Ski holidays in Damüls, Austria

Damüls in Bregenzerwald, Vorarlberg, proudly carries the title of one of the world's snowiest ski resorts, with an average snowfall of over nine metres per season. This small mountain village at 1,428 metres is a paradise for anyone dreaming of deep powder snow and reliable piste conditions throughout the winter.

Together with neighbouring Mellau, Damüls forms the Damüls-Mellau ski area, with 109km of pistes and 29 lifts. Skiing stretches from 700 metres at Mellau up to 2,050 metres, offering a mix of open runs above the treeline and atmospheric skiing among the trees in the lower sections. The lift system has been modernised with fast gondolas and comfortable chairlifts.

Damüls is characterised by an authentic Bregenzerwald culture that stands in marked contrast to the large-scale tourism of Tyrol. The architecture in Bregenzerwald is world-renowned for its elegant combination of tradition and modernity, and the villages have a very special charm. Culinary traditions run deep, with local cheeses, produce from mountain dairies and artisanal cooking.

What makes Damüls special is the feeling of being in a genuine mountain village rather than a purpose-built resort. There are no large hotel complexes here, but instead family-run guesthouses and Gasthäuser. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed, perfect for families and couples seeking nature experiences and authentic alpine culture.

5 tips about Damüls

1. Mellau for beginners The wooded terrain on the Mellau side, lower down the system, offers calmer and more sheltered runs that suit anyone who has just started skiing.
2. Damüls for open views Thanks to its starting altitude of 1,428 metres, much of the piste network at Damüls lies above the tree line, ideal if you want unobstructed views and plenty of room to turn.
3. Make the most of the combined pass A lift pass for Damüls-Mellau gives you access to the whole stretch from 700 to 2,050 metres, so you can alternate between the open heights and the cosier tree skiing during the day.
4. Travel outside the holidays Book weeks outside the school holidays for quieter slopes and lower accommodation prices, especially as Damüls has no large hotel complexes and only a limited number of beds.
5. Try the local cheese Take the chance to sample alpine pasture cheeses and other artisan food from Bregenzerwald, a tradition that is still very much alive in the village's inns and guesthouses.

Pistes and lifts in Damüls

Damüls-Mellau offers 109km of pistes and 29 lifts from 700m (Mellau) to 2,050m. The piste profile suits families and intermediate skiers, with a good mix of wide blue runs and varied red pistes. The Damüls side, with its high starting altitude of 1,428m, has open pistes above the treeline. The Mellau side has more wooded terrain.

Piste map for Damüls

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The map downloads as an image file. On your iPhone it lands in the Files app. Tap the icon at the bottom of the address bar to open the map straight away.On your iPad it lands in the Files app. Tap the icon at the top right of the address bar to open the map straight away.On your phone it lands in the Downloads folder. Tap the download notification that appears to open the map straight away.The file lands in the Downloads folder. You can also look for the icon at the top right of the screen and open the map from there.

Snow reliability in Damüls

Damüls sits at an altitude of 1,428 metres with the ski area reaching up to 2,050 metres, a combination that helps deliver dependable snow conditions right through the season. The resort is known for receiving an average of more than nine metres of snow per season, making it one of the snowiest destinations in the Alps.

The difference in altitude between the village base and the summit means the skiing extends well above the tree line, where the snow often lingers thanks to the high setting. Combined with the heavy snowfall, this creates excellent conditions for reliable skiing from early in the season and some way into the spring.

Best time to travel to Damüls

Damüls has reliable snow from December to April thanks to its exceptional snowfall and high altitude. January and February bring the most powder snow. March and April offer sunny skiing with still-impressive snow depths. The whole season is, in practice, snow-sure.

Will there be lift queues in Damüls?

The lift system in Damüls carries 42,120 people an hour across 21 lifts. 13 of the 21 lifts are gondolas, cable cars or high-speed chairlifts, the kind that clear a queue quickly. The fastest lifts carry up to 3,400 people an hour, for example Rossstellebahn. That is roughly the same capacity per kilometre of piste as an average resort on this site, so queues only build when it is really busy. The queue you actually notice is almost always down in the valley between eight and half past nine. If you are on the lift before eight you avoid it.

When is Damüls busiest?

How busy the slopes get is not decided by the English half term but by when the local families and the neighbouring countries are on holiday. These are the weeks that fill Damüls in the 2026/2027 season.

• Austria: The Semesterferien are taken one week at a time, state by state, during the first three weeks of February.
  1 to 6 February: Vienna and Lower Austria
  8 to 13 February: Burgenland and Carinthia
  15 to 20 February: Tyrol, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Styria and Vorarlberg
• Germany: Germans are the largest foreign group in the Alps and their winter holidays are spread across early February.
  1 to 6 February: Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia
  8 to 12 February: Bavaria and Saarland
  8 to 19 February: Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
• England: The English February half term is 15 to 19 February 2027 for most councils, with a few areas breaking up a week earlier. The Easter holidays run from 26 March to 9 April.
  8 to 12 February: half term in a few council areas, for example Hull
  15 to 19 February: half term in most of England, including London, the Midlands and the North
  26 March to 9 April: Easter holidays for most English schools
• Easter holidays: Easter 2027 is early, on 28 March. Austria and Germany take their holidays around the weekend, while the French holidays fall after Easter, in April.
  20 to 29 March: the whole of Austria, all states at the same time
  22 March to 3 April: most German states, including Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia
  3 April to 3 May: the French zones, which fall after Easter 2027 and only affect the highest resorts
• Long weekends: Long weekends fill the slopes with day visitors from the nearest cities, even when no schools are on holiday.
  26 December to 3 January: Christmas and New Year, the most expensive period of the year
  6 January: Epiphany, a public holiday in Austria, Italy and parts of Switzerland
  27 to 29 March: the Easter weekend. Easter Monday is a public holiday across the Alps, but Good Friday is a working day in Austria, Italy and France
  1 to 2 May: May Day, a public holiday across the Alps

If you want quieter pistes and lower prices, the weeks in mid-January and late March are clearly the best. Neither the Germans nor the Austrians are on holiday then.

Snow right now. There is no snow cover in the valley or at the top right now. The figures are modelled by Open-Meteo, not measured by the lift company, and were fetched 14 October 2026 at 20:24.

The lift pass included. The stay comes with the 3 Täler Pass lift pass, which covers 360 km of piste. The pass is worth around €339.

How to get to Damüls

Last-minute deals in Damüls

Last-minute offers, that is late dates the operator still wants to fill, appear from January onwards. Once the season is under way we will show them here on this page.

Damüls is suitable for

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Frequently asked questions about Damüls