Mountain Layout — Skiing

Here is a larger, more detailed map.

There is not much exciting to say about the skiing, except that the visuals and natural beauty are spectacular. The Seefeld skiing areas are on two separate mountains that are connected by local ski buses.

The Gschwandtkopf is the first area and where most of the beginners start. It only has about 1,000 feet of vertical. It has a quad chair taking skiers and riders to the top from the valley station, a single chair lift rising from Reith, and then after that there are only drag lifts. If you are a thrill-seeking skier or rider, a day spent here will feel like eternity. If you are a beginner or intermediate this is the place to learn.

On the other side of town is the Rosshütte/Härmelekopf area with a vertical drop of more than 2,500 feet. The old Rosshütte lift rolls skiers up the first 1,600 feet then one cable car glides to the peak of the Seefelder Joch. Long, snowmaking-covered, cruising trails open up before you and drop the full vertical of the sector. A second cable car leaves from the top of the Rosshütte rail and spans a valley reaching to the ridge just below the Härmelekopf. Most skiers wind their way along the ridge back to the base station; however intrepid experts and advanced skiers climb the last 150 feet of vertical to the top of Härmelekopf and drop down the backcountry flanks of the mountain.

The regional lift ticket includes all the lifts in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, together with the Zugspitze (see our Garmisch chapter). It also covers lifts in Mittenwald where an ancient cable car takes skiers to the tip top of the Karwendelspitz where Germany’s only free-riding descent starts. The descent drops more than 1,400 feet of unprepared (but avalanche controlled) vertical.

Mountain rating
For beginners, this may be one of the best places in Europe to learn to ski. The instruc-tors speak excellent English. Their sense of humor is contagious. Their smiles warm. And the terrain is perfect to take skiers and boarders from the first awkward snowplow turns of an initiate to the confident parallel turns of an intermediate.

Intermediates have the perfect place to start to make parallel turns. This is the place to learn to set your weight on those shaped skis and make them zip you around your turns. Most skiers would probably do better to work and practice technique on terrain such as Seefeld’s rather than resorting to survival skiing down vertical that is beyond their ability.

Experts—real experts-—as always, can find skiing to keep them busy. If you are into cruising or if you are planning on keeping your knees in one piece this is a great resort where you can let them rip. However, there will not be wild descents here at this place. The best is above the Härmelekopf cable car.

You might consider a trip to the nearby Zugspitze in Germany. It’s included in the Happy Ski Card.