Garmisch for a short ski break?

Been pondering a short skibreak mid-Jan’ish, as can now get travel insurance after an enforced period. Garmisch qualifies as it’s quick/easy to get there from Innsbruck and it’s a compact area so i can check it all out in the 3 days i plan to be on the hill. St Anton am Arlberg was always the resort of choice back in the day (haven’t ski’d/boarded since ’05…)but i needed a good 5 days there to get around the whole area.

We went for a long weekend in 2016 & 2017. Flew Manchester to Munich then picked up a hire car but you can easily get there on the train from Munich airport. It was great!
Get the Zugspitze Arena card and all buses and trains are included the whole area. Ehrwald, Lermoos are good fun too.

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Theres a funicular railway up Germany’s highest mountain the Zugspitze.

I had two days there earlier this year – the weather was a bit pants so the Zugspitze and the higher part of the main area were both closed. I just about managed to keep sane over two days so three days with it all open would be brill. Lermoos and Ehrwald close as El Shalimo says and if you haven’t booked Innsbruck flights it’s likely a lot cheaper and more flexible to fly to Munich. Garmisch is a great ‘normal’ town with plenty of restaurants and bars and I’d definitely consider it again for a quick ski break. Check for the World Cup dates as it’s usually late-Jan but they don’t start closing stuff off until the week preceding the event.

Also be aware that the main ski area is ~700m so a late season slushfest on a warm day.

i’m pretty familiar with GAP in the summer, it’s pretty much a guaranteed stop when i’m in the region. Even spent a couple of days riding Ehrwald/Lermoos but never skied the Arena so wondering how accessible the Zugspitze skiing is via the train – and is the vvankbahn a skiing option (no official pistes on the trailmap)?

Buses take you from GP to the Garmisch ski area (too far to walk). Train/bus to Zugspitze cable car or train all the way to the top of Zugspitze. They’ve built a brand new cable car now (biggest in world?).
Ehrwald can be accessed via train from GP, up the lifts them it’s fun fun fun.
Lermoos is bus only I think

We were there in February. The weather and visibility on the slopes in Garmisch was terrible but I noticed the highest point of the area was just above the clouds so the next day we went up to the Zugspitze and were greeted to blue skies with the clouds a thousand meters down the mountain. The ski area on the Zugspitze is pretty small but the new cable car to take you to the top is like something from Star Wars. I found that the pistes were beautifully prepared though and stayed in good condition the whole day. But it was about -15 degrees.

The cable car up to the Zugsptize was closed from the Eibsee side when I was there in September due to an accident . Out guest house host was hopeful the lift would be open again for Xmas. You can get the train or go the Austrian side.

Plenty of other areas , Alpspitze, Wankbahn Available too.

I’d second the view that you should look at flights to MUC as well.
Seems a tad perverse to pay the inn premium/time premium and then head back over the border to gap.
Would strongly recommend doing one of the ausie resorts instead.
Regarding st Anton, just because you can’t do it all in 3 days…. is that a reason not to go?

I really must emphasise that the above is all fully IMHO. just putting it out there as a point of view.
On the off chance you’re flying from MAN then don’t discount Zurich airport. The flights times are brilliant. I did a 4 full day skiing weekend for only 2 days leave at stanton/lech. You could also do a full 2 day skiing for no days holiday if you’re keen.

Have fun

i’d be flying from Gatwick, and oddly Innsbruck is cheap as chips to fly into on the dates looked at…
Wrt StAamA is there a cheaper pass available for just that valley than the Arlberg Pass? Just seemed pointless getting the expensive Arlberg one for 3 days…

We will visit Garmisch this weekend again – absolutely in love with that place. The weather forecast does look good. Any other suggestions for a good ski destination in Germany? https://www.sport2000rent.com/en/skirental/destinations/germany/ – Nesselwang? The first time I hear about that destination…

The only other resort i’m familiar with in Germany is Oberstdorf, a couple of hours drive west of Garmisch. Learned to ski there with the Army back in the day, pretty town and a trio of varied ski areas to sample but very quiet apres-ski and has an old-skool feel to it.

If you’re in Garmisch get the Zugspitze Arena pass. Ehrwald and Lermoos are definitely worth a visit.

We were in Lech last week and there’s lots of snow!!
A bloke on the plane got very cheap flight only deal on Thomas Cook, MAN-Innsbruck for £80 rtn. So that is an option for anyone still looking

Surely a visit to mount Vank is worth it, it’s spelt with a W but I can’t put that on here.

The name of the annual pass always makes me snigger

Off Sunday to Wednesday (late flight) for three days of skiing with the family so will report back next week. Lermoos on Monday to get #3 on skis for the first time and a chance for #1 and #2 to get their ski legs back. Then hopefully a day at Classic and maybe a day on the Zugspitze. Plenty to do for #3 and Mrs Scuttler beyond skiing.

@scuttler – Lermoos is nice, Sporthotel Pechtl is ideal for a cheeky Glühwein to end the day (opposite Hochmoosexpress lift)
It gets really cold and windy up on the Zugspitze glacier so wrap up warm!

Quick update

Garmisch is a great town for non-skiing activities, not that we ever got around to anything that didn’t involve skis or lift systems.

Munich airport is a doddle to navigate. Queues at car rental counters seemed a bit big with the exception of ours (Sixt). Not sure if this is normal but worth considering if Sixt is coming in a similar prices to others.

Lermoos is a nice spot for less experienced skiers to find their legs on big blues plus some good steep reds to get stuck into too. Probably a better proposition than Garmisch Classic and much more accessible than Zugspitz when you just want to get on. I didn’t go to any of the other Zugspitz Arena hills but the ‘arena’ itself is beautiful.

The roads through Garmisch appear to get very busy on a weekend with people heading to/back from the mountains and over to Austria. We missed most of this but worth considering if you’re planning exiting on a Sunday as it’s there’s a two lanes to one bit just like the A30 in Cornwall is/was.

The Zugspitz cable car is a great day out for skiers and non-skiers alike. The ultra modern summit facilities are brill. Skiing on the glacier is worth it for a day and would be excellent immediately after a dump as there’s load of terrain linking the pistes. There’s some epic sledging facilities too if you can’t ski but they are fierce (with some little kids stuff around the station).