Ice skating
at Schliersee

This is the question we are asked most often in winter, and the honest answer is less comfortable than many people expect. The Schliersee is never officially opened. Neither the municipality nor anyone else measures the ice and then declares it safe to walk on. The local magazine published by the tourist office asked the question itself, when the lake would be opened, and answered: never.

The municipality puts it this way on its website: going onto the ice on the Schliersee and the Spitzingsee is always at your own risk. In plain terms, there is no sign telling you that the ice will hold today. If you go out, the decision is yours alone.

All the same, in cold winters you see skaters, people playing Eisstockschießen (a Bavarian game similar to curling) and amateur ice hockey players on the lake. It is part of winter here, and our hosts Ute and Markus Leitner mention it too when guests ask about the ice: when the lake freezes, people skate on it. But people standing out there only means they have made that decision for themselves. It does not mean the ice holds everywhere.

The DLRG, the German Life Saving Association, gives a rule of thumb of at least 15 to 20 centimetres (6 to 8 inches) of ice before you step onto a lake. The problem at the Schliersee: it is up to 40 metres deep, has an outflow, the Schlierach at the north end, and reedy shallows along the shore. A measurement at the edge says little about the ice 200 metres further out. The local magazine’s editor, who worked on the island herself and has crossed the lake in winter, writes exactly that: she could not recommend it.

If you go out anyway, follow the DLRG’s ice rules: never alone, not on the first cold days, and keep away from dark patches, inflows and outflows and reeds. If it crackles and creaks, lie flat and crawl back to the shore on your front. If someone falls through, call the emergency number 112 straight away and do not run after them upright.

Our own advice to guests is simpler: go to the natural ice rink. It is at the north end of the lake, the ice there is checked every day by the ice master, and with the guest card it costs you nothing.

According to the municipality, the ice cover on the Schliersee usually closes from mid or late December. The Spitzingsee, 300 metres higher at around 1,100 metres, freezes earlier and stays frozen for almost the whole winter.

That is not a fixed date. How different the winters here have become is shown by the reports of Stefan Hornfeck, ice master of the natural rink, who can only make his ice in real frost. In the winter of 2023/24 there was not a single skating day in December, and only ten in total. In 2024/25 there were 24 opening days, and for the first time in 15 years he was able to open during the Christmas holidays. 2025/26 brought 39 days, his personal best.

For the lake this means that in some winters there is solid ice cover for weeks, in others it stays open or freezes only at the edges and in the bays. If you are coming in January to skate on the lake, have a second plan. The natural rink is only partly that plan, because it needs the same cold. The reliable second plan is the indoor rink in Miesbach.

Schliersee’s ice rink, also called the Oberlandstadion, lies at the foot of the Freudenberg hill at the north end of the lake. It was built between 1946 and 1948 and still has no refrigeration plant: the ice forms only when it is cold enough outside. The spot in the shadow of the Freudenberg was chosen for that reason, as it is often a few degrees colder there than in the village.

It is run by the ice hockey section of the TSV Schliersee sports club. For more than 15 years Stefan Hornfeck has made the ice there, smoothing the surface with the ice resurfacer and watching the weather, because without a refrigeration machine the temperature alone decides the quality of the ice. Bavarian Radio (BR) has reported on him.

Skating runs from November to the end of February whenever the weather allows, usually daily from 2 pm to 5 pm. On Tuesdays and Fridays there is also evening skating under floodlights from 7 pm to 9.30 pm. Whether it is open today is on the rink’s website, which also has a webcam. If in doubt, ring the rink’s clubhouse, the Eisheim.

Adults pay 3 €, children 2 €. With the guest card from Schliersee, Fischbachau or Bayrischzell admission is free. You can hire skates on site; the tourist board gives the price as 5 €. For children just starting out there are height-adjustable skating aids. The ice master’s explicit advice to parents: gloves and a helmet are basic equipment for children.

Next to the ice Stefan Hornfeck runs a small mulled wine stand with children’s punch, cappuccino and Wiener sausages. In the evenings and on request the rink is let to amateur ice hockey teams, and Eisstockschießen is also possible on request.

Getting there is easy. From the station walk north-west through the Kurpark, the village’s spa park, and after about a quarter of an hour you are at the ice. By car, take the Perfallstraße past the Vitalwelt pool to car park P2 by the sailing and fishing harbour, cross the bridge over the Schlierach and turn left: three minutes. If you start the lake walk at the station heading south, you pass it on the way back anyway.

When the natural ice melts, Miesbach is the answer. The rink on the Tölzer Straße is a covered rink with artificial ice and does not depend on the weather. It belongs to the TEV Miesbach, a club founded in 1928 with more than 1,000 members. It was opened on 9 November 1986 with an Oberliga ice hockey match; before that, people skated there in the open air.

The rink is open to the public only at certain times, because during the day it is used for ice hockey, figure skating and Eisstock training. According to the town, public skating usually takes place on Sundays from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. Changes are posted in the club’s rink schedule. Skates can be hired at the rink. The prices the club last published were 4 € for adults, 2 € for children and 3 € for skate hire, with children under six free. Check before you go whether that still applies.

By car it is about eight kilometres, around a quarter of an hour. Without a car it is almost easier: the RB55 regional train runs from Schliersee via Hausham and Agatharied to Miesbach in about a quarter of an hour, and from Miesbach station it is just under 300 metres to the rink.

If you fancy an evening of ice without skating yourself: the TEV’s first team plays in the Bayernliga, and home games are mostly on Friday or Sunday evenings. You do not need to be an ice hockey fan to enjoy an evening at the rink.

The Spitzingsee lies about 300 metres higher than the Schliersee and, according to the municipality, is frozen for almost the whole winter. You see Eisstock players and skaters there too, and the same applies: nothing is officially opened, and going onto the ice is at your own risk. A layer of snow on the ice does not make it safer; it only hides where it is thin. The DLRG warns explicitly about snow-covered ice.

If you are going up anyway for sledging or skiing, the view across the lake from the shore is worth it. For skating, the rink down in the village is the better choice.

When guests ask about skating at reception, Ute and Markus Leitner always give the same order: in frosty weather the Schliersee natural ice rink, otherwise the indoor rink in Miesbach, and when the lake freezes, the lake as well, with everything said above. The Gästekarte, the guest card you receive when you stay overnight in Schliersee, makes the afternoon at the rink free.

After two hours on the ice your feet are cold, however good your socks were. Six of our rooms have their own Finnish sauna for exactly that; you set the temperature and duration yourself, or keep it mild, like a low-temperature bio sauna. And the walk back from the rink to the house is short enough to leave time for dinner in the Xaver’s dining rooms.