Always one step ahead: how Sölden sets new standards in the Alps
Every season I return to Sölden, I am hugely impressed by how this Tyrolean resort keeps pushing the boundaries of innovation and looks after its guests. Having spent dozens of days on its pistes, I watch with fascination how the “Heartbeat of the Alps” uniquely combines raw Alpine beauty with urban flair and first-class entertainment. It is an excellent place for a ski holiday and a superb sporting base for any enthusiast. What is more, the resort offers not only skiing but also the largest number of sports shops in all of Austria and outstanding events such as the famous Electric Mountain Festival, the Hannibal show and the FIS World Cup season opener.
The resort at a glance: 146 km of pistes, two glaciers and a 100% snow guarantee
From a skier's point of view, the numbers describing Sölden are hugely impressive. The ski area covers 429 hectares at an impressive altitude of 1,350 to 3,340 m. That gives a vertical drop of almost two thousand metres and a remarkable amount of space for skiing. In total there are 146 km (or precisely 145.7 km) of superbly groomed pistes to satisfy skiers of every ability level. The piste statistics are as follows: 76.4 km (52%) easy pistes, ideal for warming up and leisurely skiing, 40.1 km (28%) intermediate pistes and 29.2 km (20%) demanding black runs for experts.
Deep snow fans also have 8.4 km of marked ski routes. This whole extensive network is served by 31 modern, high-capacity lifts.
One undoubted asset of Sölden is that it has not one but two glaciers: Rettenbach and Tiefenbach. Thanks to them and an advanced snowmaking system, the resort offers a 100% snow guarantee and an exceptionally long winter season. The first skiers can click into their bindings here in early autumn (in September or at the start of October), and excellent conditions last until the beginning of May.
The ideal resort: the spectacular BIG 3 and top-level comfort
What has drawn me to this place for years are the famous BIG 3 platforms, opened to skiers in 2003. The chance to reach three impressive three-thousanders with direct, comfortable lift access never fails to impress me and my friends. On every longer trip I try to take on the BIG 3 Rally, a fantastic mountain tour that takes in all three summits and adds up to as much as 5,200 vertical metres of descent in a single ski day. Sölden is very good at engaging visitors, and since 2022 we have been able to take part in the “Winterchallenge” programme, which invites you to test your skills in as many as 16 different winter challenges.
Infrastructure milestones: record-breaking lifts and movie glamour
Over many years of visits I have been able to follow the resort's remarkably ambitious investments as they happened. Today Sölden has two of the most powerful cable lifts in the world. The modern Gaislachkogl lift impresses with its speed: this 3-S gondola takes skiers up to 3,040 metres in just 5.5 minutes, and the journey to the mid-station takes 6.7 minutes. The lift can carry 3,600 people per hour. Just as impressive is the 10-seater Giggijoch gondola with a capacity of as many as 4,500 passengers per hour, opened in November 2016, which set entirely new standards of comfort, space and architecture.
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The revolution has also reached the local food scene and the resort's image. Its symbol is the superb ice Q restaurant, opened on 5 December 2013, when 21 members of the media tested its cooking; the restaurant later earned a “toque” award. It was this remarkable building that served as a film set in 2015 for “Spectre”, which three years later (in 2018) led to the opening of the immersive, interactive exhibition 007 Elements.
The resort has also expanded its food offering with, among others, the Falcon restaurant in 2021 and the Freeflow restaurant on Giggijoch in 2023.
Current projects: from new restaurants to an innovative sun on the glacier (2024-2025)
In recent years the resort's development has accelerated even further, and I am eagerly awaiting the next new features. 2024 brought the opening of another very stylish restaurant, Schwarzkogl. The schedule for this year, 2025, is full of major projects, which the company's management refers to as Einzeiger and Silberbrünnl. What fascinates me most from a technology point of view, however, is the pioneering photovoltaic system on the Tiefenbach glacier, at an altitude of 2,850 m. It is based on innovative vertical HELIOPLANT® units that look like trees, so they take up minimal space (which protects the Alpine environment) and, most importantly, do not get buried by snow in winter. The first tests of the system in high-mountain conditions were carried out successfully in 2023 and 2024.
Ambitious plans for the future: linked pistes, artificial intelligence and home-grown power (2026/27)
Sölden's future looks extremely promising. As a skier, I am most looking forward to the 2026/27 winter season, which will bring a brand new link between pistes 7 and 22 connecting the Gaislachkogl and Giggijoch areas. It will let you move around the whole resort without trouble, even on exceptionally windy days when other connecting lifts have to be stopped for safety reasons.
In 2026 the resort will finally say goodbye to the worn-out Gratl double chairlift from 1985, more than 40 years old, which serves one of my favourite demanding pistes. It will be replaced by an ultra-modern six-seater D-Line chairlift from Doppelmayr with a gearless DirectDrive system. The difference in comfort will be enormous: the ride to the top will be cut from 8 to only around 4.2 minutes at a speed of 5 m/s, and capacity will rise to 2,300 people per hour.
The new lift will serve the area with 53 heated chairs with weather hoods. Interestingly, the AI-based AURO system will be installed at the top and valley stations, and special semi-automatic safety bar locks will improve, among other things, children's safety. Moving the top station will also make room for a new, easier blue piste (1 b), which less confident skiers will certainly welcome.
In parallel, between May and October 2026, the photovoltaic project I mentioned will be completed. The planned 800 modules will reach an output of 6.3 MWp, impressive for Alpine conditions. Two additional energy centres will be built, and the project will be connected to the internal medium-voltage grid, which will allow it to cover 100 percent of the whole company's electricity demand in summer.
Upcoming events: the World Cup and festival vibes (2026/2027 season)
When it comes to top-level sport and entertainment, the calendar for the coming 2026/2027 winter season is already set and looks fantastic. In keeping with long tradition, it all kicks off with a bang on the weekend of 24 to 25 October 2026, when the Rettenbach glacier hosts the legendary season opener, the AUDI FIS Ski World Cup Opening. It is an amazing feeling to watch the world's alpine skiing elite live as they begin their battle for World Cup points on these very slopes. Among the resort's biggest regular attractions is also the spectacular "Hannibal" show, a unique live performance that never fails to make a huge impression in its raw glacier setting. The highlight of my ski trips this season, in turn, will be the cult Electric Mountain Festival, scheduled for 12 to 17 April 2027. It will be an amazing week combining skiing in excellent spring conditions with parties driven by leading international electronic music artists. Sölden proves once again that it can combine sporting effort and first-class fun perfectly.
Jacek Ciszak / skionline.pl