jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
Day 1: Galtür
After seven years of making plans and then scuttling them -- a few times for logistical reasons, but more often due to a lack of discretionary income -- I've finally made it back to the Alps. This time, I'm trying out a new-to-me region: "Silvretta" in western Austria. Like many Euro ski regions, Silvretta includes several ski areas, some that are connected by lifts, others that are separated by a short drive. The most well-known, and by far the largest, is Ischgl, and that's usually what people usually call this region.
Whereas Mad River Glen's tagline is "Ski It If You Can," Ischgl's in English is "Relax If You Can." They're apparently referring not only to the ski area, which is huge, but also to the extensive après-ski, restaurant, and nightlife options in the village. But instead of headquartering myself there, I decided to stay at a much quieter and far less expensive place 15 minutes away, Galtür, which has its own separate ski area. Funny how people refer to Galtür as "a small, family ski area" -- and it is compared to Ischgl. But with 2,100 legit verts and a lot of skiable acreage, East Coast skiers would laugh at this mountain as being referred to as small.
My hotel is ski-in, but not quite ski-out -- you need to walk 50 yards to one of the base lifts:
Express Lane For Kids (so they can skip the lines during peak periods/nice idea):
Rockin' it old school: no helmets or hats on a 17F degree morning
If you've never skied in the Alps, the first thing you'll notice at most of the ski areas is that people LOVE groomers. Whenever you ask someone on a lift about his/her opinion on the ski area, the response is usually something along the lines of "die Pisten hier sind sehr gut gepflegt!" ("the trails are very nicely groomed here!"). Which isn't to say that no one skis off-piste, but the vast majority of holiday punters don't. Take a quick traverse:
And this is what you find, even many days after the last decent snowfall:
Choose the right aspects (anything north facing or the recipient of wind sift) and there was plenty of nice, calf-deep powder like this line:
Choose the wrong aspect and it was stiff and wind-impacted. Since I'm alone on this trip and due to the fact that you can sit forever waiting for someone to ski an off-piste shot, I didn't get much in the way of in-action shots today, sorry.
Austrian ski areas are known for converting cow barns into on-mountain restaurants or bars. Here's one at Galtür:
Skiing into the hotel:
Tomorrow, I'll spend the day at Ischgl.
After seven years of making plans and then scuttling them -- a few times for logistical reasons, but more often due to a lack of discretionary income -- I've finally made it back to the Alps. This time, I'm trying out a new-to-me region: "Silvretta" in western Austria. Like many Euro ski regions, Silvretta includes several ski areas, some that are connected by lifts, others that are separated by a short drive. The most well-known, and by far the largest, is Ischgl, and that's usually what people usually call this region.
Whereas Mad River Glen's tagline is "Ski It If You Can," Ischgl's in English is "Relax If You Can." They're apparently referring not only to the ski area, which is huge, but also to the extensive après-ski, restaurant, and nightlife options in the village. But instead of headquartering myself there, I decided to stay at a much quieter and far less expensive place 15 minutes away, Galtür, which has its own separate ski area. Funny how people refer to Galtür as "a small, family ski area" -- and it is compared to Ischgl. But with 2,100 legit verts and a lot of skiable acreage, East Coast skiers would laugh at this mountain as being referred to as small.
My hotel is ski-in, but not quite ski-out -- you need to walk 50 yards to one of the base lifts:
Express Lane For Kids (so they can skip the lines during peak periods/nice idea):
Rockin' it old school: no helmets or hats on a 17F degree morning
If you've never skied in the Alps, the first thing you'll notice at most of the ski areas is that people LOVE groomers. Whenever you ask someone on a lift about his/her opinion on the ski area, the response is usually something along the lines of "die Pisten hier sind sehr gut gepflegt!" ("the trails are very nicely groomed here!"). Which isn't to say that no one skis off-piste, but the vast majority of holiday punters don't. Take a quick traverse:
And this is what you find, even many days after the last decent snowfall:
Choose the right aspects (anything north facing or the recipient of wind sift) and there was plenty of nice, calf-deep powder like this line:
Choose the wrong aspect and it was stiff and wind-impacted. Since I'm alone on this trip and due to the fact that you can sit forever waiting for someone to ski an off-piste shot, I didn't get much in the way of in-action shots today, sorry.
Austrian ski areas are known for converting cow barns into on-mountain restaurants or bars. Here's one at Galtür:
Skiing into the hotel:
Tomorrow, I'll spend the day at Ischgl.
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