glacier: summer skiing in Austria

The ski season is over but still want to get some runs in the snow? Don’t worry, skiing in summer is possible, and the Hintertux Glacier in Austria is the perfect destination for mountain lovers every day of the year!

How to reach Hintertux

If you’re flying, Hintertux’s closest big city is Innsbruck, where there’s a small airport that is hardly served by international flights. A better option would be Munich, in Germany. Its international airport is about 3 hours away from Hintertux. Either way, you’ll need to rent a car to reach Zillertal, the valley that ends right at Hintertux.

Wherever you’re driving from, at Wiesing, about 30 kilometres East from Innsbruck, you’ll find the exit for the main road that gently winds up the Zillertal. This 50 kilometres long road has stunning landscapes, with the mountains growing taller and the valley becoming narrower and more beautiful.

If you plan to continue on Austrian motorways, remember to buy the Vignette, which allows you to travel in the country for 10 days, 2 months, or a whole year, depending on your needs. Prices range from around 10 to 100 euros and it’s also possible to buy it online before you travel, besides in many petrol stations in the country or just before every border. You have to display the Vignette on the top left of the windscreen.

Skiing in summer on the Hintertux Glacier in Austria

The Hintertux Glacier is unique because it seems to have no intention of succumbing to global warming. It has a thickness reaching 120 meters, and the snow accumulates faster than it melts. This ensures the glacier remains open for skiing 365 days a year. Don’t believe it? Check out the webcams and enjoy the view!

The prices of skipasses in Hintertux and single tickets for the cable cars are decidedly Austrian standards, meaning expensive. But the ski area is reasonably extensive, the facilities are high quality, and above all, it’s always open, summer included! And that comes at a cost.

The slopes and ski lifts of Hintertux

In winter, you can ski between 1500 and 3200 metres, with 60 kilometres of slopes for all levels, a high-altitude snow park, and around twenty ski lifts including chairlifts, cable cars, and T-bars.

The Hintertux Glacier spans from 2600 to 3200 metres, and this is where you can also ski in summer. The three main cable cars, the Gletscherbus, respectively reach 2100, 2600, and 3200 metres.

To ski in summer, you need to get all the way to the top. The trip, from the ticket office to the arrival of the third Gletscherbus, takes a good half hour. Here, there’s not much choice: run number 5 descends to 3000 metres, reaching a sunny “valley” where 2 pairs of T-bars are always in operation. The two Gefrorene Wand lifts ascend one slope, and the two Olperer lifts ascend the other. They operate in pairs to allow maintenance without blocking traffic, which I found particularly thoughtful!
The T-bars serve five or six blue and red slopes. They are wide and long enough to be truly enjoyable. From here or from the top of the Gefrorene Wand, a couple more slopes descend to 2600 metres. The last section is slightly narrower and the snow, with higher temperatures, starts to give way to the heat. Halfway down, there’s a chairlift, but I always found it closed and its slope inaccessible. Until May, there are usually a few more lifts open, but by June, these are the only options available. Of course, off-piste skiing is highly discouraged in summer.

On the official glacier website, there’s a beautiful interactive map showing the lifts open in real-time.

The summer climate on the glacier

To sum up, it’s hot! Even at 3200 metres, in summer, the temperature at Hintertux hovers around zero degrees, which is quite warm for skiing. Depending on the snow quality and weather conditions, the opening hours of the lifts can change, possibly reducing to only mornings as temperatures rise.
When the sky is clear, the sun is wonderful and very hot. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

In 2023, I was fortunate to experience a brief snowfall in early June, which left wonderful fresh snow at the highest part of the glacier. Visibility was greatly reduced, and it was raining at the 2600-metre station. However, the temperature didn’t drop much.

Ski facilities and infrastructure at Hintertux

I’ll leave you with some practical information to help you organize a great day on the snow and little details that can brighten your day.

Ski equipment rental in summer

While in winter there’s a shop on every corner of every village in Zillertal, the choice for renting ski equipment in Hintertux is more limited in summer.

One option is a shop right at the base of the first cable car, on the opposite side of the ticket office. They have a fairly wide selection and also sell clothing. To avoid any queues (which are absolutely non-existent in summer), you register on small computers providing useful rental information such as weight, height, and experience level. Then you go talk to the staff.

Another possibility is a shop at the arrival of the second cable car, which not only rents but also offers equipment servicing, being located practically on the ski slopes.

Storage of ski equipment at altitude

Skiing has never been an “easy” sport in terms of getting around outside the ski slopes, and summer, with the heat, makes it even more inconvenient. At the 2600-metre cable car station, you can rent lockers to leave shoes, backpacks, or even ski equipment. Ask at the Sport Nenner Gletschershop store at the 2600m station about the various options and prices. Rental is daily (from morning to evening, not until the following morning!) or for several consecutive days. Prices are high, but the advantage is obviously not having to endure uncomfortable walks in ski boots.

Parking and buses

Hintertux is the last village in the valley and is about a kilometre from the first ski lift. Next to the cable car arrival station, you’ll find the ticket office, some shops, bars, restaurants, and a couple of hotels. But above all, there’s a large parking area that remains almost completely empty in summer. For winter, I suppose it was a good idea to build another underground space because I imagine it fills up quickly during peak season!

For those who don’t want to drive after a long day of sports, the alternative is bus 4104, which runs back and forth through the valley all day and usually comes about every half hour. It stops in all villages and ends its routes at the terminus, 200 metres from the ticket office. The best thing about this bus is that it’s free! Tourists staying near Hintertux can request the Tux Finkenberg Ticket from their accommodation, which entitles them to some discounts (on ski and bicycle rentals, pools, taxis…) but also functions as a bus ticket. Just show it to the driver and you’re good to go.

I also saw a Ski Shuttle pass by, always empty. I didn’t quite understand how it works. If you find out, let me know in the comments!

Mountain restaurants

At the intermediate stations at 2100 and 2600 metres, two huge restaurants are open all year round. They have both indoor and outdoor seating and offer a fairly rich buffet-style restaurant service. In winter, there are mountain huts and other scattered restaurants in the area, but in summer, these are all closed.

Five-star bathrooms

I grew up skiing on slopes where mountain huts had “turkish toilets” instead of regular ones. They were dirty, smelly, muddy, unisex, and basically to be avoided until you absolutely couldn’t hold it anymore!
It’s not like that at Hintertux. The bathrooms at the 2600-metre facility rival the best airports in the world. They are huge, clean, with mirrors covering entire walls, sliding doors, and toilet seats that rotate and self-clean with disinfectant before you sit on them. And not only do men and women have separate bathrooms, but children also have one dedicated to them! In this one, everything is smaller and lower, child-friendly! Awesome.

Other ski resorts in Zillertal, open in winter only

In the same valley as Hintertux, there are other smaller ski resorts. These are only open in winter because they do not exceed 2500 metres in altitude, and skiing in summer at low altitudes is impossible due to lack of snow. I’ll leave you the link to the ski map of Zillertal to give you an idea of the number of slopes and ski lifts in the area!

Not just skiing: summer activities in the Hintertux valley

For those who don’t enjoy skiing or don’t want to spend every single day on the snow, there are plenty of activities to fill a summer holiday in Tyrol. Especially if you’re a family with children, I suggest visiting the well-stocked Tux Tourist Office, which serves the entire Zillertal valley. They have all the maps, leaflets, and most importantly, information you could think of.

Undoubtedly, the most popular activity in Zillertal is hiking. There are numerous trails for all tastes and levels. Almost all paths pass through at least one lush green meadow full of cows, always unattended, staring at you curiously. There are forests, small lakes, and, of course, the rugged high mountains.

In addition to hiking paths, the area is full of mountain bike trails. Many shops in all the villages of the valley rent bikes throughout the summer. At the tourist office, you’ll find specific maps for breathtaking bike tours.

Not to be missed, right at the top of the glacier and accessible by the three cable cars even for non-skiers, are the ice caves of Nature Eis Palace. The entrance ticket is quite expensive, but the visit is truly fascinating. The caves were only recently discovered and have been open to the public for a few years. Since this part of the glacier doesn’t move, the ice here is ancient, and researchers still have much to study.

Remember that you’re at 3200 metres and surrounded by ice: bring heavy clothing and suitable shoes for walking on snow.

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