Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Good conditions in Galtur

23rd March 2010, by Wendy King

Attractive, varied scenery in Galtur

Gazing at the mountains from my balcony early this morning, revealed another mostly bluebird day – rapidly clearing skies and great views. So, I was keen to get out on the slopes.

The last time that I skied Galtur, we barely saw the mountain for the whole week – bathed as it was in grey cloud. Today, though, the very distinctive Ballunspitze (2670m) greeted us with glorious weather for a day on its slopes. And with temperatures feeling a little fresher this morning, we found the snow to be in much better condition here than in Kappl yesterday.

Our guides for the day were Nadine and Victoria, and they soon had us whizzing around the Silvapark ski area. Since my last visit, the ski area has been rebranded into various zones that help visitors identify suitability for different parts of the mountain. We started with the freeride zone! Not anything official as such, just indicated with flags to highlight the area’s potential.

Actually, the snow was not great for off-piste: too heavy and spring-like. But over this back side of the mountain the slopes were shadier, so we enjoyed a couple of fast runs down the red and the black (more of a hard red) before tackling mainly red runs on the front side. It was noticeably busier in Galtur with ski school and children than in Kappl, but never overcrowded. This is a popular family area. The resort now has a ‘slow zone’ on one of its busiest blue runs, with traffic lights; strangely no novices seemed to use it, bypassing that section for the rest of the run.

One of my favourite runs in this resort is number 8, an easy red, and with splendid views across the dam. There is a T-bar back up, followed by more wide runs to the valley. We had a splendid morning criss-crossing the slopes in this compact but attractive area.

Lunch was at the Panorama Tenne, near the bottom of the slopes and the gondola station, where we shared two variations of Tirolean grostl (a hearty mountain dish of fried potatoes, meats and egg), plus the traditional cheesy pasta dish. We left a little gap for the delicious kaiserschmarren dessert too.

The afternoon skiing was rather more leisurely, as the snow was hard work. But we had skied most of the area in the day. We took the gondola back up the hill for a few more red runs and a photo shoot at Galtur’s ice sculpture – now sadly melting fast. There was time for a beer and a bit of Boney M at the cute Wieberhimml hut before calling it a day and skiing back to Wirl on the lovely wide red run to the bottom of the Birkbahnen chairlift.

So, with the stars out and a clear night it looks set to be another sunny day tomorrow. We will be cruising around Ischgl and Samnaun, hoping to pack plenty of good spring skiing in to our last day. First though, it’s time for a sophisticated drink by the fireplace in the design hotel the Madlein. It is also home to a branch of the famous Pacha night club, but that can wait for another night .... we’re all resting tired legs for tomorrow.

• ischgl
• king
• galtur
• kappl

Back to all blogs