Faces north-west
Hindelang Oberjoch
22.2 km (OSM) 1,128–1,556 m
15% beginner 80% inter. 4% expert
- Vertical
- 429 m
- Pistes (mapped)
- 15
- Lifts
- 5
← Ski Ski area · Germany
Zugspitze
Germany's Highest Peak · A Glacier and Several Small Areas on One Card · A Cross-Border Pass, Not a Linked Domain
A shared lift pass, the Top Snow Card, that ties together the Zugspitze glacier and a scatter of separate ski areas either side of the German-Austrian border, from Garmisch-Partenkirchen over to Ehrwald and Lermoos.
- 213 km Piste marketed
- 72 Lifts
- 727 m Base
- 2,627 m Summit
- 1,900 m Vertical
- 80 Pistes mapped
🎟 One pass: Top Snow Card covers every lift across the area.
Terrain & aspect
42% beginner 45% inter. 9% expert
- Novice
- Easy
- Intermediate
- Advanced
- Freeride
- Flat / ungraded
Slopes mostly face NE.
Aspect derived from run bearings · OpenSkiStats / © OpenStreetMap (ODbL).
The area
The Zugspitze grouping is a pass, not a single mountain. The Top Snow Card covers around 213 km of piste across nine separate ski areas straddling the border below Germany's highest peak — most importantly the Zugspitze glacier itself at around 2,700 m, the Garmisch-Classic area on the German side, and the resorts of the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena on the Austrian side, chiefly Ehrwald and Lermoos. These areas do not link up on snow. You reach them by road and rail: the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn cog railway climbs from Garmisch and Grainau up to the glacier, a separate cable car lifts you to the same glacier from Ehrwald, and each valley area has its own base. What holds it together is the card and the mountain they all sit under, rather than a continuous run network. Base and access matter more here than in a lift-linked domain, because moving between the areas means a train, a bus or a car.
The glacier and the peak. The Zugspitze gives you high, snow-sure skiing on a glacier that is open when lower resorts are bare, reached by one of the more memorable mountain railways in the Alps, all under the highest summit in Germany. Around it, Garmisch-Classic carries real skiing history — it hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics and still runs the Kandahar World Cup downhill, one of the steepest on the circuit. And because the pass reaches into Austria, a week here can mix a day on the glacier with easier, sunnier days on the Tyrolean side without changing your ski pass.
It skis as several distinct days rather than one big playground. The glacier is open, high and treeless, a wide bowl of gentle-to-moderate pistes where the appeal is altitude and the view more than steepness. Garmisch-Classic below it is the opposite in feel — a proper mountain of linked pitches off the Hausberg, Kreuzeck and Alpspitze, with the serious Kandahar racecourse cutting through it. The Austrian areas around Ehrwald and Lermoos are smaller and sunnier, more family cruising than adrenaline. You pick your mountain for the day and travel to it, so the character of a trip depends heavily on where you base and how willing you are to move around.
Best known for
Explore the villages
The pass is the same everywhere — the village you base in shapes the holiday more than the valley you ski. 4 base villages, one lift pass.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
700 mTown life, rail access and skiing history
A real Bavarian market town at around 700 m rather than a purpose-built resort, twinned from two old villages and full of its own life. It gives access to the Garmisch-Classic area and, via the cog railway, up to the Zugspitze glacier, and it carries genuine ski history — the 1936 Winter Olympics and the Kandahar World Cup downhill. The low base means it leans on snowmaking, but the town more than makes up for it.
Explore the village →Grainau
750 mA quiet base nearest the glacier railway
A small, quiet German village at around 750 m right at the foot of the Zugspitze, closest to the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn cog railway up to the glacier. Calm and scenic, it suits people who want the mountain on the doorstep and a peaceful base over nightlife, accepting that the serious skiing is a rail ride up.
Explore the village →Ehrwald
1,000 mThe Tyrolean base closest to the glacier
The Tyrolean village at around 1,000 m nearest the Austrian cable car onto the Zugspitze glacier, and home to the Ehrwalder Alm and Wetterstein slopes. Calm and family-leaning, it is the natural base if you want the Austrian side of the massif and easy access to high glacier snow.
Explore the village →Lermoos
1,000 mSunny, easy family skiing with the big view
A sunny Tyrolean village at around 1,000 m sitting across the valley from the Zugspitze massif, with the Grubigstein slopes rising above it and the peak full in view. Its skiing is easy, sunny and well-suited to families and cruisers, and the panorama across to Germany's highest mountain is the daily reward.
Explore the village →- Garmisch-Partenkirchen A real Bavarian town with the most life, best rail links and access to Garmisch-Classic plus the glacier railway.
- Grainau The quiet German village at the foot of the mountain, closest to the cog railway up to the glacier.
- Ehrwald The Tyrolean base nearest the Austrian cable car to the glacier, calm and family-friendly.
- Lermoos Sunny, easy family skiing on the Grubigstein with the Zugspitze massif full in view across the valley.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen suits anyone who wants a town with life of its own, good rail links and access to both Garmisch-Classic and the glacier railway, at the cost of a low base and travel to the Austrian areas. Grainau is the quiet German option right at the foot of the mountain, closest to the cog railway. On the Tyrolean side, Ehrwald puts you nearest the glacier's Austrian cable car, and Lermoos gives sunny, family-friendly slopes with the Zugspitze full in view. Wherever you stay, plan for a car, train or ski bus to reach the areas you are not based beneath.
Skiing, by level
Beginners
Reasonable, and spread out. The glacier has gentle, high pistes that make a good snow-sure place to progress, and the Austrian areas around Ehrwald and Lermoos have easy, sunny slopes suited to families finding their feet. The catch is that the beginner terrain is scattered across separate areas rather than gathered in one nursery zone.
Intermediates
The steady core of most of the areas. Garmisch-Classic gives the most varied intermediate skiing, with linked reds and blues across its three peaks, and the Tyrolean side adds easy cruising with big views across to the Zugspitze massif. None of it is a vast intermediate circuit, though — you cover ground by moving between areas.
Advanced
Concentrated rather than plentiful. The standout is the Kandahar in Garmisch, a genuine World Cup downhill that is punishingly steep in its top sections and open to the public outside race days. Beyond it the marked steeper terrain is limited, so keen skiers tend to build days around Garmisch and the glacier.
Experts & off-piste
Not the reason to come, but there is off-piste to be had around the Zugspitze and off the Garmisch peaks when conditions allow. It is high-mountain, avalanche-prone terrain best approached with a guide, avalanche kit and local knowledge. Committed freeriders will find more single-domain choice at bigger Austrian areas.
Up the cog railway to the glacier
The Bayerische Zugspitzbahn climbs from the valley near Garmisch and Grainau and then bores through a long tunnel inside the mountain to surface on the Zugspitzplatt glacier at around 2,700 m. It is a slow, deliberate way up and part of the day out in itself. Ski the high bowl, ride the cable car to the very summit for the view over four countries, and come back down by train.
Take on the Kandahar in Garmisch
Garmisch-Classic is home to the Kandahar, one of the steepest downhill courses on the World Cup circuit. Outside race weekends you can ski it yourself, and the top pitches are a serious test that few resort pistes match for steepness. It is a rare chance to ski a course you might otherwise only watch on television, on the mountain that staged the 1936 Winter Olympics.
Cross the border on one card
The Top Snow Card is the thread that makes this a region rather than a set of separate resorts. Spend one day on the German glacier and Garmisch, then cross to the Tyrolean side for sunnier, gentler skiing above Ehrwald and Lermoos, all on the same pass. It rewards a bit of planning around trains, buses and roads, since the areas are joined by the card and not by pistes.
Snow & how the mountain faces
Split. The glacier is the insurance policy — high enough to hold snow from early season into spring, and often skiing when the valley areas cannot. Everything below it is a different story. Garmisch-Classic and the Tyrolean areas start low, some bases sitting around 700 to 1,000 m, so they lean hard on snowmaking and can suffer in a warm or thin winter, especially early and late. Aspect helps in places and hurts in others. The honest read is that the glacier keeps the pass worthwhile in a poor snow year, while the lower mountains are where you feel a bad one first.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
On the map
The area and its base villages on the live map — pan and zoom to explore. The official piste maps are one tap away beneath it.
Legend
Run difficulty
- Novice
- Easy
- Intermediate
- Advanced / Expert
- Freeride / Extreme
- Unknown
Run types
- Downhill — groomed
- Downhill — ungroomed
- Downhill — gladed
- Nordic (groomed)
- Ski tour
- ☾Lit (night)
- △Not patrolled
- →One-way
- ❄Snowmaking
Lifts
- Operating
- Operating (private)
- Non-operating
- Lift station
Slope-gradient grading
Downhill / ski tour
- Flat<3°
- Easy3–14°
- Intermediate14–22°
- Advanced / Expert22–45°
- Freeride / Extreme>45°
Nordic
- Easy<6°
- Intermediate6–9°
- Advanced>9°
Aspect (sun exposure)
- N — least sun
- E — morning
- S — most sun
- W — afternoon
Legend after OpenSkiMap
How to get there
By air
Munich (MUC) is the natural gateway for the German side, roughly ~approx 1.5 hours by road or rail down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Innsbruck (INN) is closer to the Tyrolean areas around Ehrwald and Lermoos, ~approx 1 hour away, and worth considering if you are basing on the Austrian side.
By rail
Garmisch-Partenkirchen has its own mainline station with regular regional trains down from Munich, which makes a car-free trip genuinely workable on the German side. From the town and from Grainau, the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn cog railway carries you up towards the glacier.
Transfer up
This is the part to plan. The areas do not connect on snow, so moving between the glacier, Garmisch-Classic and the Tyrolean resorts means the cog railway, cable cars, ski buses, local trains or a car. A car adds flexibility for crossing the border; without one, base near the skiing you most want and lean on the trains and buses.
Best time to go
The glacier stretches the season at both ends, opening earlier and closing later than the valley areas, so late autumn and spring are when it earns its place. For the fullest coverage across all the linked areas, aim for the deep midwinter months of January and February, when the lower German and Tyrolean slopes are most reliable. March brings longer, sunnier days that suit the Austrian side well, with the glacier still holding good snow up top. German and Austrian school holidays are the busiest weeks.
- Season opensGlacier from autumn, snow-dependent; valley areas from mid-December
- Season closesValley areas mid-to-late April; glacier later into spring
- Fullest coverageJanuary to February, all areas open
- Glacier seasonAutumn through into spring, beyond the valley areas
- Peak weeksChristmas / New Year and German and Austrian school holidays
Good to know
Can you ski between all the areas on the Top Snow Card?
No — this is the thing to understand before you book. The Top Snow Card covers around nine separate ski areas either side of the border, but they are not lift-linked. You move between the glacier, Garmisch-Classic and the Tyrolean resorts by cog railway, cable car, ski bus, train or car, not on skis. Base near the skiing you most want and treat the rest as day trips.
Is the Zugspitze glacier worth it on its own?
For the experience and the snow, yes. You ride the cog railway through the mountain to a high glacier bowl under Germany's highest peak, with reliable snow when lower areas are thin, and can go to the very summit for the view. The skiing itself is fairly gentle and not extensive, so it works best as a memorable part of a wider trip rather than a full week on its own.
How reliable is the snow lower down?
Less so than the glacier. Garmisch-Classic and the Tyrolean areas start low, with some bases around 700 to 1,000 m, so they depend on snowmaking and can struggle early, late or in a warm winter. The glacier is what keeps the pass worthwhile in a poor snow year; if you want dependable valley skiing, come in the midwinter core of January and February.
Nearby resorts & areas
Other resorts within reach if you're combining trips or comparing.
~approx 44 km away
~approx 51 km away
Faces east
Brauneck
23.5 km (OSM) 715–1,594 m
18% beginner 63% inter. 20% expert
- Vertical
- 879 m
- Pistes (mapped)
- 26
- Lifts
- 18
~approx 52 km away
Faces east
Serfaus Fiss Ladis
169.3 km (OSM) 1,222–2,817 m
21% beginner 53% inter. 12% expert
- Vertical
- 1594 m
- Pistes (mapped)
- 126
- Lifts
- 48
~approx 52 km away 
Faces east
Faces east Sölden
103 km (OSM) 1,346–3,245 m
53% beginner 32% inter. 14% expert
- Vertical
- 1899 m
- Pistes (mapped)
- 62
- Lifts
- 38
~approx 58 km away
Faces east
Skigebiet Fellhorn/Kanzelwand
31.7 km (OSM) 918–1,965 m
43% beginner 49% inter. 7% expert
- Vertical
- 1048 m
- Pistes (mapped)
- 26
- Lifts
- 13
~approx 65 km away
Faces east
Skigebiet Ifen
21 km (OSM) 1,257–2,019 m
49% beginner 30% inter. 21% expert
- Vertical
- 762 m
- Pistes (mapped)
- 16
- Lifts
- 4
Getting to Zugspitze
Book an airport transfer up to the resort, or pick up a car at Munich (MUC) — search and compare without leaving the page.
Ski data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via OpenSkiMap & Skimap.org. Basemap © OpenFreeMap / OpenMapTiles. · Weather data © Open-Meteo.com (CC-BY 4.0), ERA5 reanalysis. Village grouping & editorial: mynext.holiday. Transfers via Kiwitaxi; car hire via Travelpayouts.