Trail map
Published by Damülser Seilbahnen GmbH & Co KG and Bergbahnen Mellau GmbH & Co KG, panorama by Damülser Seilbahnen GmbH & Co KG; this copy via bergfex. The current official map is at Damülser Seilbahnen GmbH & Co KG and Bergbahnen Mellau GmbH & Co KG.
Routable 3D map
The whole lift and piste network of Damüls-Mellau is routable in the app: difficulty limits, live lift and piste status, alternative ways to the same place, and a 3D view of the terrain.
Open in SkiAllDayThe verdict
Damüls-Mellau is one lift-linked ski area spread over two Bregenzerwald villages, Mellau at 710 m and Damüls at 1,431 m, joined since 2009 by the Gipfelbahn gondola. Skiresort counts 75.8 km of piste and 21 lifts. The operator's 109 km headline also covers Faschina, which is not linked by piste or lift. It suits beginners through confident intermediates; black terrain is scarce.12345
Goes well for
- Beginners and second-week skiers: 29.9 km of the 75.8 km is graded easy and 44 km intermediate, with practice lifts in Damüls and Mellau
- Families: a family day ticket for one or two parents with two children, a third child free, and children's areas in both Damüls and Mellau
- Snowboarders and freestylers who want a large snowpark: about 85,000 m² of park with 63 features, according to German Wikipedia
Goes badly for
- Black-run skiers: skiresort grades only 1.9 km of the area difficult, and the operator's map marks just four black pistes, all on the Mellau side
- Anyone who expects 109 km in one go: that figure includes Faschina, a separate small area reached by a short ski bus ride from Damüls
- Spring and low-snow Decembers on the Mellau side: the valley base is at 710 m and the top is 2,050 m, with no glacier
Key facts
Every card opens. The headline number is the answer; underneath is how it was measured and where it came from.
Elevation 1,340m vertical · 710–2,050 m
| Village | 1,431 m3 |
|---|---|
| Lowest piste | 710 m3 |
| Highest lift-served point | 2,050 m6 |
| Vertical drop | 1,340 m |
Mellau, the valley base, sits at 710 m on the operator's piste map and the lift system tops out at the Ragazer Blanken at 2,050 m, the figure skiresort and German Wikipedia both give. Damüls village is marked at 1,431 m. Faschina, a separate area, is marked at 1,486 m on the same map. The operator's own web pages do not state elevations.
Pistes 75.8km measured, not marketed
- Easy 29.9km 39%
- Intermediate 44km 58%
- Difficult 1.9km 3%
Plus 17.7 km of marked ski routes, which are neither pisted nor patrolled to piste standard.
Marketed vs measuredThe operator markets 109 km for Damüls-Mellau and Faschina together: 28 km blue, 50 km red, 10 km black and 21 km of ski routes. Those parts add to 109 only when the ski routes are counted. Skiresort lists Damüls-Mellau alone at 75.8 km of piste plus 17.7 km of ski routes, and Faschina at 6.8 km plus 3.5 km of ski routes, which is why this page uses 75.8 km as the headline for the area you can ski without a bus. The two sources also grade the area differently: the operator's combined black total is 10 km, skiresort's for Damüls-Mellau is 1.9 km. We have not measured the network yet, so there is no measured figure here.
Lifts 21 3 types in the fleet
- Chairlift 13
- Practice lift or carpet 6
- Gondola 2
Counted from the lift list on the operator's 2025/26 piste map: two gondolas (Mellaubahn and Gipfelbahn), 13 chairlifts and six practice lifts and carpets in Damüls and Mellau. Skiresort also lists 21. The operator's text quotes 29 lifts for the whole region including Faschina; the map shows six more installations in Faschina, so the two counts differ by two and the operator does not say why.3
Season December – April winter season
| Winter season | early December – early April |
|---|---|
| Lift hours | 09:00–16:00 |
Day pass EUR 76 adult, main season
| Adult | EUR 767 |
|---|---|
| Youth | EUR 707 |
| Child | EUR 437 |
| Multi-resort passes | Faschina: the standard Damüls-Mellau ticket does not cover it. The Damüls-Mellau-Faschina day ticket (DMF) costs 77.50 EUR for an adult; Faschina alone is 56.50 EUR. A 1.5, 2 or 2.5-day ticket carries the DMFS label and also covers the Sonntag-Stein area. 3TälerPass: every ticket from 2.5 days is issued as a 3TälerPass at no extra charge and is valid in 29 ski areas in Vorarlberg, Tirol and the Allgäu. The 2026/27 table lists 191 EUR for 2.5 days from 11:30 and 214 EUR for three days for an adult in the main season. Family day ticket: 138 EUR for one parent with two children, 205 EUR for two parents with two children, children born 2010 to 2019, third and further children free. Sold only at staffed ticket offices. Single rides: a return trip on the Uga-Express in Damüls costs 21 EUR and on the Mellaubahn 21.30 EUR for an adult, from the operator's single-ride page. |
Day tickets for Damüls-Mellau from the operator's price page, which links the 2025/26 tariff file; the operator had not replaced it with 2026/27 day prices on 17 October 2026, although its multi-day page already carries 2026/27 dates. Youth is born 2007 to 2009, child 2010 to 2019 and a senior (born 1961 or earlier) pays 73.00 EUR. A day ticket that also covers Faschina costs 77.50 EUR for an adult, 2 EUR more. Tickets bought from 11:30 start at 65.50 EUR and fall in half-hour steps to 42.00 EUR from 14:00.
The mountain
These figures come from measuring the resort's actual piste and lift network rather than from its brochure. Measured from the SkiAllDay routing graph on 17 October 2026. Where the resort publishes a figure of its own, that figure is the one shown.
Piste km per lift km
1.95
Piste km opened by each kilometre of lift line. It measures how sparse the lift network is, not how good it is: a high figure means long runs off few lifts, so more skiing between rides but more traversing and more people funnelled onto each lift; a low one means dense lift service, quick laps and short waits, at the cost of repeating the same runs.
measuredLift minutes per ski hour
29 min
Time riding up for every hour spent descending, from the graph’s own traversal times.
measuredLongest continuous descent
6.4 km
The longest run of linked pistes that never rides a lift.
measuredReachable on easy runs only
42%
Share of piste a skier can reach from the base without ever descending something harder than an easy run.
measuredNorth-facing terrain
31%
Piste facing N, NE or NW, from the bearing of each descent. Shaded aspects hold snow longest.
measuredVertical on that descent
1,009 m
measuredUphill on surface lifts
2%
Share of climbing served by drag lifts and platters, weighted by vertical rather than by lift count.
measuredPiste above 2,500 m
0%
measuredMedian piste altitude
1,632 m
Half the piste length lies above this height and half below, weighted by length.
measuredMean piste gradient
20%
Length-weighted across every piste. Comparable between countries in a way that piste colour is not.
measuredPiste measured
72.6 km
measuredLift length measured
37.1 km
measuredHow steep is it, really
Piste colour is set by each resort under its own rules, so a red in one country is a blue in another. Measured gradient is comparable everywhere.
- 16% 0–10%
- 38% 10–20%
- 33% 20–30%
- 10% 30–40%
- 4% 40%+
Guide
Two valleys feed one connected area: Mellau on the Bregenzerwald side and Damüls higher up on the other side of the ridge. The Gipfelbahn gondola is the link, and a ski tunnel belongs to it.
Two bases joined by the Gipfelbahn
From Mellau, the 10-seat Mellaubahn reaches the lower slopes in about six minutes, and a February 2026 trip report notes that it ends below the Gipfelbahn, so the 8-seat Rossstelle chairlift is a further ride. The Gipfelbahn, an 8-seat gondola, runs from the Rossstelle at 1,406 m to the Gipfelgrat at 1,924 m, and since December 2009 it has closed the gap to Damüls. The operator's piste map draws the chain as Uga, Elsenkopf, Hohe Wacht, Gipfelbahn and Mellaubahn, and the area has two ski tunnels.3895210
Mostly blue and red
Skiresort splits the 75.8 km into 29.9 km easy, 44 km intermediate and 1.9 km difficult, and adds 17.7 km of ski routes, almost all groomed daily according to the same page. The operator's map grades four pistes black, all in Mellau: 23a Abfahrt Wannen, 32 Steilhang Suttis, 33 Steilhang Seele and 34 Abfahrt Vordersuttis. The longest descent skiresort gives is the Mellau valley run, 7 km with a 900 m drop.13
Faschina is a separate area
Faschina has its own lifts, its own piste numbers and its own day tariff, 56.50 EUR for an adult. Skiresort lists it at 6.8 km of piste, 3.5 km of ski routes and a top at 1,980 m. The operator's tourism page says the Damüls-Faschina connection is given over pistes and lifts, but its own piste map draws a bus line between the two, and skiresort states they are not connected by slopes or lifts. A March 2026 trip report describes the ski bus from Damüls as a 5-minute ride. A Damüls-Faschina pendulum lift is planned and was still in the planning stage with financing open in December 2025.23111121314
Snow and snowmaking
Damüls was named the snowiest village in the world in 2006, and the operator quotes more than 9 m of new snow per winter on average, with snowmaking on most of the pistes. The Mellau side starts at 710 m, and a forum poster wrote in February 2025 that the Mellau valley run is not snowmade apart from a few guns at the bottom, so it opens only with a low snowline and plenty of snow.42315
Snowpark and practice areas
German Wikipedia describes a snowpark of about 85,000 m² with about 2,000 m of freestyle pistes and 63 features, including a halfpipe, made up of an Uga park, a middle park, a main park and a kids' park. The operator's lift list also names beginner areas around the Sunnegg practice lift and Bunny Park in Damüls and the Hasenlift at the Mellaubahn valley station.43
| Skier | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Second-week skier | excellent | The area is mostly blue and red: 29.9 km easy and 44 km intermediate on skiresort's count.13 |
| Confident intermediate | excellent | 44 km of the area is graded intermediate, and the longest descent skiresort gives, the 7 km Mellau valley run with a 900 m drop, is the natural finish to a day when snow reaches the valley.1 |
| First-timer | good | 29.9 km of blue piste and practice lifts and carpets in Damüls and Mellau give beginners room to start. Beginners starting from Mellau ride the Mellaubahn gondola first, while the Sunnegg practice lift and the Bunny area are in Damüls.132 |
| Snowboarder or freestyle skier | good | German Wikipedia gives the snowpark about 85,000 m² and 63 features, including a halfpipe, in several parks that include one at Uga.4 |
| Advanced skier | fair | Skiresort grades 1.9 km of the area difficult, and the operator's map shows four black pistes, all in Mellau. The map rates several ski routes difficult or extreme, though skiresort says almost all ski routes in Damüls and Mellau are groomed daily.13 |
| Spring skier | fair | The operator plans to close on 4 April 2027 and the top is 2,050 m with no glacier. The 710 m base in Mellau is low for April, and in March 2025 a trip report found bare patches on the link from Wildgunten to the Gipfelbahn.26316 |
By car
Damüls is reached all year from Au in the Bregenzerwald. Mellau has its own valley station in the Bregenzerwald. In summer there is a second road to Damüls over the Furkajoch from Rankweil.
By train
The nearest station for international trains is Bludenz, 30 km away; buses 560/570 connect from there. Dornbirn and Bregenz are the alternatives. From Au, bus 851 runs to Damüls, and a free town bus (line 801) links the parts of Damüls in winter.
Where to base yourself
| Damüls | Main base at 1,431 m; the Uga-Express, Sunnegg and Oberdamüls lifts leave from in or beside the village on the operator's map |
|---|---|
| Mellau | Valley base at 710 m with the 10-seat Mellaubahn gondola and a children's area at the valley station |
| Faschina | Separate area at 1,486 m with its own lifts, reached from Damüls by ski bus |
What skiers say
-
The queues form at Hasenbühel, Ragaz and the Uga-Express; Suttis, Oberdamüls and Furka stay short.1716
Weilerking named those three lifts as the only ones with real waiting in the replies to a 23 January 2019 trip report on alpinforum. On Saturday 25 January 2025 RogerWilco found a long queue at the Hasenbühel from 09:00 to 15:30.
-
Leave Damüls before the afternoon wave if your car is in Mellau.17
Pancho described huge queues at Uga and Hohe Wacht on the way back from Damüls to Mellau, in the same 2019 thread, and said eating lunch outside the peak hour helped.
-
The Mellau side is quiet outside the morning and late-afternoon rushes.1714
Weilerking said so in 2019. On 18 March 2026 hausi24 found the pistes quiet early and the Gipfelbahn repeat piste completely empty.
-
Park at the Furka chairlift when the Uga lot is full.15
On 7 February 2025 Harzwinter found Uga full with no parking guidance and drove on to the Furka lift, where there was free space along the cleared road. Bocky replied that the piste map marks car parks only at Sunnegg, Uga, Oberdamüls and Kirchdorf, and later found every lot full, Mellau included.
-
Mellau and Uga are free to park at, and the Furka lift has a ticket machine.1514
Siri called Mellau the fastest toll-free approach with a large lot, and on 24 March 2026 hausi24 wrote that Mellau and Uga are free with enough space. Harzwinter praised the ticket machine at the Furka lift.
-
Without a car, change at Egg or Bezau for the stop Mellau Bergbahnen.18
A Vorarlberg-based snowboarder wrote in r/snowboarding in August 2024 that the Bregenzerwald bus needs one change at Egg or Bezau to reach Mellau.
-
Lap the black pistes under the Suttis lift in Mellau.1519
Harzwinter skied 33 and 32 on 7 February 2025 and noted Damüls has no black piste of its own. NilsM03 found 32, 33 and 34 icy but pleasantly empty on 21 January 2024.
-
The steep line under the Sunnegg lift is a signposted ski route that skis like a black piste.1514
Siri called it a 'knackige schwarze Abfahrt' in the February 2025 thread. On 18 March 2026 hausi24 found the Sunnegg bump slope hard and icy and thought a south-facing slope would have been better.
-
The Ragaz pistes 15 and 16 are flat, so expect to push at the end.1519
Bocky and siri called piste 15 far too flat for carving in the February 2025 thread, while NilsM03 enjoyed both 15 and 16 in January 2024 apart from the push at the end.
-
Pistes 3 and 3a under Hohes Licht are worth the ride.1910
NilsM03 enjoyed them in January 2024. In a February 2026 report Arlbergfan took the outermost descent, Spitzgrätli, from the new Hohes Licht chairlift and expected the basin below to queue.
-
Ski the black 23a and the ski tunnel before heading on to Damüls.15
Harzwinter singled out 23a and the tunnel to Mellau as a highlight in February 2025.
-
Buy the Faschina add-on with your ticket if you might go.14
On 18 March 2026 hausi24 paid 2 EUR extra for a ticket valid in Faschina, took the 5-minute ski bus from Damüls and noted that parking in Faschina is paid.
-
Eat at Uga-Alp or Elsenkopf, the two restaurants Harzwinter counted as properly in the ski area.15
Harzwinter took an early lunch at Uga-Alp in February 2025 because there are few places to eat; siri added Abfahrt Uga, Walisgaden, two at Furka and Mellau.
-
Bring a lunch and use the indoor picnic area at the Gipfelbahn top station.14
hausi24 described it on 18 March 2026 as an indoor picnic area with a view.
-
Do not plan on skiing the Mellau valley run home.1519
Siri found it open on only three of at least 15 visits and Seilbahnfreund wrote that it is not snowmade apart from a few guns at the bottom, so it works only with a low snowline and plenty of snow. NilsM03 found it closed in January 2024.
-
Count the Rossstelle chairlift as an extra ride from the Mellaubahn.10
Arlbergfan wrote in February 2026 that the Mellaubahn ends below the Gipfelbahn, so the 8-seat Rossstelle chairlift is a further ride.
-
A 'Skiroute' on the map is often a groomed piste.15
Bocky asked in February 2025 why so many well-groomed pistes are signposted as ski routes, and Harzwinter called route 18 a groomed, interesting ski route.
-
Check the bus timetable before crossing to Faschina.101415
Arlbergfan skipped Faschina in January 2026 because he was unsure of the ski bus schedule, and Jay found the plan confusing. On 18 March 2026 hausi24 described the bus ride as 5 minutes. Harzwinter thought a piste link too steep and avalanche-prone.
-
After a warm night with no refreeze, ski the steep Sunnegg slope early.16
On 25 January 2025 RogerWilco found it already 5 degrees at 08:30 at the Hasenbühel base, with the snow soft and the Sunnegg steep slope good. On 20 March 2025 he found the same slope softened in the morning.
-
In March the link from Wildgunten to the Gipfelbahn can thin out.1614
RogerWilco had to slalom around bare patches there on 20 March 2025, while on 18 March 2026 hausi24 found the Gipfelbahn piste still very good.
-
Leave early when the föhn picks up.16
On 25 January 2025 RogerWilco turned back early as the föhn increased and the Gipfelbahn already swayed a little.
-
In a dry early season, check Ragaz and Suttis before travelling.10
Arlbergfan found both closed in mid-January 2026 after a snow-poor December and criticised the lack of snowmaking able to react in time.
History
-
2006
Damüls is named the snowiest village in the world.4
-
2009
The Gipfelbahn, an 8-seat gondola from the Rossstelle at 1,406 m to the Gipfelgrat at 1,924 m, opens and links the Mellau and Damüls ski areas. The gondola cost 9 million EUR and the whole link about 23 million EUR, including two more lifts and a ski tunnel.5
-
2015
The old Mellau lift is replaced by a 10-seat gondola with new valley and mountain stations, an investment of about 20 million EUR reported in February 2016.8
-
2018
A six-seat Oberdamüls chairlift replaces a double chair from 1993 for the 2018/19 season.20
-
2025
A new six-seat Hohes Licht chairlift replaces the old double chair, scheduled to open on 5 December for the 2025/26 season.2024
Nearby and comparable
- Faschina
Separate small area, 6.8 km of piste, reached from Damüls by a ski bus ride of about 5 minutes; on the 77.50 EUR Damüls-Mellau-Faschina day ticket. Night skiing on some evenings.
- Sonntag-Stein
Third area covered by the operator's multi-day DMFS tickets of 1.5 days and longer.
- Ski Arlberg
Much larger and higher, on its own ticket and pass; a different kind of trip from a day at Damüls-Mellau.
More guides in Austria
Silvretta Montafon · Ischgl · Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis · Sölden · Obergurgl-Hochgurgl · Hochzillertal-Hochfügen
Questions
How many kilometres of piste does Damüls-Mellau have?
Skiresort lists 75.8 km of piste plus 17.7 km of ski routes for Damüls-Mellau, with 21 lifts. The operator markets 109 km for Damüls-Mellau and Faschina together, a figure that includes 21 km of ski routes and the separate Faschina area.123
Is Faschina connected to Damüls-Mellau by piste or lift?
No. Skiresort states that Faschina is not connected to Damüls-Mellau by slopes or lifts, and the operator's own piste map shows a bus line between the two. A ski bus covers the trip from Damüls, which a March 2026 trip report timed at 5 minutes, and a pendulum lift between the two areas was still in the planning stage with financing open in December 2025.131314
How much is a day ticket at Damüls-Mellau?
The operator's 2025/26 day ticket for Damüls-Mellau is 75.50 EUR for an adult, 70.00 EUR for a youth born 2007 to 2009 and 42.50 EUR for a child born 2010 to 2019. A ticket that also covers Faschina is 2 EUR more for an adult. The operator had not yet replaced those prices with 2026/27 ones on 17 October 2026.7
Is Damüls-Mellau good for beginners?
Yes. Skiresort grades 29.9 km of the area's 75.8 km as easy, and the operator's piste map shows practice lifts and children's areas in Damüls and Mellau. Beginners starting in Mellau ride the Mellaubahn gondola first, so Damüls is the simpler base.13
When is the ski season at Damüls-Mellau?
The operator plans daily operation from 4 December 2026 to 4 April 2027 in Damüls-Mellau and from 20 December 2026 to 6 April 2027 in Faschina, with lifts running 09:00 to 16:00. Dates depend on snow.2
References
Every claim on this page carries a numbered marker linking here, and every reference links back to the passages that used it. Numbers not yet checked against a source are marked like this.
- 1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Damüls Mellau: slope offering
- 2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Skigebiet Damüls-Mellau und Faschina
- 3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Pistenplan Damüls Mellau Faschina 2025/26
- 4. ^ a b c d e f Skigebiet Damüls Mellau
- 5. ^ a b c Gipfelbahn vollendet Skiverbindung von Mellau und Damüls
- 6. ^ a b Ski resort Damüls Mellau
- 7. ^ a b c d Skipass bis 2,5 Tage: Tageskarten Damüls-Mellau
- 8. ^ a b Neue Bergbahnen werten Skigebiete Mellau und Oberjoch auf
- 9. ^ Damüls Mellau: ski lifts
- 10. ^ a b c d e Vo Mello bis ge Schoppornou - Skisafari Lech - Mellau Damüls - Lech
- 11. ^ Faschina (Fontanella)
- 12. ^ Faschina: Tageskarten bis 2,5 Tagen 2025/26
- 13. ^ a b Skigebietsverbindung immer realistischer: Bahn ist bereits projektiert, Finanzierung jedoch noch offen
- 14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Damüls-Mellau 2025/26
- 15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Damüls / Mellau 1. Februar 2025 / Weitläufig
- 16. ^ a b c d e Mellau / Damüls / Faschina 2024/25
- 17. ^ a b c Mellau-Damüls - 23.01.2019
- 18. ^ Looking for fellow boarders in Vorarlberg Austria as an Expat
- 19. ^ a b c d Damüls-Mellau, 21.01.2024
- 20. ^ a b Wir stellen vor: Der Sesselbahn Oberdamüls und die Mellaubahn im Skigebiet
- 21. ^ Anreise und Mobilität vor Ort
- 22. ^ Ortsbus Damüls: kostenlos unterwegs im Winter
Page last updated 17 October 2026.