Ischgl Ski Resort intermediate

Ischgl / Intermediates

Both Ischgl and Samnaun have a wealth of blue and red runs, usually very well groomed and ripe for cruising.

On both sides of the ridge marking the border between Ischgl and Samnaun is a wealth of blue and red runs, usually very well groomed and ripe for cruising, whether to Alp Trida or back down to Idalp. If you hit these at the right time in the morning – just as the cold is easing and the crowds have yet to arrive – you'll find some of the finest corduroy in the Alps.

And a tip – if you turn right after coming off the Idjochbahn on run No 64 instead of heading down to Alp Trida you'll find a curiously empty bowl of cruising. A joyous swoop on undulating runs that will polish your ego as you carve flawlessly will bring you to the Greitspitzbahn or the Viderjochbahn chairlifts to take you back up to the frontier ridge.

The Rennstrecke Funpark is to be found to the left of the main run back to Idalp from Idjoch.

Idalp
Another good tip for intermediates to get the best out of the runs between Idalp and the village is not to wait until going home time to do them. The valley run from Idalp can be tricky in places – it's a respectable red with some steep pitches, sometimes treacherously icy in places, and made even more intimidating for many by the late afternoon crowds.

So if you can draw your morning gaze away from the endless acres of skiing stretching away to the horizon, the best time to do the runs back to the valley is in the morning. They're excellent exhilarating trails, cut through thick woods after the first few hundred yards below Idalp, and you can choose to finish in Ischgl village centre or at Fimbabahn lift station in the valley. In the morning they are more likely to be nicely groomed than in the evening, hardly anyone will be on them and nasty worn icy patches and chopped up moguls will not have been formed.

Paznauer Taya and Palinkopf
The Paznauner Taya area is easily accessible by intermediates via the Sassgalunbahn chairlift a few hundred metres below Idalp. Some pleasant reds with a distinct blue tinge are cut through the trees to the Paznauner Taya restaurant.

And intermediates can confidently ride the Gampenbahn to the Palinkopf, from where the long and leg-burning, but un-intimidating, piste 40 will take them all the way back to Gampenalp. From here you can make your way back beside a mountain torrent to the Silvrettabahn middle station – with a strategically placed tow-rope lift to take you along one of the flat stretches to save your legs.

Ischgl to Samnaun
One of the lovely Ischgl days out is perfectly suitable for intermediates – the trip to Samnaun, which should include some duty-free shopping and a leisurely lunch. From Idalp head down to the Höllkarbahn lift, then the Zeblasbahn up to just below the Palinkopf. From here it's downhill all the way to Switzerland, via the long and scenic piste No 80 – with 81 a variation at the top if you like.

There are one or two short but sharp steeper pitches on the way, but nothing an enthusiastic intermediate can't handle. At a point still quite a way from Samnaun you should let your skis run to avoid a bit of poling – the terrain flattens out considerably as you near the village. Watch other skiers to see when they start to point their skis downhill.

The first house you come to is the Schmugglers' Alm – famous in these parts. As you enter it seems all rustic timber and tradition, and is noted for its hot chocolate and rum, but go down to the basement and you enter an airport-style duty-free store, with bargains piled high.

You can skirt the village on skis and head straight for the cable car station. But it's more interesting to shoulder your skis and wander through the village, to see duty free showrooms cheek by jowl with ancient heavily-timbered and balconied gasthauses and restaurants.

Samnaun to Ischgl
Choose one to stop for lunch, maybe at Hotel Post or La Pasta. Every one we've picked so far has been good, and they'll take any currency you happen to have on you. Suitably refreshed, head on down to the bus-stop at the end of the village, where a shuttle bus will take you the short distance to the cable-car station at Samnaun Ravaisch.

The old cable-car used to be an appalling bottle neck for skiers heading back to Ischgl, with waits of an hour or more not unusual. Now it has been replaced by an impressive double-decker, which whisks skiers up to Alp Trida Sattel for the round trip back to Ischgl via Alp Trida or Alp Trida Eck.

Another day you can take a scenic red run from Alp Trida down to Compatsch, where a short walk will take you to the buses for the cable car at Ravaisch.