Visited Ankogel & the village of Mallnitz for the second time in late January 2024. After a stellar beginning, winter had become 'difficult'. I'd been in Bad Gastein and decided to head across to the southern side of the Alps for a few days (by train) to make the most of a fresh fall of alpine snow and some fine follow-up weather. (My previous visit to the region was plagued by strong winds & no visibility and I was keen to avoid a similar outcome this time.)
Ankogel is one of those resorts that on the right day feels like your own private ski hill. In combination with the village of Mallnitz, it is the total opposite of Bad Gastein (located on the opposite side of the range). Compared to Gastein, Ankogel is like a blast from the past, and with attributes that we adore. It has no gimmicks, low crowds, and is unhurried, quiet, and understated. There is just enough ski terrain to please everyone, even if it is only for a few days. Even better from our perspective is that aside from busy school holiday periods, you will not have to worry too much about fighting to get fresh tracks on a powder day.
The pistes are straight forward, and although not vast in scope, are perfect for those of intermediate ability or better. The highlight for me was the valley trail from the mid-station to the base. Enjoyed it so much I did three times in a row, and faster each time! A long-proposed terrain expansion would incrementally improve the ski area but seems more and more like a pipedream. The main problem with the pistes are that there are not enough of them!
Off-piste at Ankogel has numerous short but sweet opportunities directly below the top lift station and then with some imagination on the far left & right sides of the main alpine bowl. The most interesting is to the far skiers’ right, best accessed from the top station via a long traverse, or a shorter approach from the top of the T-bar and leading to the cable car mid-station. By pushing further across into the sidecountry, the Luggetörl freeride route can be skied all the way down to the valley trail. Away from the resort, the classic descent into the Gasteinertal is possible after a skin up to the flanks of Kleine Ankogel. Return via the train and local bus system, makes for a great outing, and reason enough to visit the region. Anyone interested in backcountry ski touring will find plenty of joy using the Ankogel lifts to ease the uphill access.
The lift system feels dated. The two multi-cabin cable cars (Ankogelbahn I & II) are around 30 years old but seem from a much older period. The lower cable car (Ankogelbahn I) has two cabins with a 58-person total capacity that can seem busy early in the day but is quite empty otherwise. The upper cable car has 3 cabins with a combined capacity of 81-persons. A shortish T-bar in the middle of the alpine sector makes up the remainder of the lift system on the mountain. The T-bar serves two worthy purposes. One - it allows one to avoid uploading on the cable car after every run. Two – it provides a different angle of approach to some off-piste & sidecountry terrain to skiers’ right of the pistes. The Ankogel Express chairlift project, if it ever gets off the ground, will open additional terrain in the main bowl that is currently only utilised by powder seekers prepared to skin or boot-pack back to the pistes. We will return if/when this chairlift is ever constructed.
At the base, two surface tows (J-bars) and a conveyer provide a more than adequate novice learn-to-ski area with about 100m skiable vertical. Its sheltered location is handy on a bad weather day, but very cold in mid-winter.
The mountain has a couple of fantastic eateries, and both double as alpine accommodation as well. Another mediocre restaurant at the base area feeds to beginners, and there is yurt bar as well (if you are into that kind of thing). Up high, set at 2,565m altitude in a splendid ridgetop location is Hannoverhaus. A slick, modern interior belies its traditional exterior. The deck is beautiful on a sunny day and the perfect spot to drop into some of the resort’s off-piste terrain. Food & service are excellent. Down further, just below the mid-station, and at the start of the valley trail, Alpengasthof Hochalmblick is a more rustic eating affair, but still great quality. Both locations would be great for a single overnight stay on the mountain.
Worth noting too is that the trail map’s depiction of the base area is not at all accurate. The cable car valley terminal and resort buildings are located opposite the road across a river and accessed via a small footbridge. The location of the surface tows at the base are completely different, but it matters not, it is well aligned with the base facilities. The valley trail from the mountain ends on the opposite side of the road and hence requires a walk back across it and the river to get to the lift again. The local ski bus stops on the road at the footbridge.
Despite being a tough period of the ski season with regard to mild temperatures & limited fresh snow, the upper part of the ski area was well covered. Given its predominantly sunny, south-aspect, snow quality was fine too. Lower down, a lot of effort was clearly put into keeping the valley trail in good shape, but as it descends down to about 1,270m altitude, I imagine it would get quite ‘rough’ but the end of the day. Thankfully the lack of skier traffic assists in maintaining overall snow quality.
The village of Mallnitz is easily reached by the train, and then local bus, taxi or a one kilometre walk into the centre. Unlike my first visit, where I had a rental car and utilised the car-train to exit the region, this time I came as a pedestrian from Gastein on the train. Feeling like a bit of exercise I walked to my hotel, the Kärntnerhof, in under 15-minutes from the station (with my skis & bag). The village is just a little too far from the ski resort base to comfortably walk to it, but the local free ski bus operates regularly throughout the season, with plenty of bus stops throughout.
Hotel Kärntnerhof is super. With few other guests during my stay, it felt like you own personal hotel. Few other guests, good breakfast, big rooms with kitchenettes and super cheap. The most highly rated lodgings are at Hotel Bergkristall, which sits just off the main road along the river in the centre of the village.
For après & evening drinks, Pension Edlinger is the only place to be. The friendly Dutch crew will look after you. Not sure what it’s like to stay here, but it appears a likely place for international travellers looking for affordable rooms with great hospitality.
Pension Eggerhof is great for dining out, with a broad menu of all things Austrian, for an affordable price and speedy service. Michis Pizza toward the edge of town in the Ankogel direction is excellent. Don’t wait to be served though. Despite first impressions, there is no table service here. The food at Mallnitz Apartments food is OK but it feels like one is eating in the owners lounge room with all the family members hanging out in the restaurant, creating an incredibly uncomfortable vibe. I would avoid it in future.
I have wanted to love Ankogel, but a number of things were against me reaching that highly desirable outcome. Warm temperatures meant fresh snow up high and drizzle in the valleys was the first. The lack of natural snow in Mallnitz village & surrounds is frankly a depressing sight in January. The Gasteinertal had far more snow down low and still felt like winter whereas around Mallnitz it was mild and felt like April. This problem was right across the Alps ...... So instead of love it, I merely just like it alot.
If seeking a quiet, unpretentious and reasonably affordable Austrian ski location that has a long skiable vertical, Ankogel (& Mallnitz) could be the place. However it would behove you to time the visit for when the snow is deep, and the weather is calm. The ski area will become a far more attractive proposition if the project to put in a chairlift and open up some more alpine terrain is ever realised, but who knows if it will ever happen. Just go and check it out (including taking the bus to Moelltal Glacier as well), then take the train to Gastein for a wonderful exercise in ‘compare & contrast’!
See our thoughts about the resort’s pros & cons on our Ankogel overview page.
There are three words that best describe our visit to Ankogel - need to return. Mother nature conspired to seriously restrict our access to the best bits of the ski resort. Seriously strong winds near zero visibility & driving snow meant skiing was limited to a few piste trail & the beginner area. The sad thing was that the base area was basking in sunshine whilst all this deliciously foul weather was smashing the upper mountain. Over three days the storm raged closing nearby Moelltal Glacier completely. To their credit, Ankogel still operated its main lifts, but skiing the limited amount of piste trails in no visibility at over €47/day (zero crowds aside) has only so much appeal! The valley trail is a beauty though - as good as most in Austria.
It was late March & the base area had only a veneer of snow on it but was packed with school groups learning to ski on its sheltered, gentle slopes & novice friendly tows. Despite the masses on the beginner tows, the base area had the feeling of a ski resort in shut down. The restaurant staff were positively dripping a lack of enthusiasm, which translated into their food. The ski rental shop didn't even open on two days. Too bad if you didn't have gear - back to Mallnitz for you! Thankfully the Guesthouse Alpenrose was keen for business. Great food & accommodations right at the valley lift station.
The upper mountain had a deep snow cover. The terrain is predominantly over 2000m so is as snow sure as any ski resort in Europe. We didn't see much of it due to the weather, so it’s hard to make comment other than to observe that the ski resort is limited in poor weather conditions.
The nearby town of Mallnitz is a quiet outpost & provides the lion-share of the accommodation options. Like the resort, it had the feeling of already being in 'out of season' shut down. We were domiciled in a brilliant farm stay above Flattach, so only visited Mallnitz during the day. It struck us as being firmly entrenched in the 1990s. Best evidenced by the Kodak & Agfa film signage above one shop paying homage to days gone by. Don't expect a St Anton après ski party any time soon in Mallnitz - & maybe that's a good thing.
Mallnitz does have the benefit of a railway station. The train is not only used to transport passengers, but also cars through the mountain to Böckstein in the Gasteinertal (saving a 3 to 4 hr drive). Trains are also utilised to return home after epic backcountry runs on the north-aspect freeride routes off Ankogel. Would love to do it one day! Powderhounds Europe loves a good train line & this is one of them. Utilised it to take the car through to Gastein after running out of patience with the weather. Left our accommodation at dawn, drove to the station, loaded up, travelled through the mountain, unloaded & drove to the Stubnerkogel gondola car park in Bad Gastein, arriving 30min prior to first lifts. Such a smooth no fuss, non-nanny state process.
On paper Ankogel appears like a Powderhounds paradise (like our beloved Krippenstein), so we will return to test the hypothesis in friendlier weather conditions. Until then, we recommend combining a visit to Ankogel only if heading to the brilliant & diverse Gastein.