East Tirol's largest Kals ski resort lies at the foot of the mighty Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain, and offers fabulous views of its eastern flank.
Breathtaking is almost an understatement when it comes to describing the views enjoyed by skiers and snowboarders at the Großglockner ski resort in Kals-Matrei. No fewer than 60 summits over 3,000m can be seen from the resort's slopes, including the "King of the Hohe Tauern", the Großglockner, which at 3,798m is the highest mountain in Austria.
Thanks to its high altitude the Grossglockner ski resort in Kals-Matrei is blessed with plenty of snow throughout the season. And for those few times when there is a shortage of the white stuff, there is a comprehensive network of snowmaking machines covering most of the pistes.
Kals -Matrei - Grossglockner ski resort
Through the merging of the ski areas Matrei and Kals, the new Grossglockner Resort, with over 40 km of piste and 14 lifts, forms the largest ski area in East Tyrol.
Meanwhile, the Matrei sector is where intermediates will find the biggest area of cruisey, confidence-boosting pistes, known as Goldried. This is the obvious place for holidaymakers to warm up their ski legs on their first two or three days of the trip, before getting stuck into some of tougher runs at the top of Kals side of the ski area.
Beginners meanwhile get two main areas of nursery slopes: down at the bottom of the valley on the Kals side, and up in the Goldried section on the Matrei side.
The steeper pistes tend to be on the Kals side: which is where you’ll find the two best blacks in the resort: numbers 12 and 13 on the map. Neither is particularly long, but both including thrillingly steep fall-line sections: the kind where you can look down over edge of your outside ski, and see the mountain dropping away in an unbroken line beneath you.
Expert skiers should try the black run down into the valley from the Blauspitze mountain and explore the area around the Cimarosslift.
There are also ski schools offering children's courses and lessons, as well as a large children's area with a heated recreation room and an easy-to-use conveyor belt lift at the bottom of the Goldried I cable car.
Kals village
Although Kals am Grossglockner a small ski resort, it offers all the facilities required including a supermarket, restaurants, bars and a bank.
The Local Museum Kals provides an interesting insight into the articles of daily use and traditional costumes of bygone times. Other destinations, such as the Daba Gorge and the restored Storeyed Mills along the Rio Kalser and the Rio Dorfer brooks, invite you to a pleasant walk.