The main ski area above Garmisch Partenkirchen in Bavaria, on the slopes of the Alpspitze and the Kreuzeck, beneath the Zugspitze which is the highest mountain in Germany.

The Kandahar course here holds World Cup downhills and is one of the steepest on the circuit. It is open to the public most of the season, and skiing it gives you a proper sense of what those racers are doing.

The rest of the terrain is mostly intermediate with long descents and good tree skiing. The Zugspitze glacier is on the same pass and gives near certain snow at the top of the season. Garmisch is a substantial town with two distinct halves, painted houses, a good food scene and a train from Munich that takes ninety minutes. It works very well without a car.