Few Austrian ski areas have a more distinctive arrival than the Mölltaler Gletscher: the access funicular is buried inside the mountain, a six-minute ride through the rock from the valley floor at Flattach to the Eisseebahn mid-station, where the daylight suddenly returns at well over two thousand metres. From there a fast gondola lifts you onto the Schareck-Wurtenkees itself, broad blue glacier rollers in the morning, harder reds and a few honest blacks once the snow firms up. Seventeen kilometres of piste is modest on paper, but the season runs from late September to May and national racing teams have been training here since the lifts open in autumn, which tells you most of what you need to know about the snow quality. Flattach down in the Mölltal stays a quiet Carinthian village, southern-facing valley life rather than Tirol's lacquered chalets. One of Austria's most underrated glaciers, and one of its quietest.