The largest skiable glacier in Austria, with around a one hour transfer from Innsbruck, the Stubai Gletcscher is a dependable choice for those looking for snowsure riding. At the base of the Stubaital, or the Stubai Valley, the Stubai Glacier is one of the many great options on the Innsbruck Ski+City pass.
And, with it’s close proximity to Innsbruck Airport, this is also a solid choice for a short ski trip or long weekend.
But how does the Stubai Glacier stack up? We headed over to check it out – so lets get stuck into our Stubai Glacier ski resort review.
Stubai Glacier: Overview
- Skiable area: 65 kms
- Highest point: 3,210 m
- Resort altitude: 1,695 m
- Longest skiable vertical: 1,500 metres – 10kms!
- Closest airport: Innsbruck (INN) approx 45 mins
It’s just 45 minutes from central Innsbruck to Stubai, meaning you can take a day trip by car, or book a taxi.
The Stubai Glacier is reachable by free public transport from Innsbruck bus station, with the 590 bus taking you to the base station via the nearby towns of Neustift and Fulpmes. This will take over 1 hour 15 mins from Innsbruck, 45 minutes from Fulpmes, or about 20 minutes from Neustift.
On arrival, you’ll find there are actually two base gondola stations Eisgrat and Gamsgarten. The difference is that they offer gondolas which drop you in different sides of the glacier – Esigrat drops you slightly higher up the mountain, while Gamsgarten is more central for ski schools and the like, hence a little busier.
There is no actual ski village at the base of the ski resort itself, so most people stay in the sprawling village of Neustift, which is the closest option. Or, Fulpmes, which is right at the foot of the smaller but excellent Schlick 2000 ski resort. It’s a 40 minute bus ride from Fulpmes, or around 20 minutes from central Neustift.
The bus runs every 20 minutes during peak times and gets very busy – especially if you’re getting on at Neustift. Many hotels also lay on private transfers for their guests, so check if thats an option for you.
Check out our review of Fulpmes.
Stubai Glacier lift passes
You can buy your lift ticket at the base gondola station. Both Gamsgarten and Eisgrat stations have ticket offices and machines where you can buy or top-up your lift passes.
We paid €64 for one day on the glacier, but multiple days are discounted. If you ski for 4 or more days, you’ll be able to ride other resorts in the valley including Schlick 2000 which is smaller but offers an excellent alternative in the event of poor visibility or wind.
What is Stubai like for skiing and snowboarding?
With it’s high altitude (most of the ski area is between 2000 and 3000 m), north facing aspect and the glacier, Stubai offers a snowsure playground that any snow fan will be thrilled to experience. Much of the terrain is beginner and intermediate friendly, with wide open pistes and quite forgiving blue trails being the order of the day on the glacier proper.
BUT… There is also plenty for the more experience skier or snowboarder too, with a whole sections designated for off-piste riding. During our visit we had missed the powder dumps, but still got to hit a bit of the off-piste on the mountain itself. Although it was pretty tracked out, there were still fluffy lines to be found and plenty of trails away from the crowds.
Oh, yes, the crowds. We were here in the middle of March 2025, outside of any holiday or peak season. But one thing we did find was that the central areas around Gamsgarten especially were very busy, with a lot of congestion to get back on the lifts. This wasn’t necessarily a detractor during our stay, and far from the worst congestion I’ve experienced, with most queues taking 5 minutes or so. This was less noticeable on the Fernau lift and the Eisgrat gondola to the top – but I could well imagine that power heavy weekends or school holidays could be a challenge.
The infrastructure is also very Austrian – basically modern, fast and generally excellent. The main gondolas from the base station are huge, especially the Eisgrat gondolas in their natty orange colourways. Gamgarten’s gondola is still pretty plush with a nice modern 8 person setting. Most of the rest of the mountain is served by fast 6 or 8 person chairlifts, although there is one fun old school 2 person chairlift at Pfaffengrat.
Looking at the map, while 65 kms on paper might not seem like tons of trail, the truth is that you can find as many tracks as you want. I think a week here would still be a ton of fun, although I’d definitely want to explore some other resorts in the valley.
Snowboarding on the Stubai Glacier
On the piste map, snowboarders might notice that there are a lot of t-bars and drag lifts dotted around. We actually didn’t use any of these and we covered a lot of ground, if not the whole glacier. There are ample chairlifts and gondolas to get you where you need to go.
The glacier itself is a snowboarders dream. The runs themselves are fun, fast and wide, with tons of opportunities for side hits or popping into a powder field here and there. We didn’t find a single flat section and by and large the crowd on the glacier was very snowboarder friendly – hey this is Austria after all!
We also loved the top to bottom run at the end of the day which was a lot of fun – nice and fast and with a quite exciting cat track winding down to base. With ten kms from top to bottom, its a great way to enjoy your last run. We actually missed the opportunity to ride off-piste to the base, but still, it was a lot of fun…
Check out the full Stubai top to bottom snowboard run.
There is also a nice snow park too, with two sections – one mostly focused on big air and another section taking you through a fun obstacle course with boxes and the like.
If you’re a board rider, you’ll love Stubai.
Food, drink and shopping
One thing to be said for Stubai is that there is no shortage of food and drink. There are bars and restaurants at all of the main gondola stations (top and bottoms) and a hub at Esigrat with an Intersport if you need to pick up some emergency equipment or get something fixed. We didn’t eat at any of the restaurants but had a few drinks, which were all reasonably priced.
For eating on the mountain, there seemed to be a good mix of options from fine dining to hot dogs and fries.
The main apres ski sports seemed to be at Gamsgarten, where the Umbrella Bar was pumping out house beats from just after lunch time. And there was another apres spot which seemed to be the place to go, at the Esigrat bottom station.
Austria is obviously big on the apres ski, so schnapps for lunch is pretty much de rigeur (whatever that is in German).
Top of Tyrol
One of the must-do things when visiting the Stubai Glacier is to head to the platform at the Top of the Tyrol. At over 3,200 metres this offers stunning views across both the entire glacier ski resort, and a panoramic view across the whole Tyrol. As the name suggests….
Even on a grey day the views are amazing and put everything into perspective.
Where to buy or hire equipment in Stubai Glacier?
There are pretty much ski hire places all along the valley, and on the glacier itself too. There is an Intersport at the gondola base station, at the Eisgrat station on the glacier itself and there are options to hire equipment everywhere from Neustift to Mieders, Fulpmes and Innsbruck itself (of course).
In short, you’re not going to be short of places to hire your skis or snowboard.
Of course, the best prices for hire boards or skis are online. We like SkiSet for the best choice of places with quality equipment, and if you’re shopping around try out NetSki too.
If you need to buy gear then you’ll find ski shops in all of the main towns down the valley. A word of warning though… Austria still closes early and only does half days (or doesn’t open atall) on Sundays! Most ski gear shops will be open for pickup and returns, but do check those opening times…
Where to stay in Stubai?
The closest hotels and lodgings are in Neustift, which is also the liveliest town in the Stubaital, but there are options up and down the valley. We stayed at the Hotel Eschenhof in Fulmpes, which was a lovely hotel, with nice big rooms and close proximity to Fulpmes and the bus stop.
Take a look at our Fulpmes review (spoiler alert: we rated it and loved the local resort too…)
Ski holiday package providers such as Sunweb and Snowtrex often offer great deals including lift pass, so check them out.
Is it worth skiing in Stubai Glacier?
With some great terrain, including that thrilling top to bottom, we did love our Stubai Glacier snowboarding session. I feel like on a bluebird powder day we might have loved it even more. But, with that said, there is a lot to get into here and you do get your value for money with the lift pass.
If I had to pick out the negatives, it would probably be that the bus trip to the base station has the potential to be long. We also found the resort quite busy, even though it was not peak season, so perhaps in the depths of February it could be an issue.
Overall, we rated Stubai Glacier:
- Ski area: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Price/affordability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Apres ski: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Total: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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