 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
was tinking about booking a trip for montafon valley (prob schruns) in the next few weeks for 08, have to book early for big group, and i have been looking at the snow reports and forcasts for the area. the temps seem very high in comparison to other resorts ie zell am see. eg next 6 days mostly in the minus's in zell for the week. in schruns it's not even getting below 0, even hitting the teens!! . i know the are at different parts of the country but they are both similiar in altitude, around the 700 meters mark. can anyone explain the huge difference? is this the norm for the area? i have been watching this for a few weeks now and its been the same story. would i be better off looking somewhere else for the group trip?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I'm off to Schruns on Thursday, and I'll be back on Tuesday, so I'll post a report. I've been twice already this season though, and all the main runs up the top were in excellent condition. It was slushy down the bottom, but open on artificial snow right down to 700. My girlfriend is there at the moment, and aparrently they got 25 cm at the top yesterday, with a light sprinkling in the valley - that dispite the forecast saying freezing level at 1200 last night. The Alps do get cooler at lower altitudes further east you go, and it is around 3-4 hours drive to zell. Well over half the runs in the montafon valley have been open since mid december, and I would expect the last 3 or 4 to open up this weekend (at least I hope so  )
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
thanks iblair, will look forward to reading your report next week. please check the avg price of food and drink for me if you get a chance. ie price of a pizza and a pint
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Right, finally I have time to write a long post
I had a lovely weekend, skiing in pretty good conditions in great weather. I can confirm that the temperature is high at the moment - 14C in Schruns every afternoon when we finished skiing at 4.30, and one day it even got up to 20C in the sun in Bludenz, which is 100m lower and about 12km from Schruns.
Despite the temperatures and lack of snowfall this year, the pistes are actually very good. The run down into Schruns gets very slushy after about 10am, but is still skiable and 30cm ish of snow means that no rocks are showing through. The runs up in the Grasjoch area of Hochjoch are excellent both on and off piste, and 2 out of 3 off piste routes are open. The Grasjoch area has been consitently the best area in the Montafon valley most of the season, battling it out with Gargellen. Last week the Silvettra Nova area finally got some decent snow and although the pistes are not too good in some places, there is a large amount of off piste and a couple of nice off piste routes. The main problem with Silvettra Nova is that, although it's the biggest area, it gets far too busy, and all snow is quickly pushed off the slopes to reveal ice underneath. Steer clear of Golm - Really icey everywhere, and if I actually stayed for more than a couple of runs I expect it would have been shushy everywhere. It has been rubbish all season in Golm. Gargellen had some lovely off piste skiing, and I saw quite a few people setting off on the Madrissa Rundtour, which is an off piste route that goes up over the back of the mountains and supposedly takes all day. I am too lazy for the initial climb! 
If you want snow in the village, then go for gargellen at 1400m - even this year there is loads of it! It's also probably the prettiest resort. If you want a good base in the valley with what looks to be a livelier nightlife, go for Schruns or St Gallenkirch. I would stay away from Gaschurn personally, as it's a bit out of the way for anything but the relatively poor Silvettra Nova. If you do go for St Gallenkirch, it's split into two, so make sure you are near the Gondola (Valisera Bahn). If you stay in Schruns, there are two lifts up to Hochjoch, so it doesn't really matter where you stay.
Apparently Schruns was covered in snow for pretty much the whole season lsat year, so I wouldn't worry about the snow too much - it's unlikely we'll have a season worse than this next year! It is quite funny at the moment seeing cross country track markers in the town when it's t-shirt weather!
Price of a very lovely pizza in Barga's Pizzaria in Gargellen is 7.80 euros. A 0.5 litre beer is between 3 and 3.50 euros. Gargellen is seen as the most exclusive place, so pizza may be cheaper elsewhere. There is also a very nice italian restaurant with real italian people in Schruns that is good value and highly recommended!
In summary, a very good weekend in a lovely valley, which I shall be returning to in two weeks time and again in April
Let me know if you want any other info. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
thank you for the exellent report. i'm a bit suprised to hear that the silvettra nova area has poorer conditions than schruns as looking at the piste map and going tru various web sites incl montafon.com it is suggested that the area is fairly snow sure and schruns not so. is it just this weird weather year?
one question i have is about the slopes in schruns, are they almost all beginner ie blue? looks that way from map. would a group of intermediates get bored quickly? our group is from 2yr to 8yr skiers.
will we struggle to communicate without any german ie restaurant menus, bars, etc? hopefully will not trouble you anymore after this
thank you again for your help
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ