Tobogganing in the Ötztal — the runs from Oetz.

The run on our doorstep — Oetz to Piburg

The hamlet of Piburg sits on a sunny terrace above Oetz, a good two kilometres and four to five minutes by car from the village centre. The run starts up there by the farms and follows the meadow down towards Lake Piburg. It drops from around 960 to 915 metres — just over forty metres of descent at roughly 9 per cent — with one gentle, secured left-right bend and otherwise a straight ride.

That makes it a family run in the literal sense: graded easy, never steep, and the climb takes about ten minutes. This is exactly what sets it apart from the big runs further up the valley — when you are back at the top after ten minutes, children go five times instead of once.

You can walk up in roughly an hour from the bus stop in the village, or drive up in five minutes. Parking by Hotel Seerose costs 4.00 euros a day, coin machine. From mid-December to mid-April a free ski bus also runs between Oetz and Piburg, stopping right by the hotel. The times change every season — we leave the current timetable in your apartment.

One bonus you get only here: when the frost holds, Lake Piburg is prepared and opened as a natural ice rink. It does not happen every winter — in 2025 it stayed closed, the winter after it opened at New Year. When it holds, you can combine tobogganing and skating in one afternoon.

Six lengths for one run — why there is no figure here

Search for the length of the Piburg run and you will find, in turn: 0.4 km, 0.42 km, 0.5 km, 1.0 km and 1.2 km. That looks like five sources. It is not. Ötztal Tourismus, Outdooractive, bergfex and several portals all publish the same dataset, only rounded differently. The 1.2 kilometres came from a page that no longer exists.

The run has been measured independently exactly twice: the Outdooractive dataset gives around 420 metres, a GPS survey by winterrodeln.org 450 metres. Both are close to each other — and both well under a kilometre. The larger figures probably mean the loop including the climb, or the run-out down to the lakeshore.

So this page says a good 400 metres and no figure to the metre. The same goes for a few other details below: where we cannot back a number up twice, we would rather tell you what we know than copy a figure that has taken on a life of its own.

The runs within reach

Distances are road kilometres from Oetz, calculated rather than estimated. Floodlighting means there is an installation — not that it will be on during your evening.

There is, by the way, no toboggan run in Hochoetz — some sites claim otherwise. The mountain above Oetz is a ski area; tobogganing happens down in the valley and over in Ochsengarten.

Feldringalm — the run with the hut

When Piburg gets too short, the Feldringalm is the next step up. It lies at Ochsengarten, the high valley between Oetz and Kühtai, and at 2,130 metres in length it is the first run where the climb feels like a small tour: from 1,690 metres at the Sattele car park up to 1,888 metres, 198 metres of ascent in about 45 minutes.

The reward is the hut itself — you stop there before heading down, and you can hire toboggans on the alp. Parking at the Sattele costs 3.00 euros a day. There is no floodlighting; this is a daytime run.

The hut's winter opening hours change and are rarely stated reliably online. Call ahead before counting on the stop — or ask us, we have the number.

Do you really have to walk up?

Yes — around Oetz not one toboggan run has a lift. That is the answer missing from most pages, because it does not sell well. Piburg takes ten minutes, which is no obstacle even with children. At the Feldringalm it is 45 minutes uphill before the first descent.

If you want to ride up, go to Sölden, a good 30 minutes up the valley. The Gaislachkogl gondola takes you to the mid-station, from where 7.3 kilometres and 813 metres of descent drop into the valley — the longest run within reach. It is graded red and therefore not beginners' terrain, even though the operator describes it as family-friendly for the night runs.

Night tobogganing there is every Wednesday evening; the exact period is set anew each season. Budget around 40 euros for the toboggan ticket including the ride up, roughly half that for children — the operator's own site gives two different prices, so check the current figure with the Sölden cable cars.

A run that no longer exists

In Umhausen, the toboggan run at the Stuiben Falls appeared in every listing for years. It has not been prepared since the winter of 2019/20. Anyone arriving with that run in mind today finds a hiking trail.

Dead entries like that are why this page names six runs with verified details rather than fifteen from a table. The Ötztal as a whole has around fifteen toboggan runs totalling some fifty kilometres — but most of them lie far up the valley and mean half a day from Oetz.

Helmets, clothing, children

On helmets, almost every source gets it wrong: in Tyrol there is no legal helmet requirement for tobogganing. Tyrol and Vorarlberg are the two Austrian states without one — seven others require it for children up to 15. We recommend one for everybody all the same, especially on the faster runs. An ordinary ski helmet does the job, and if you have not brought one, the village rents them.

What else helps: sturdy shoes with a grip, because you spend the first half hour walking uphill and getting warm — dress deliberately too lightly for the climb. Gloves are essential; you brake with your feet and steer with your weight. And take a head torch even on the floodlit run, if only for the walk back to the car.

With small children the rule is simple: Piburg first, everything else later. None of the runs states a minimum age; the only question is whether your child manages the climb and sits securely on the sledge.

How to tell whether a run is rideable

None of the natural toboggan runs around Oetz has a published opening or closing date. They are not snow-made and not opened by the calendar — they depend entirely on the snow. Roughly, the window runs from December to March, longer in Kühtai.

You will rarely find anything reliable online. The portals list runs as "open" that have not been prepared for years, and the other way round. The webcams of the valley help, or a call to the business concerned.

For Piburg you need neither: the run lies two kilometres above our house. Just ask us — we look out of the window or ring the people up there. That is the one advantage no database has.

Frequently asked questions about tobogganing