Group trip to Filzmoos: how to plan your day on the Rossbrand

Before you start collecting sign-ups, the date needs to be fixed. The Papagenobahn doesn’t run every day in summer, but on set operating days: usually Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9:00 to 16:30, and on Sundays too in high summer. The season runs from mid-May to mid-October. Check the operating days for your date on the Operating Hours page before you book. If you’re planning a Sunday, keep an eye on the month: the Schörgialm, your meeting point in the afternoon, is only open on Sundays from July to September. For May and June, you’re better off choosing a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.

Once the date is set, it’s time to book. The lift company’s ready-made group day (more on that in the next chapter) needs to be reserved. The easiest way is to send an enquiry via the contact page. You can reach the lift company by phone during operating hours on +43 6453 8242, or by email at info@filzmoos.ski.

The lift company offers a ready-made group day, the “Group Outing with Treats”. It includes the ride up and down on the Papagenobahn, a hike on the Rossbrand, and coffee and cake at the Schörgialm at around half past two. Depending on availability, you can add music to round off the day. The advantage: with one reservation, the ride and the coffee and cake are sorted, and all you have to plan are the routes in between. You’ll find the price of the package on the Group Offers page.

If you’d rather plan the day yourself, your group rides at the Papagenobahn group rate. It applies from 20 people, with separate rates for children and for school and youth groups. You then decide for yourselves when and where to stop for food. You’ll find the current prices on the Tickets & Prices page.

Is your group staying with a host in Filzmoos? Then you may get the Filzmoos Sommer Card, which includes one ride up and down per operating day. So ask at your accommodation before you book with the lift company.

Filzmoos is 7 kilometres from the A10 Tauern motorway. Take the Eben im Pongau exit and follow the main road to Filzmoos. If your group is coming by train, get off at Eben im Pongau (11 kilometres) or Radstadt (18 kilometres) and continue by Postbus or taxi. The nearest airport is Salzburg.

Groups park at the Papagenobahn car park (P4), right next to the valley station. It’s only a few steps from the car to the gondola.

If you’re staying in Filzmoos, you can leave the car where it is: in summer the Fidibus runs as a hiking bus from May to October, and daily from July to September. With the Filzmoos Sommer Card you ride for free. You’ll find its stops and times on filzmoos.at.

The first gondola leaves at 9:00. The Papagenobahn has cabins for six people, so a group of 20 spreads across at least four gondolas. Even those who board last are up in no time: the ride to the top station at around 1,600 metres takes seven minutes.

At the top, the group splits up. The morning belongs to the trails, at midday everyone stops for food wherever they happen to be, and at around half past two you all sit down together at the Schörgialm right by the top station. After that there’s still time for one last look at the Bischofsmütze, because the gondola runs until 16:30.

If you want to go high, take the Rossbrand Panorama Trail. It leads from the top station up to the summit cross at 1,768 metres in around 90 minutes. Because it’s pushchair-friendly, those who prefer to take things easy can come along too. Allow another 90 minutes or so for the way back. If you take one of the first gondolas and have your lunch break at the top, you’ll be back at the top station in time for coffee and cake. At the Panorama Bend the Bischofsmütze is right in front of you, and at the top the view stretches across around 150 peaks. What a whole day of hiking between gondola and summit cross looks like is described in our article on hiking on the Rossbrand.

Families stay in the Filz & Moor nature paradise around the top station. The Moor Trail leads through the raised bog past eleven discovery stations, and you can pick up the Moor Explorer Handbook for it at the valley station. Children aged four to seven collect stamps on the Picture Book Loop, and the playground awaits below the Schörgialm. What else children can discover there is shown in our article on hiking with kids.

If you’d rather ride, take your mountain bike up to the top station with the Papagenobahn’s bike transport and ride the Rossbrand Loop: 16 kilometres with around 50 metres of climbing. No bike of your own with you? You can rent mountain bikes and e-bikes in the village at Sport Stefan or Intersport Flory. The route is described in our article on mountain biking in Filzmoos.

If you’d rather linger than cover distance, pick one of Engelbert’s favourite spots. The operations manager grew up on the Rossbrand, and his three favourite places are marked in yellow on the hiking map in the hiking area.

From the top station you can reach seven mountain huts. For a group, what matters most is how far away the huts are, because you’ll all meet at the Schörgialm at around half past two. The walking times in the list apply in both directions, so also for the way back to the top station. To the Mandlberggut at 1,000 metres it’s a two-hour walk and just as long back, so it hardly fits into a day with a meeting point at the top station. It’s also closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

At the Schörgialm you’re served at your table, inside in the parlours or outside on the sun terrace. It’s open on all gondola days from 9:00 to 16:30, except on Sundays in May and June. This is also where the package groups meet for coffee and cake. For a lunch break at the summit, the Radstädter Hütte right by the summit cross is a good choice. It’s open daily from 9:00 to 17:00, with the kitchen open until 16:00.

Moosalm and Steinalm are closed on Wednesdays, the Oberhagmoosalm on Mondays – days when the gondola isn’t running anyway. On your gondola days, all three are open from 10:00 to 18:00. At the Karhütte, though, the weather decides: it only opens when it’s dry.

Rain alone won’t stop the Papagenobahn. In storms, thunderstorms or heavy snowfall, however, it may run only on a limited basis or not at all for safety reasons.

A few days ahead, check the seven-day forecast on the weather page, with the chance of rain and hourly values from 6:00 to 18:00. In the morning, the webcams at the top and valley stations of the Papagenobahn show you what it looks like up there.

The Steinalm is easy to reach in any weather, and at the Schörgialm you sit in the cosy parlour instead of on the terrace. Around half past two, everyone still comes together at one table – just indoors this time.