Silvretta Montafon – A Freeride Paradise in The Austrian Alps

Mountainwatch | Words and Photos Tony Harrington

One thing I’ve learnt about Europe is that it pays to be nimble and open to hopping trains and borders to other resorts at the drop of a hat to catch storms as drop their loads of powder.

I’m not a meteorologist, but I’ve lived my life by chasing storms where possible, and this chase to Silvretta Montafon in Austria was based on endless days and nights peering over weather maps to make an educated decision of when to go.

Unlike the US where storms careen in off the ocean and hit most of the mountains straight on from a westerly biased direction, the European Alps run west to east and resorts are tucked away on aspects that receive a lot of snow from one particular direction. Knowing the source of a  storm, the direction it is moving and the resorts it is likely to hit is key in the Alps  and when a storm was moving in from the east in late January, Silvretta Montafon was looking good.

 

It has been on my list for years and while it does have 140 trails and an extensive array of groomed runs it also ticks all the boxes for what I’m after in a ski destination: reliable snow,  plenty of steep off-piste terrain, big mountains, backcountry access from the lifts and, where possible, less crowds.  The more I found about Silvretta Montafon I knew it would be an ideal destination and with the storm on the way we made the call to leave a dry and sunny Chamonix and go check it out.

Montafon is situated in the Voralberg region on the western fringe of Austria bordering Switzerland. Typically, it is overshadowed in profile by the likes of St Anton located in the Arlberg just a stones’ throw to the east, but unlike the Arlberg, the Voralberg region is relatively unknown to most people outside of Europe, I dare say inside it as well.  However, like the Arlberg this region is high much of the terrain in Silvretta Montafon is above 2000m which means it averages a lot of snow, around 8-to-10 metres annually.

Mike Slattery, a legend US pro skier who appeared in many ski films in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s was also in Chamomix and was keen for some powder and decided to come along. We made the trip by train and even with half a dozen train changes it was an easy 7 ½ hour trip through spectacular scenery from Chamoninx, through Switzerland and Lichtenstein and finally to Austria. The timing was perfect, and snow was falling as we arrived at the beginning of a three-wave storm.

Silvretta Montafon has predominately two main mountains – Hochjoch and Nova/Valisera, however there are also a couple of small resorts near-by with a couple of lifts in each. The tree line ends up around the 1000metre mark, with open bowl terrain above. With a lower than average snowpack for this time of the year, the fresh snow on the ground in the trees was too thin to ski so we stayed high, albeit where there was virtually no visibility, save for an occasional glance through some clouds of steep ridgelines and deep bowls.

We first hit Hochjoch where it was a white out, off-piste, big mountains, steep terrain, back country access from the lifts and where possible less crowds so continued across the mountain and down the other side to the valley floor again via the Grasjoch Bahn gondola to village of Sankt Gallenkirch, followed by boarding the new Valisera Bhan gondola taking us up again from 878m to 2104m where we found some decent visibility.

That’s what’s so cool about a lot of the resorts in Europe, you can simply hop from one mountain to another at ease. Especially here, as Doppelmayr Lifts head office is just around the corner, and Silvretta Montafon is home to testing some of the latest lift technology in the world. The Valisera Bhan recently opened recently and cost a whopping 70 million euro and is mostly run through Artificial Intelligence.

The ensuing days had waves of snow piling throughout the Voralberg region until the storm cleared on the fourth day, leaving blue bird skies and cold snow. We headed back to Hochjoch, keen to ski it with good visibility, and were fortunate to get into some great steep terrain and untracked snow.

We had to be more cautious than normal as the large snow totals had fallen on top of a frozen base, the snowpack was unstable and there were signs of avalanches all around us on all aspects. With the temperatures rising we were very mindful of what aspect we skied, where the snow was wind-loaded due and where the snowpack was susceptible to the heating by the sun which enhances the chances for an avalanche to rip out.

We spent the day hunted out lines that we were comfortable in knowing we had mitigated the risks of the potential of an avalanche and it didn’t take long to realise that the Hochjoch was to become our favourite part of Silvretta Montafon. Not only were we skiing quality powder, but it has sustained steeps and a decent length and variety of runs. Mind you, the skiing all around Nova/Valisera was pretty well amazing too.

We hit Silvretta at the end of January which is the very start of the busiest tourist period in February and crowds we’re not an issue. On a normal winter season, January is the time of year to be in anywhere in the Alps, but Silvretta Montafon seems to be especially quiet. We spoke to a few locals who mentioned that for most of January there’s literally no-one there, particularly mid-week, and they had days-on-end of untracked snow.

While Austria has a reputation for a big après scene, Silvretta Montana is more relaxed and not the place for those looking to party. You’ll create your own après by seeking out quiet bars and restaurants dotted in the local town or surrounding villages. It doesn’t attract the large numbers of international tourists like you’ll find in St Anton or Ischgl and you’ll experience the authentic charm of the Austrian Alps.

Unlike many resorts in Japan and North America you won’t hear many Australian accents in this part of the world. During our visit we met just three other Aussies – Nick from Mt Buller and Greg and Holly from Perisher, all of whom are employed in mountain operations. They work four days on, two days off, have decent accommodation, pay and food as part of their package and all are adamant that the working and living conditions are much better than those at home.

You know you have been to a great ski destination when the first thing you’re thinking about after leaving is when you may be able to come back. As I said at the start, Silvretta Montafon has long been on my “must-do” list. Now that I’ve experienced it for myself, and in such good conditions, it’ll be definite stop on my regular trip to the Alps.

Do you want to work in the European Alps for a winter season? I’d suggest sending an email to the HR manager of the resort Anna Kofler anna.kofler@silvretta-montafon.at to find out more info.

My suggestions on where to stay when visiting Silvretta Montafon:

For our accommodation, we stayed at the Tui Blue in Schruns-Tschagguns https://www.tui-blue.com/en/en/hotels/tui-blue-montafon/just a minute’s walk from the bus stop. It was a fabulous experience – exceptionally friendly staff, amazing food and a great bar and ambience.

Those on a shoestring (or in this case a boot buckle) budget might want to stay at https://www.sanktjosefsheim.at/enwith its unique “capsule” compartments and somewhere I’d strongly recommend if you are simply focused on skiing.

For the best on-the-spot hotel and connected to the new Valisera Bahn, you can’t go past the Rivier Hotel at St Gallenkirch https://montafon.revierhotels.com/en/

For couples and families after more of an indulgence into the Austrian culture, a stay at any of the hotels further up near the end of the valley in the village of Gaschurn is my preference for sure. This is near the end of It’s a tranquil setting with little traffic and plenty of chalets and guest houses.

For all information, check out https://www.silvretta-montafon.at/en