Day in Solden in April

A snowHead

Having a short break in Obergurgl mid April and planning to upgrade the lift pass to have a day in Solden.

Will have a hire car.

What's the best place to park up in Solden ?

Anyone any views as to the best bits of Solden to ski on a one day, late season trip ?

We are two piste skiing intermediates.

Do not need to sample the interesting Apres ski (with my 10 year old....)

Many thanks

A snowHead

We went for a week in April last year, had some late season snow which made it fantastic. It's certainly more expansive than obergurgl. There are two main gondalas up to the snow, both on the main road with ample parking and both a connected via buses. Its all very efficient. Would say more spaces at the newer gaislachkogelbahn, but this side is limited and more tricky compared to the rest at that time of the year. Suggest You carry on down the main road to the Giggijoch. This will take you up to the main ski area, and also gives you easier access to the glacier (s) area which offers fantastic conditions and somewhere to spend a lot of your day.

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If the snow is good I would recommend that you park up at the Gaislachkogelbahn - this is the first of the two lifts you would come to travelling from Obergurgl. This cable car goes all the way to the top of a 3000m plus mountain that has some spectacular runs coming down it towards the mid station. From the mid-station it's pretty easy to navigate yourself over to the Giggijoch skiing area and then on to the glaciers. Its definitely worth visiting the glaciers, there is a tunnel through a mountain connecting the two glaciers which I'm sure your 10 year old would enjoy skiing through.

The Rettenbach glacier (on the right of the piste map) is where they do the early season world cup runs, I find it a little less busy than the Tiefenbach but the skiing is pretty similar on both. Both are perfect for carving and getting up a lot of speed. When coming back from the Tiefenbach to the Rettenbach you can go down Blue 34 and then ski along a path across the Glacier itself and back to the main station. Whenever I've done this the blue ice of the Glacier is well on show and you can pause for a few snaps. This path can get busy though so if you don't like busy paths then perhaps avoid in the last hour of day. From the bottom of the Rettenbach you can either head over to the Giggijoch on the Gondola or you can head down Blue 30 which will take you to the bottom of two chairs - one which goes back to the Gaislachkogel area and one which goes towards the Giggijoch. This blue used to a be an ungroomed ski route and I've not skied it since they changed the classification but it was good fun and worth it.

If it hasn't snowed for a while then you might find that the runs on the Gaislachkogel get a bit hard and icy in which case I'd suggest starting from the Giggijoch gondola. The Giggijoch has some very pleasant skiing but is overall less challenging and so this is where most of ski school groups end up. If you go on a busy day the queues to get back down on the Gondola from here can be big.

Also depending upon how late you go and the snow conditions you may be able to drive straight to the glacier in your car (would need winter tyres and chains at a minimum) or there is a bus.

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Thank you very much for this detailed information. The tunnel and a world cup piste will definitely will definitely prove a hit with the boy !

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Day in Solden in April

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