Andy Mossack visits Ischgl in summer to discover its new biking trail park and e-biking and hiking trails.
While I was biking up to Lake Kopstausee, a vast Tirolean reservoir, I got stuck pushing my gleaming new e-bike up a steep incline. It may well have been gleaming and new, but it was bloody heavy.
“Push the button!” my companion called down (she was already at the top). Button? What button! Although to be fair, when you’re desperately just trying to breathe and put one foot in front of the other up rocky shingle, searching for a lost button was not a priority.
Turns out, my new-fangled e-bike had a button setting for exactly that task. If only I had known. Why try and push a heavy bike when it can pull you up instead!
Ischgl’s celebrity status as one of Austria’s premier winter ski resorts since 1964 is stuff of legend, but like many winter resorts around the world, a busy summer season is perhaps becoming just as lucrative. Lush green meadows and flora and fauna replace ski runs, while the distant clanging of cowbells signals cows enjoying their annual pilgrimage to chomp on alpine grass and fresh mountain air.
Ischgl in summer is a quieter time no doubt. The regular party fun of apres ski replaced by a more sedate crowd, perhaps enjoying a leisurely lunch in the sun at a mountain hut after a lengthy hike or a bike ride. And speaking of bikes, the villages of Ischgl, Galtür, Kappl and See, have collaborated this summer to ensure they can offer more opportunities to maximise the fun you can have on two or even three wheels, with some exciting new activities for keen cyclists and newbies alike.
So, let’s take a look at just what awaits you at Ischgl in summer (apart from hidden E-bike push buttons of course).
The new SILVA Bike Trail Park in Galtür
This impressive new downhill bike trail park set over 17 kms and just under 2,000 metres above sea level, might not have even got off the start line if it wasn’t for the determination of CEO Martin Lorenz. Even though this is a popular winter skiing resort, there was resistance from the local farming community about disturbing the natural habitat of this protected area.
Eventually Lorenz got his permission, and the park, built around the slopes of Mount Ballunspitze, got the green light in the true sense of the word. By the end of 2025 there will be 4 tracks, but for now a single finished MTB track runs at just under 7 kilometres, twisting and looping from the Alpkogelbahn cable car station down to the valley floor station, navigating gradients between 2 and 10%. An altitude difference of some 650 metres.
Down at the valley floor, Siggi’s Camp is a practice complex of two trail tracks, a jump line and a pump track for kids and beginners to get used to the tracks and learn to jump obstacles.
Taking the cable car up along with your bike, you get to see the whole track spread out beneath you, the harpins, the chicanes and the bridges. It’s a hair-raising adrenaline ride down, and not for the faint hearted I can assure you!
Also atop Ballunspitze is a fourteen section boulder climbing course, and five climbing and hiking Via Ferrata courses with varying degrees of difficulty to accommodate all skill levels.
E-Biking Centre at Silvretta Therme
A key and very welcome part of Ischgl’s investment in e-biking in my opinion is the new E-Biking Centre. A World first, its aim is to teach people how to stay safe on e-bikes up on the mountain trails. Up until now, many visitors with little or no knowledge of e-bikes hired them and went straight out riding on the mountain only to succumb to injuries from falls.
The centre teaches cornering, balancing and braking techniques on a variety of typical surfaces and obstacles you would find on the mountain trails. It opened in June 2024, and just a few of the modules were in place when I tried it out in early August, but it was clear to me what an important facility this will be.
Hiking to the Heidelberg Hut
The Heidelberg Hut is something of a Tirolean legend in these parts, and this year celebrated 153 years of feeding and watering mountain visitors year round. Sitting at the foot of the mighty 4,000 metre Fluchthorn in the Silvretta range, with one foot in Switzerland and the other almost in Austria. (Actually, it’s 3km inside Swiss territory). You can hike or bike there or, like me, if you fancy a fun family hike, you can take an easy two hour walk from the middle cable car station.
There are some glorious views along the route and crossing the border into Switzerland is a bit of a thrill. There’s just a simple customs notice by a small stream, but even so it’s a fun moment. Heidelberg’s host Luis is a decorated chef who knows a thing or two about good hearty local food, and on this sunny Sunday afternoon, a traditional Tirolean brass band was set up on the meadow entertaining diners. A very civilized way to spend a Sunday afternoon it must be said. Good food and drink, some local tunes, and millions of years old mountains for company.
Ride the SkyFly to Ischgl
Why bother taking the cable car back down to Ischgl when you can zip line it instead? The SkyFly is a double zipline attraction that soars you over the Kitzloch gorge on a two-kilometre-long ride in three stages, ending up in the town centre. It’s an impressive ride with automated braking systems at the end of each stage so no last-minute landing jitters needed. As you soar over the gorge you feel you’re almost within touching distance of the hikers crossing over the gorge bridge.
The hardest part is climbing up the endless tower steps for the launch. After that it’s downhill all the way!
Ride 3-wheeler Medrig Carts
Ischgl’s neighbouring village See has cornered the local carting market with some thrilling mountain carting action at the top of Medrig peak. Take the Zeinisbahn cable car ascent to the mountain station, a busy complex including a panoramic restaurant and activity park for kids. The jewel in the crown though is the three-wheeler Medrig cart track winding its way down through the forest valley to the Valley station three and a half kilometres lower. The carts have no engines, just gravity and brakes to navigate your way around the hairpin bends, sliding around on the shingle. Great fun.
Relax in the Silvretta Therme Complex
Ischgl’s sensational 5 storey state of the art wellness oasis is a perfect example of how the town invests all its profits back into its tourism infrastructure. This €80m project has all the hallmarks of Austrian design quality, fully matching guest expectations and taking alpine wellness to another level.
Floor to ceiling glass offers beautiful mountain vistas, while 1,000 square metres of natural thermal water surface is redistributed into numerous swimming pools, whirlpools, a salt pool, and an impressive herbal sauna and steam complex complete with official wellness ceremonies throughout the day and night. There are swim-up pool bars (one on the rooftop terrace), two excellent restaurants (Trattoria and Grill Room) and a 320 square metre cardio and fitness area. Digital wristbands provide seamless access to lockers and whichever section of the complex you’ve paid for.
Ischgl in summer offers an outstanding alpine experience for anyone who loves the great outdoors, and at the same time, fully embrace the resort’s Tirolean hospitality. It is a match made in heaven. Just make sure you know where that pesky push button is on your e-bike before you set out!
Images (C) Ischgl Tourism and Andy Mossack.
Tell me more about Ischgl in Summer
For more information on these activities and more about the region please go to Ischgl Tourism or Austria Tourism.
Provides free or discounted access across the Paznaun valley including local cable car services in Ischgl/Samnaun, Galtür, Kappl and See. Available free if you are staying in a participating hotel.
Silvretta Therme Entry rates from €36
Getting to Ischgl
Flights are possible from major airports in the UK to Zürich or from London airports (3-4 times a week), Manchester (1 x week) and Birmingham (1 x week) to Innsbruck. In winter there are daily flights to Innsbruck.
From Innsbruck airport it is approximately 1.5 hour taxi transfer. Or you can take the train from Innsbruck to Landeck-Zams and from there a taxi.
From Zürich it is approximately. 3 hour taxi transfer. Alternatively, you can take the train from Zurich airport to Landeck-Zams and a taxi from there.
Hotels usually organize pick-ups from Innsbruck or the train station in Landeck-Zams.
Alternatively, a great transfer option is Tirol Taxi (Four Seasons Travel). They offer private or group transfers.
Recommended Restaurants
Hotel Olympia Excellent family owned and run hotel restaurant set in a quieter part of Ischgl.
Salnerhof. Excellent gourmet food from a traditional chalet style property/hotel.
Hotel Jägerhof Translates as Hunter, this is an excellent family owned hotel restaurant specialising in meat, but offers many other alternatives too. Excellent service.
Weiberhimmel Lodge Very welcoming mountain lodge on the Kopsstrasse near Galtür. Excellent beers and all the meat and vegetables are sourced directly from the family farm.
Heidelburger Hut as described above, iconic and legendary refuge hut at the base of the Fluchthorn Mountain.
Where to stay
Hotel Olympia Chalet style family run hotel with excellent views of the Tirol.
Getting to Heathrow on the Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is a premium non-stop train service between London Paddington to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 with an extra six minutes to Terminal 5 and a free transfer available to Terminal 4. With its electric trains taking 15 minutes, it provides the fastest, most reliable and sustainable way to travel to and from UK’s hub airport.
Passengers can take advantage of advanced tickets for just £10.00.
