
Not all the resorts are connected. Flachau thus makes a unity with only two resorts: Wagrein and Alpendorf. The three resorts together make up about 100 km of runs (Flachau - 55 km, Wagrain - 31 km, Alpendorf - 19 km). However, not all three resorts are connected by ski runs; a (free) ski bus passes through the village of Wagrain every 15 minutes from the foot of the Flying Mozart Gondola.
Although Flachau is located rather low (the resort itself spans from 750 - 1950 m above sea level) and there are many short runs serving as links, some of the runs leading from the top of the resort are very long, such as , for example, already mentioned Flying Mozart (4.3 km). The runs are mostly covered by snowmaking system; 85 % of them are equipped with snow guns. Unfortunately the snow guns are of somewhat older date, which results in low quality artificial snow at this otherwise excellent resort; despite natural snow, the runs can be quite poorly prepared, with ice surfaces covered in grainy artificial snow and with lumps of ice created by snow guns. Also, the snow guns are operating during the day and directed at the runs, and skiers, which is definitely not a pleasant experience. To make things even worse, there was a gun directed right at the gondola building, and one that was snowing up the cars on the parking lot!?
The ski runs are excellently marked, and the ski maps are also great, which makes it very hard to get lost on the resort. Ski lift infrastructure includes mostly gondolas and chairlifts, which vary from modern and fast ones to somewhat older ones that are nowadays rarely seen on the resorts. If your plan is to ski all the three resorts in one day, you might get unnerved by the fact that you will spend most of the time on the ski lifts. It is thus maybe better to opt for a variant of skiing a part of the resort each day. The best option is maybe to look for accommodation in Wagrein, from where you will easily access both parts of the resort. Also, it is less crowdy above Wagrein (towards Alpendorf), and skiing there gets much more pleasant. The resort is mostly oriented towards east-west, so during sunny days the runs are sunbathed throughout the day, except for the rare ones oriented towards north, which can get shadowy. There are almost no black runs, except for the secluded one which is not so easily found; the run No. 24 was categorized black due to its extreme steepness. Parking lots in Flachau and Wagrein are spacious so parking places are not a problem, but it means that it may take you a while to walk to the lifts from your car. If you are into night skiing, this is a resort for you; just be sure to be at the main station of the Achter jet gondola in Flachau when the night comes.
The Achter Jet is unique by many things; except for many stores, and ski services, there are also a couple of restaurants, lively apres-ski bars and internet cafes. If you need some of these services, such as ski rent or a ski school, it is best to opt for the parking lot besides Achtrer.
One day ski pass for Flachau, including also Alpendorf, Wagrain, Kleinarl, Zauchensee and Radstadt-Altenmarkt is EUR 39, which is one of the highest prices in the region. For passes valid longer than day and a half, you can get a hands-free ski pass, for a deposit of EUR 3. Six day ski pass, valid for the whole Ski Amade, is EUR 189.
The staff in Flachau's tourist offices are very pleasant and fluent in English, which is not the case with the pensions staff, who are rather impolite and disinterested, spoiled by numerous guests. The prices in restaurants vary across the resort, depending on the location and altitude; the closer the restaurant is to Flachau, the more expensive it gets. The price list of one of the restaurants in Alpendorf is available in photo gallery. For the sake of mentioning it, goulash is EUR 4.50, spaghetti bolognese are EUR 6.50, and Vienna stake is 9.60, which corresponds to average prices at Austrian ski resorts. There are a couple of ski rent and ski service shops in every village, but they can also be found on the slopes.
The greatest drawback of this resort is at the same time its greatest asset - its not being far from the highway and quick getaway, which can sometimes result in crowds, since Flachau is extremely close to Germany and it is quickly accessible from not only large cities but also from airports. However, despite great number of skiers, ski lifts are never crowdy, and good and long ski runs make this resort definitely worth visiting
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