Montafon Intermediate Skiing

Most of the groomed runs on Hochjoch are blue and the whole ski area (44km) can quite easily be skied in a day by strong intermediates. Suggested itinerary as follows … ride the cable car to Kapell (1850m), ski red 4 down, then take the Kropfen chairlift to (1335m) and ski blue 9 and reds 7 and 8 either side of the Sesselbahn lift, before heading up Kreuzjoch (2395m) to the Wormser Hűtte to sample easy but enjoyable blue runs and a a couple of red ski routes between Hochjoch (2520m) and Grasjochhűtte (1975m). Take the Grasjoch chair back to Kreuzjoch from where you can ski the 12km long top-to-bottom descent to the Hochjoch cable car station in Schruns, which includes the world’s longest (476m) ski tunnel through a mountain. Beneath Kapell you can choose to stay on easy blue 1b and 1c or switch to red 4 and 5. This lower section through the trees is worth repeating so we’d recommend stick with the blue then ride the cable car back and ski back down the reds.

Silvretta Nova’s well-groomed ski area (104km) is ideal for intermediates. The vast majority of the runs are red and blue, but there’s plenty more difficult stuff if you know where to look including a few black pistes, half a dozen ski routes and some easy off-piste for aspiring intermediates. The modern ski lift system includes three main lifts rising from the valley, busiest of which is the Valisera gondola at St Gallenkirch.

Your route around the ski area will depend on which valley lift station you start from. Most guests, including day visitors, start from St Gallenkirch and Valiserabahn gondola to Bella Nova (2100m). An easy and fast itinerary around the ski area is to start with red 22 or blue 21, ride the chairlift to the mighty Nova Stoba restaurant (2010m) and ski blue 1 down to Zur Brez’n at middle station (1480m) above Gaschurn then ride the gondola back to Nova Stoba.

From Nova Stoba ski blue 5 and ride the Schwarzköpfle chair to the Kiosk and ski north facing runs 29 and 26 and work your way back to Bella Nova. Red 23 is fun skied fast then take Jochle T-bar, ski long blue 25 or 25a to Gassbarga at middle station (1600m) above St Gallenkirch and continue along blue 25 and ride the Vermiel chair then ski down through Garfrescha and ski red 11 then long blue run 11 back to St Galenkirch.

Gargellen ski area (47km) is quieter but well worth visiting. The groomed pistes, mostly blue and red, offer relatively easy but enjoyable skiing on wide open meadow terrain, which includes plenty of easily accessible deeper snow either side of the groomed pistes. Additionally, there are half a dozen ski routes for confident intermediates and Gargellen’s mountain restaurants are cosier than the invariably big restaurants on Silvretta Nova, which is another good reason to visit.

Golm is the smallest of Montafon’s ski areas (32km) and made up almost entirely of red and blue trails except for the steep Diablo black run. Golm also has a ladies’ Worldcup run and is home to the toboggan like Alpine-Coaster ride – which is good fun for thrill seekers.