 Poster: A snowHead
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After 39 years (my first overseas ski trip was Zell am Zee in 1985) I'm returning to Austria next month (Sun 3 - Sun 10) having skied in France (a lot), Italy, Switzerland, Japan and E. Coast US. Some friends have booked an apartment in Galtur and I'm tagging along, flights to Innsbruck and then train/bus.
Any recommendations for "must ski" runs and "must eat at" mountain restaurants? Evenings will be a mix of self-cater and Galtur restaurants I think. We'll enjoy a beer or two after skiing but we are not after several hours of intensive "apres".
It looks like two main areas Galtur (enough for a day or two?) and Ischgl (for the rest of the week?). Full area pass presumably? I've been told that the run to Samnaun is worth doing. Looks like some fresh snow due this week.
I'm led to believe that the bus Galtur-Ischgl is frequent and straight forward.
All suggestions gratefully investigated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes the smugglers run is good but flat for a long way at the bottom and takes a little while to get back
The runs on the Samnaun side are generally a bit easier. My favourite area is the group to left/north of Alp Trida - Alp Bella etc. Easy and quiet reds.
Mostly reds in Ischgl. Head to the fringes of the area. Red 7 is great and now has a fast lift back. And the reds towards Piz Val Gronda. Generally a bit quieter away from Idalp.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@DJL,
Unless the situation has changed you have to get a full area pass to ski Ischgl if you're staying anywhere else.
Ski runs always depend on conditions but my favourite runs in the area are the ski routes marked on the map.
Samnaun is the more south facing of the skiing so getting it at its best depends more on timing.
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@DJL, 14c is (or was when I was last there) an epic and intimidating black piste in spectacular rocky scenery
The Ischgl home runs (1 & 1a) are also good - lap them in the morning before the afternoon crowds spoil them
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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If it’s snowing, go to Galtür. You’ll probably have it to yourselves. Head round the lake to the far side.
Most of the restaurants are traditional huts, but the Addis Abeba is a bit more modern and trendy, with a more varied menu. Good food too.
If you haven’t realised, Galtür ski area is about 1km down the road from Galtür village, which is tiny. I don’t think you’ll find the banging après of Ischgl down there, but I definitely heard Sweet Caroline playing out of a couple of places when I was last in the area.
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Best to do smugglers run in the morning earlier the better.
It gets a lot of sun and also a lot of people head that way towards lunch time.
Also agree re 7 and 7a. 7a can be closed fairly often or at least has been when we have been there. I think it used to be graded red but is know shown as black? can be icy at times.
Couple of mountain restaurants famous for their roast chickens. I could take you to them but cant remember their names just now. Someone will be along with the names shortly
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Thanks all. @Scarlet, I was aware there was some distance Galtur village to the ski area. I think we will be bussing each morning.
@Garfield, roast chicken sounds good! Smugglers run presumably the one over to Samnaun?
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Alpe Bella's the place to go for chicken 'up the hill' in the main Ischgl ski area.
And the free bus up the valley runs to about 7:15/7:30 so plenty of time to enjoy a bit of Ischgl apres after skiing/before heading home.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Garfield wrote: |
Best to do smugglers run in the morning earlier the better.
It gets a lot of sun and also a lot of people head that way towards lunch time.
Also agree re 7 and 7a. 7a can be closed fairly often or at least has been when we have been there. I think it used to be graded red but is know shown as black? can be icy at times.
Couple of mountain restaurants famous for their roast chickens. I could take you to them but cant remember their names just now. Someone will be along with the names shortly |
Alp Bella for chicken - happens to be in my favourite area of a few quite easy reds served by 3 quiet lifts (used to be even quieter but the access lift from Alp Trida was uprated in 2020)
7a used to be red, yes, now black. Often closed. 7 is a bit like the smugglers run in that it's in it's own quiet valley with no other runs.
I actually preferred the other valley run to Samnaun from Alp Trida, but that lands you where you need a short walk & bus or taxi to the cable cars (taxi free if you buy something in the duty free under a restaurant there)
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| DJL wrote: |
Thanks all. @Scarlet, I was aware there was some distance Galtur village to the ski area. I think we will be bussing each morning.
@Garfield, roast chicken sounds good! Smugglers run presumably the one over to Samnaun? |
Yes, there are two valley runs to Samnaun - smugglers is the one to the right on the map. I've been to Ischgl 4 times - I bothered with it once (it's still my wallpaper on my PC!); it's good, but I don't like taking time to get back from somewhere...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I like run 80 into Samnaun Dorf. It's a bit less flat.
We just get the free bus to the cable car.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| ste_B wrote: |
I like run 80 into Samnaun Dorf. It's a bit less flat.
We just get the free bus to the cable car. |
Never done that run due to needing to get the bus
How frequent do they run?
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| ste_B wrote: |
I like run 80 into Samnaun Dorf. It's a bit less flat.
We just get the free bus to the cable car. |
80 is smugglers - do you mean 60 where you need bus/taxi. 80 you can ski/pole to the cable car
60 still has a little walk down the road from the end of the lift isn't it? (i got the "free" taxi after buying something at duty free)
There was/is a plan to put another lift back up to Alp Trida around there somewhere I believe - "Project Laret Muller" at the map I'm looking at
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You know it makes sense.
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@buchanan101, we are all boarders and we stop at the bottom of red 80 and get the bus.
I never knew which run was called the smugglers, thanks.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@ste_B, Ha! Boarders? Serves you right!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Kramer wrote: |
| Does 80 go to the bottom of the lift or is a bus needed? |
80 you can ski if you are a skier not a boarder, but need to pole the last bit. It's not too bad especially if your skis run well
60 you need taxi or bus
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think every time I have done that red 80 it has been a slushfest at the bottom. I've only been to Ischgl in March and April.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Any recommendations for a decent mountain restaurant in See please?
Also, where's the best place to wait for a bus to Galtur or Kappl/See from Ischgl? Is it the end of the tunnel?
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I don't do off piste but I've heard people say good things about the Piz Val Gronda off chutes
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| the_dazzler wrote: |
| I don't do off piste but I've heard people say good things about the Piz Val Gronda off chutes |
The run from the top of Piz Val Gronda cable car is sometimes pisted/sometimes left as unpisted - but there is also off piste off the back of it I believe (question of turning right at the top, rather than left)
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60 is a much nicer run that the official "Smugglers Run" - though the "free taxi with duty free" is a secret I'd not heard of before so will squirrel away. Even using the bus it's only a 2min walk around the corner from the end of the run to the bus stop and Samnaun's generally low enough that you won't get cold waiting for the bus.
Ischgl has a reputation for "not having any off piste". The truth is Ischgl has some great off piste, what it doesn't have is lots of side piste. Head up the Piz Val and you can (at your own risk) throw yourself off the edge to the right and into the Fimba valley, which you can follow down to Bodenalp
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| Kramer wrote: |
Any recommendations for a decent mountain restaurant in See please?
Also, where's the best place to wait for a bus to Galtur or Kappl/See from Ischgl? Is it the end of the tunnel? |
I'd recommend the Florianplatz just at the bottom of the Pardastchgratbahn - (Across from the Nevada hotel.)
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FYI - Folks, a few beers or lunch in Almrausch at the very bottom of 60 will get you a free ride back to the Samnaun Bergbahn. (Another one to keep among yourselves).
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Mjit wrote: |
| 60 is a much nicer run that the official "Smugglers Run" |
| ste_B wrote: |
| I like run 80 into Samnaun Dorf. It's a bit less flat. |
Fight! Fight! Fight!
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| dazman wrote: |
| Kramer wrote: |
Any recommendations for a decent mountain restaurant in See please?
Also, where's the best place to wait for a bus to Galtur or Kappl/See from Ischgl? Is it the end of the tunnel? |
I'd recommend the Florianplatz just at the bottom of the Pardastchgratbahn - (Across from the Nevada hotel.) |
Do they go in both directions from there?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yeah....it's a small tarmac kind of roundabout and theres a bus stop either side it one goes Kappl direction and the other goes Galtur direction.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@dazman, thanks, that's what I thought. Sitting at the end of the tunnel can get very boring.
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| Mjit wrote: |
Ischgl has a reputation for "not having any off piste". The truth is Ischgl has some great off piste, what it doesn't have is lots of side piste. Head up the Piz Val and you can (at your own risk) throw yourself off the edge to the right and into the Fimba valley, which you can follow down to Bodenalp |
We went for about 7 years in a row with another family and our kids took private lessons from an instructor in the Samnaun ski school. He was taking them down untracked snow a week or so after snow falls. I tagged along a couple of times and at my reasonable intermediate level it was certainly as good as anywhere.
The descent under the Samnaun cablecar would be considered steep by most non high level skiers.(I didn't try it to be clear)
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You know it makes sense.
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| Kramer wrote: |
| @dazman, thanks, that's what I thought. Sitting at the end of the tunnel can get very boring. |
Also you can have a beer outside the Nevada while you wait for the next bus....or the next bus or the next one.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Kramer wrote: |
| Any recommendations for a decent mountain restaurant in See please? |
Also, where are the best places for roast chicken up the mountain?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks all for the tips, something to work with there.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Kramer wrote: |
| Mjit wrote: |
| 60 is a much nicer run that the official "Smugglers Run" |
| ste_B wrote: |
| I like run 80 into Samnaun Dorf. It's a bit less flat. |
Fight! Fight! Fight! |
Not sure it would be much of a fight as I've a feeling we both prefer the same run. 80 is the one labeled "Smugglers Run" on the piste map and while the run to the top of Samnaun is nice...but a long, flat road from there to the gondola station. 60 takes you to the other end of Samnaun and I certainly don't remember it being flat...but you have to jump a bus/taxi to get back to the gondola.
| Kramer wrote: |
| Also, where's the best place to wait for a bus to Galtur or Kappl/See from Ischgl? Is it the end of the tunnel? |
There are loads of bus stops along the length of the main road that runs outside the village so the best stop is probably the one closest to where you're stood. I know there's one down the Pardach. end of town and another if you walk down to the road from the Silvrettabhan, and I'd be suprised if there arn't also some up the other end of town.
| Kramer wrote: |
| Also, where are the best places for roast chicken up the mountain? |
Simple - Alpe Bella, accessed off the top of the N2 lift on the Swiss side, on the left of the piste map.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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2 more questions - where's the best place to eat at See?
What's the current situation with using cards for payment, both on the mountain and in the town?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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In See for me the best on mountain hutte is AscherHuue, they are a cash establisment and its pretty small, so like good comedy 'it's all about timming' Pretty well everywhere else in Paznaun valley is card or cash.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Bob wrote: |
| Pretty well everywhere else in Paznaun valley is card or cash. |
Is that still true this year, I read on Trip Advisor that quite a few had gone back to cash?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Kramer, @Kramer, I didn't find anywhere that refused a card, although I do frequently pay in cash anyway.
Flucthornalm in Galtur used to be cash only, but i can't remember if it was this year.
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Arrived in Galtur after a fraught journey. Train London Bridge to Gatwick delayed then cancelled due to signal failure. Spoke to another couple and the three of us decided to bale out and get an Uber. Made it with 5 minutes to spare and £30 (each) lighter.
Then plane had a go around at Innsbruck due to high wind. Landed second time. Apparently a second go around would have meant diversion to Munich.
Bus/train/bus to Galtur uneventful. Beer and pizza well deserved.
Skiing tomorrow. Apparently pistes are in great Nick.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Reporting in after a very enjoyable week in Galtur
We (four of us, three friends I hadn’t skied with since pre-pandemic) stayed in the Silva Peak apartments in Galtur, a 2 minute walk from the centre of town bus stop. High quality accommodation (two bedroom apartment with a decent sized and well equipped kitchen and a dining/seating area). Boot/ski room with boot warmers downstairs.
Travel was air to Innsbruck (exciting in my case with train London Bridge to Gatwick cancelled due to major signal problems so an Uber dash to get the flight with 5 minutes to spare, then a go around due to wind at Innsbruck, landing second time of asking.) then bus/train/bus to Galtur. Hired skis locally as it seemed too much hassle to bring my own and verymuch enjoyed some Volkl Deacon 72s.
First day in Galtur, a nice area with a couple of gondolas, two chairs and a few drag lifts and a full range of pistes including some pretty steep black runs and a number or skiroutes. Not too busy and only very short queues. We ended up doing three days here and it coped with that fine. A bit small for a full week.
We had two days in Ischgl which I had high hopes for. A very good lift system with mostly high quality modern and fast lifts. The queue first thing, well around 0900, at the Silvrettabahn was 45-60 minutes – not the best start. Crowds dispersed quickly and spread over the whole area but it stayed busy. We had one day finding our way around and then came back for the full tour of the “Smugglers run” gold route – 67 km including the run down into Samnaun. The two cable cars (up to Piz Val Gronda and out of Samnaun) both had 30 minute queues. Otherwise queuing was not too bad. The final run is black 4 and red 1a back into town and our legs were done by then.
The other day was in Kappl, which is further down the valley past Ischgl. Glorious sunny day, no-one around and couldn’t have been a bigger difference from Ischgl. We are not really off-piste skiers but there is a huge amount of lift served terrain in Kappl including some which looked properly serious and pretty remote.
Lift passes were a bit pricier (Ischgl E72, Galtur E52.50, Kappl E59.50) compared to what I’m used to in the PDS. Mountain food was good quality (if typically a bit salty) and about the same as the cheaper PDS restaurants. Dinner in the village a lot cheaper than Chatel. Village bakery very good.
We didn’t do very much apres, a couple of beers on mountain some days listening to typical Austrian apres music . Skiing down after piste closure was a slightly surreal experience. We found a bar in Galtur to visit after dinner one evening. We’re all getting too old for the wild nights out.
I enjoyed revisiting Austria 39 years after my first ski trip there!
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Got back from a great week in Ischgl yesterday.
First time back since 2011 when my friends and I sort of did it to death a few years in a row.
Stayed next door to the Kitzloch. First time staying in this area and really liked being so close to the bars and a couple of lifts.
A few observations and comments.
First time on the Val Gronda Cable Car and the day after it snowed a decent amount was glorious on the off piste next to run 42, and off the left side down to the E4 lift.
The pistes were in good nick most of the time. And will be improved further by this weekend's snow. The lift system really is amazing now.
Most places took card but the Schatzi and Nikis had minimum spend limits, Golden Eagle cash only, so ended up spending a fair bit of cash.
The curfew and alcohol ban makes for a much better environment around the streets IMO. And it's a myth that there are 90% men, simply not true. Places like the Kuhstall are 50/50, and even the Schatzi has a fair mix from about 6pm.
Someone on another thread mentioned the mountain restaurant which scanned your lift pass as you picked up food from the self service stations and wondered why. It's so the person on the till doesn't need to add up the cost, and you just pay.
Really enjoyed going back after the 13 year break.
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