SILVRETTA MONTAFON

Silver Linings In Austria

One thing I really love about skiing in Europe is it pays to be nimble and open to hopping trains and skipping over borders at the drop of a hat to catch storms as they weave through the Alps.

A passport and a willingness to upend your plans can seriously pay off.

I was sitting in France under a relentless parade of bluebird skies with zero snow on the horizon. Instead of crying into my croissant I dove into weather forecasts and spent hours crossreferencing multiple models to hunt down a storm. I’ve lived my life chasing isobars on quests for powder runs, and that’s exactly how this spur of the moment jaunt across to Austria came about.

Unlike the US where storms careen in off the ocean and hit most of the mountains straight on from a westerly-biased direction, the European Alps run west to east. While some resorts are tucked away on aspects that receive a lot of snow from one direction, others just around the corner or literally on the other side of the ridge don’t see a single flake from the same weather event. Educating yourself on storm direction and what resorts are likely to benefit takes doing some homework.

With the impacts of global warming another integral factor of any storm chase is to head for high altitude when you can for added snow insurance. For me, terrain is also high on the check list.

Left page: Stay away from school holidays and weekends and there’s plenty of terrain like this to score with ya mates. Above, clockwise: Avalanche barriers might look like an attractive place to ski, but they are there for a reason - because its avalanche terrain. Crosses are a symbol of gratitude for protecting those in the mountains and ensuring their safe return. Forgot your goggles? Doppelmayr’s gondolas have got you covered. Authentic cuisine and ambience abounds.

I’m quickly bored by groomed runs and if I’m on a quest for new experiences I seek out off-piste, big mountains, steep terrain, backcountry access from lifts if I can get it and the least number of humans.

The icing on the cake is when this all comes together with minimal Australians. Hypocritical right? Seeing as I am one. Before the hate mail rolls in, let me explain. If I’m going to travel far from home, get stamps in my passport and take chances ordering from a menu I don’t understand I like to be immersed in that culture, to be open to local customs and language and be in the minority as the foreigner that I am. I can ski with Aussies at home.

There are so many places dotted across the vastness of the European Alps that tick my boxes. Many I’ve only heard whispers about, others I never will. Silvretta Montafon was a spot I came across while digging deep into books, online forums and asking a few industry friends for inside tips.

Montafon is situated in the Voralberg region on the western fringe of Austria bordering Switzerland. It is overshadowed by the big, household-name areas like St Anton that are just a stones’ throw to the east. I wasn’t really aware of this corner of Austria and even talking to European skiers it wasn’t strong on their radar either. So, I was keen to discover more. It was a snap decision to go and after some online research and a round of charades at the train station in Chamonix we figured out the route to take us from France, through Switzerland into Lichtenstein and finally to Austria. Half a dozen smooth train changes and 7 ½ hours later we arrived at the beginning of a three-wave storm. Low pressure sat to our east, a high-pressure system out to our west, and a cold northerly airflow carrying moisture down from the North and Baltic seas created a “North Stau” event. This is when moisture laden atmosphere hits the northern range of the alps, dropping bounteous amounts of snow due to the orographic effect of clouds being forced up into the high alpine region, offloading pow as they go.

Silvretta Montafon is massive and has two main mountain areas – Hochjoch and Nova/Valisera. It’s the result of a merging of ski areas back in 2008 and there are also a few other small areas near-by with a handful of lifts in each. The tree-line ends around the 1000-metre mark, with open bowl terrain above. With a lower than average snowpack for this time of the year, the fresh snow in the trees was too thin to ski reliably, so we stayed high.

We started our first day at Hochjoch in a white out, so continued across the mountain and down to the valley floor on the other side via the Grasjoch Bahn to Sankt Gallenkirch, then took another extended gondola ride on the Valisera Bahn taking us from 878m to 2104m where we emerged into a clearing and some glimpses of the vast area we had to explore. That’s what’s so cool about a lot of the resorts in Europe, you can simply move from one mountain to another with ease. Especially here; Doppelmayr lift company’s head office is just around the corner and Silvretta Montafon is where they road-test much of their latest technology. The sleek 10-seater cabins of the Valisera Bahn still have that ‘new lift smell’ complete with heated seats and clever holes in the floor to hold skis instead of external racks. It’s a very sexy piece of engineering (you’ll need 70 million euro if you want one) and its pretty much robot driven.

The ensuing days saw waves of snow stacking up on the Voralberg. On the fourth day there was a complete clearance as the storm blew out, we woke to clear skies and cold snow.

Having explored around Nova and Valisera we ventured back to Hochjoch which had been elusively shrouded in cloud until now. We were immediately glad we did as we landed smack dab into tonnes of fun and steep terrain and boatloads of untracked snow.

Despite our excitement we had to be cautious. All this tempting snow had landed on a hard base and there were sinister signs of avalanches lurking on all aspects. With temperatures on the rise in the sparkling sunshine we had to be mindful of which aspect we skied, where the snow had loaded due to the wind direction and where it was most susceptible to warming and ripping out.

My friend Mike and I did a short hike out to a side-country bowl and surveyed the scene. While we were scoping and planning three skiers came up on us with no backpacks or equipment between them. They looked like they’d taken a wrong turn off the groomer, so we asked if they were okay.

We got shrugs and ‘we’re fine’ from the trio. We tried to have a chat about gear, knowledge and a plan but weren’t getting through. We shook our heads and crossed our fingers as they headed off oblivious to their surroundings. The avalanche scale was sitting at a worrying four out of five and there had been ten avalanche deaths in Austria that week.

Not 15 minutes later we were half-way through our run when we saw an avalanche release over to the side of us. Two skiers were caught up in it. Thankfully the guy in the worst part of the slough had pulled his air bag quickly and made it to the surface. By the time the slide stopped it was 2-3 metres deep and the snow had already set like concrete. We raced over to help and fortunately found both guys rattled but uninjured. The three others we had talked to only moments earlier skied up only moments later. We didn’t need a shared vocabulary – the dramatic lesson was played out for all to see. The three guys who had been so flippant earlier were seeing how quickly things can take a turn. If one of them was caught in that pile of snow without a transceiver it would have taken us hours to find them and we’d have most likely been digging for a body not a life.

It wasn’t the only time we came across skiers and boarders ill-equipped and in dangerous zones, so it was cool to see the resort working to improve awareness with backcountry and freeride clinics and a dedicated centre in the Hochjoch ski area staffed a ski patroller providing avalanche intel and advice. I t’s one thing having all the gear, it’s another knowing how to use it under stress of an incident and how to avoid being caught in one in the first place.

For the rest of the day we hunted lines we were comfortable knowing we’d assessed and mitigated the risks of avalanche and it didn’t take long for the Hohjoch to become our favourite zone with plenty of fun untracked areas to play in and even a crazy tunnel cut through the mountain to get you back down to the mid-mountain area.

We visited Silvretta in late January which was just starting to see some school holiday families filtering in. Locals explained that January is when they generally have days-on-end of untracked snow and hardly any crowds. So, keep that in mind ¬– January is the time of year to be in the Alps, and especially here.

Left: Charming to say the least. Right: Everywhere you look theres empty panels to be found, even if they are surrounded by pistes

Don’t come here if you’re wanting a big party or a pumping dance-on-the-tables après scene; the resort prides itself as an “activ centre” where people come for outdoor adventures and sport. Want to dance in lederhosen with giant beer steins? Head to nearby St Anton or Ishgl –they’ve got that covered!

Around this area you’ll find plenty of warm and genuine local hospitality but it’s more a place for mellow gatherings in a local bar. Smash a steaming bowl of gulaschsuppe (goulash soup) and get stuck into the local bread while you’re here – both are awesome.

During our visit we connected with just three other Aussies. Nick from Mt Buller and Jack and Holly from Perisher – all working in mountain operations. They are rostered four days on, two days off, have good accommodation, pay and food as part of their package and all are adamant the working and living conditions are the best they’ve experienced.

If you’re thinking of working in the European Alps for a winter season, why not send an email to the HR manager of the resort Anna Kofler anna.kofler@silvretta-montafon.at to find out more and see if there is a role for you.

A few pointers on where to stay when you visit Silvretta Montafon:

• We stayed at the Tui Blue in SchrunsTschagguns tui-blue.com/en/en/hotels/ tui-blue-montafon/

It was a fabulous experience with exceptionally friendly staff, a generous breakfast buffet and such good meals we found it hard to go anywhere else. A great bar, modern rooms and even morning exercise classes are included. There is a convenient free bus service (show your lift pass) to the lifts just a minute’s walk from the hotel’s heated locker room.

• For those on a shoestring (or in this case a ski boot buckle) budget check out the hostel accommodation at St Josefsheim sanktjosefsheim.at/en for clean, contemporary “capsule” compartments at the base of the Hochjoch gondola.

• For the best on-the-spot hotel connected to the sleek Valisera Bahn complex, it’s hard to go past the Rivier Hotel at St Gallenkirch montafon.revierhotels.com/en/

• For couples and families keen to embrace the Austrian culture and live like a local, check out the many small pensions and boutique hotels tucked up near the end of the valley in the village of Gaschurn.

Ski down to your lodge at the end of the day along a run that winds between farm houses and pretty churches and past perfectly stacked woodpiles.

For more explore: silvretta-montafon.at/en

Above, clockwise: Mike Slattery, revelling in the cold dry Silvretta powder. Wormser Hutte is located high on the mountain providing traditional food and affordable lodging. The world’s longest ski tunnel interlinks mountainous bowls. Watching snow flakes fall makes you feel good. Holly Grovener, a long way from Perisher and working the gondola in Silvretta Montafon. Right: The freeride terrain is exceptional, just be smart about skiing in it. Have a partner, have a plan, have the avalanche awareness, the tools and know how to use them. If you don’t know, don’t go. Next page: Endless freeride opportunities abound, right off the lifts.

ALL THIS TEMPTING SNOW HAD LANDED ON A HARD BASE AND THERE WERE SINISTER SIGNS OF AVALANCHES LURKING ON ALL ASPECTS.LOCALS EXPLAINED THAT JANUARY IS WHEN THEY GENERALLY HAVE DAYS-ON-END OF UNTRACKED SNOW AND HARDLY ANY CROWDS.