Zerfaus is considered one of the best European ski resorts for active recreation with children.

Advantages of Zerfaus-Fiss-Ladis

Fiss-Ladis slopes

Overall, the resort has several features that make it a favorite for families with children. Many come here every year and do not look for alternatives:

• There is a kindergarten here. Not ski, but ordinary. They take children from 3 months (full day, half day, with or without lunch). The cost of the garden per day is 61 euros without lunch. Dear. But the option itself is invaluable and does not exist everywhere. Anyone who travels with children knows the value of a few hours of peace and meditation
• A good selection of tracks for any level of skiing (from numerous training grounds to a black track), slopes for mogul and freeride
• There are many hotels with swimming pools
• There are amusement parks and attractions for children, options to occupy yourself in bad weather, stroller rental
• A good snowboard school for children and adults with its own playground
• Cross-country skiing, ski tourism, hiking in the mountains
• Flexible and diverse learning options in ski schools, both in groups and individually. Division not only by skiing levels, but also by disciplines and lifestyles (slalom, giant slalom, family instructor, sled with snacks, sled on the first snow, games for children in the snow, etc.)
• Strong instructors
• The resort is located quite high in the mountains, so the probability of getting good snow is quite high
• Excellent Ski Depot at the lifts (no need for a ski room at the hotel)

Disadvantages of Zerfaus

The resort also has disadvantages:

• The elevators are tired. One kept breaking and stopping. Many chairs that climb high into the mountains without full heating
• The elevator system was obviously designed a long time ago and was not designed for a demographic explosion. In the morning, it is a problem to go up the mountain, there are big traffic jams at the bottom. You have to give credit, there are already options above, you can look for tracks according to your taste, there is a more extensive network on the mountain itself.
• Everything is very German. You are more likely to find an instructor who speaks Dutch than English. They speak English, of course, but often at a very basic level. It is not a problem for an adult to understand each other, but it is more difficult for children. However, there are many Slovaks in the service sector, in our hotel because of one, which significantly facilitated communication
• Free skipass only up to 5 years old

And now about everything in more detail.

About the resort

Zerfaus-Fiss-Ladis are three villages connected by one lift system.

Zerfaus is the most densely populated, there are more restaurants, shops, and there is also a very cool indoor playground for children and a public swimming pool.

In Zerfaus, there are more playgrounds for learning the little ones, for snow games without skis, Donald fan track, Animal Park,

Murmy Krehehe is a kindergarten from 0 to 5, more equipped than in Fiss-Ladis, but it costs a little more.

Traffic is prohibited inside Zerfaus (you can only drive up to the hotel); but there is a free subway on an air cushion and a new one is being built. It seems that this was done not at all for reasons of ecology. The streets of Zerfaus are very narrow, without sidewalks. Cars are constantly scurrying (now to remove the snow, then a new arrival of tourists, then a bus), there are no parking lots, so there is no physical possibility to let in a large flow of cars.

Fiss is more comfortable, all basic children’s infrastructure is shared on Fiss-Ladis . Only it takes a little longer to get to Ladis and there are fewer lifts there.

Bertas Kinderland is a huge training ground for children, there is also a children’s restaurant and an area for awarding children after the races. In Fiss Ladis there are also snowpark fan tracks, perhaps a little less than in Zerfaus.

Bertas Kinderland, Fiss Ladis

Both in Fissa and Ladis there are kindergartens from 3 months, called Bertas Kindergarden.

In general, there is no global difference in where to settle. The only thing is, if you go with kids, then Ladis would be considered last. There is only one lift and morning departure during rush hour can be a problem. And yet, the most important thing is to choose housing for convenience with all the necessary attributes.

One nuance – traditionally, the shift takes place on Saturdays, which means decent traffic jams. And it also means that there are significantly fewer people on the slopes on Saturday (especially if you take into account the important fact that in Fiss , for example, group lessons at the ski school are not held on Saturdays).

Fiss

Residence

For a trip with children, a hotel on a hill with half-board, a swimming pool and a spa is ideal, of course. Half-board – because it’s too lazy to prepare the baby carriage yourself, and it’s too lazy to change a tired baby’s clothes and go looking for food. Well, they all love the pool.

We stayed at the Hotel Fisserhof ****; in general, when we started looking for a resort and accommodation, there was not much choice, it was just lucky that there were places here.

The rooms are a little tired, but spacious and comfortable, convenient layout.

They feed perfectly, the cuisine is excellent, but the service is without pomp.

The hotel has a good, spacious swimming pool (indoor and outdoor, with warm water), a gym, a children’s room (without a babysitter), a spa for adults. Each hotel has its own rules regarding the spa. Our children under 15 were not allowed to enter. Some other children can be taken until a certain time or only in the family area (if there is one). The spa is also good because you can drink tea there for free. It is very annoying when you paid a lot of money for a hotel, but there is no kettle in the room and they try to sell you boiling water at a higher price.

Saunas, as usual in Austria and Italy, are mixed and often even in the family section you can come across nudists.

Schools and instructors

There is a ski school in every village, the office is right next to the ski lift. You can sign up at any time, even in the morning before classes start. It must be said that the schedule and specifics of school work differ slightly from village to village. Zerfaus is more, it has its own characteristics.

At first, I didn’t like that everything was centralized. Usually at each resort there are several ski schools to choose from, but here it is as if there is no competition.

The disadvantage of this state of affairs is that in the morning there is a huge accumulation of bodies at one point, and in this, everyone needs to orient themselves and determine the cheburashek in the right hands.

At the school, children aged 3-12 are divided into 9 levels plus 3-year-old Bambini. At the end of the week, the coach gives out a booklet, which records what the child has learned and what level he can go to next year. It is convenient for those who come here year after year.

It is desirable to clearly know what your children can and cannot do before they start school. Of course, if the child is in the wrong group, the instructors will see it during the classes and send them to the address.

Zerfaus elevators

In addition to the level division, there are German-speaking groups (the majority of them) and a few conditional English-speaking groups. Most often there, the coach translates in parallel for those who do not understand German. If he remembers.

The advantage of centralized distribution is that the school attracts as many instructors as it needs for the declared number of children

And many more different offers for children and adults.

It is convenient that children can be dropped off for half a day, for the whole day, with lunch in a group or without lunch (you need to pick them up for this time and feed them yourself). The start of the lessons varies to lighten the traffic a bit.

The level of education is very high.

And yet, despite such excellent schools, the level of skiing of adult skiers is not too high; there are enough beginners, as well as quasi-advanced crowbars (I have a rhythm, but you all disperse and put away your skis). Many parents who try to teach their little ones on their own and drag them up steep hills, and then wait for half an hour for the poor people who desperately try to crawl to mom and dad.

Tracks

Traditionally, Austrian tracks are steeper than Italian ones, and Zerfaus-Fiss-Ladis is no exception. It seems that this is due to the topography of the area – there are simply fewer gentle areas on both the blue and red tracks. But still, it is not as permanently cool here as in Saalbach-Hinterglemm . I remember that in Saalbach with children’s playgrounds it was generally tense, but here the variety is greater.

We skated mainly in the eastern part of the resort, Fiss-Ladis. On the southern side (which descends directly to the village of Fiss), the slope of the mountain has the shape of a basket with almost no trees in the middle, with wide tracks. Even in bad weather, it is more comfortable to ride here.

With the children, we enjoyed climbing the Schönjochbahn I or the Moseraltbahn and riding all the way to the bottom or moving to the Rastbahn chairs and getting off the wide blue-red tracks. There is also a Moseralm self-service restaurant, where you can have a normal meal and feed the children standard Austrian food.

Tracks in the Moseralm area

The last section of the descent from the top on the Zatterbahn(68) is very interesting for technique, without humps, ice, concave shape and with a constant angle of inclination.

On the very tops, the slope of the tracks is mostly higher, ice and hills are more common. However, almost everywhere there are narrow detour routes, it is safer to go down them in fog and snowfall.

In good, windless weather, you can climb to the very top and choose the slopes to your taste. On the north side, it is good to ride in the first half of the day, but not from the very morning (cold) – you can go there from Schönjochbahn II on route 21, for example, and ride in that area. Both restaurants marked at the bottom of routes 21 and 23 are very good. Route 23 is a bit steeper, though, and there is often too much ice.

Tracks on the north side of Fiss

It is better to get out with children from there along route 7; although it is very long, it is adequate; through Zwoiferkorp – only in good weather.

On this slide, there are often clouds or fog, and the descents are steep, and it is unpleasant to drive with zero visibility, losing sight of each other.

There is a mirror cube on the Zwolferkopf, where you can eat for a lot of money with a beautiful view (if there is one). It seems to hold about 8 people.

Crystal Cube

There is an observation deck nearby, but when we were there, the view was gone. From there descends a black track with an inclination angle of 70% and a freeride track with the attractive name of Kamikaze.

Zerfaus

What’s great about Zerfaus is that there are options for spending time here for the whole family. We did not try everything, there was not enough time, so I will only list:

• indoor playground Play in Zerfaus. A large area, climbing walls, labyrinths, games, ropes, climbing frames – the children were delighted. One minus – children under 8 years old cannot be left unattended, an adult must necessarily accompany them.
• good sports shopping, which tired the children more than skiing
• toboggan (toboggan run) – there are both in Fiss and in Zerfaus
• extreme-nauseating attraction Skyswing at the top of the Möseralm lift (for persons from 140 cm)
• a “hang-glider” flight attached to a cable from the Möseralm to the top of the mountain. To fly, you need to grow up to 130 cm
• toboggan on rails in Zerfaus
• Sehrfauser Seuser – high-speed abseiling (from 10 years)
• skating, segways
• tandem paragliding
• shows for children and adults, evening carriages, morning carriages, rides on ratraks, dinner in various hard-to-reach places and much more.

Play In game room in Zerfaus

In general, we were pleasantly disappointed. We came with a lot of prejudice, but in fact we want to come back here.

Zerfaus-Fiss-Ladis

PS It must be said that all the villages are at an altitude of 1400+ m, the height of the mountains is up to 2600. In general, oxygen starvation is periodically felt and children may not feel completely comfortable at times. In addition, at such a height, you need to watch your nose, and if you have a runny nose, you must use vasoconstrictor sprays.