| Silvretta Montafon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Vorarlberg, Austria |
| Nearest major city | Schruns, Bludenz |
| Coordinates | 46°58′51″N9°57′57″E / 46.9809°N 9.9658°E |
| Top elevation | 2430 m |
| Base elevation | 700 m |
| Skiable area | 141 km |
| Lift system |
|
| Website | https://www.silvretta-montafon.at/en |
The Silvretta Montafon ski area is located in the Montafon valley in Vorarlberg (Austria). It is one of Austria's ten largest ski areas. [1] [2]
The Silvretta Montafon ski area is located in the south of Vorarlberg, the westernmost province of Austria, and extends over 17 km and 1,700 meters in altitude from Schruns via Silbertal and St. Gallenkirch to Gaschurn. It lies in the Montafon valley, framed by the Rätikon, Silvretta and Verwall mountain ranges.
The Nova part stretches along the northern flank of the Silvretta Group, the Hochjoch part on a foothill of the Verwall Group, between which the Montafon runs to the south. The valley covers 1/5 of Vorarlberg's area and is larger (562 km²) than Austria's capital city Vienna (415 km²).
The Silvretta Montafon ski area originally consisted of the two ski areas Silvretta Nova (St. Gallenkirch, Gaschurn) and Hochjoch (Schruns, Silbertal), however these merged in 2008. [3]
The region is about 40 minutes by car from Feldkirch in the Rhine Valley, south of the district capital Bludenz.
The height of the area extends from 700 m to 2,430 m. The ski area offers 141 km of certified pistes over 50% of which are at over 2,000 meters. [4] These 141 km consist of 27 easy pistes (60 km), 24 pistes of medium difficulty (45 km), 8 difficult pistes (8 km) and 28 km free ride routes. [5] [6] Skiers can improve their racing skills on two speed measurement tracks. Additionally, there are 8 km of winter hiking trails.
The 35 lifts of the ski area include 10 gondola lifts, 18 chair lifts and 5 T-bar lifts, [7] 2 magic carpets, 15 ski school lifts and 7 of them feeder lifts:
The lift capacity in the entire ski area is 65,882 people per hour. [8]
The Snowpark Montafon is situated at 2,050 m sea level, its surface covers 300,000 m². The fun park includes 40 obstacles and elements such as a boardercross, a funslope, jumps, corners, boxes, rails and wave rides. [9]
The Silvretta Montafon offers 37 classic cross-country ski-runs (72.5 km), 13 skating courses (20.9 km), as well as 7 high cross-country skiing routes (31.3 km). [10]
There are two toboggan runs which are floodlit for night-time tobogganing. From St. Gallenkirch, you can take the Garfrescha Bahn to the illuminated toboggan run in the evening. The length of the toboggan ride is about 20 minutes over a length of 5.5 km. [11]
The SBX World Cup Montafon is part of the FIS Snowboard World Cup since 2012/13. It takes place annually in December. The races are held in the Silvretta Montafon ski area, starting a little below the Hochjoch summit and finishing near the cable car's mountain station. The difference in altitude between start and finish is around 200 m.
The snowboard-cross athletes race down the 985 m long World Cup track at speeds of up to 65 km/h. The descent doesn't take more than 60 seconds. [12] The parallel slalom course however is 280 m long.
During the SBX World Cup, visitors can watch the snowboarders and skiers during the day time and enjoy concerts in Schruns in the night time. [13]
The first Open Faces Freeride Contest took place in 2017. [16] The last contest was held from 24–27 February 2022 in the Silvretta Montafon ski area. The contest was the first 4-star qualifier of the season 2022. The Open Faces venue is the terrain around the "Kleine Heimspitze" at an elevation of about 2,420 m. The length of the freeride slope is 450 m, its vertical drop is 350 m and it has a steepness of up to 60°. [17]
At the first 4-star qualifier of the season 2022 in Montafon, the riders competed for 2,500 victory points and prize money. The public could watch the runs of the riders from the mountain restaurant "Nova Stoba". [18]
Vorarlberg is the westernmost state of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest population density. It borders three countries: Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol, to the east.
The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tirol, Vorarlberg and Graubünden (Switzerland). The Austrian states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass road. The majority of the peaks are elevated above three thousand metres and are surrounded by glaciers. Thus, the area is also known as the "Blue Silvretta".
The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern and Western Alps and stretches from the Montafon as far as the Rhine. In the south, the Prättigau is its limit, and in the north, it is the Walgau. In the east, it borders the Silvretta groups. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people.
Montafon is a 39 km long valley in the westernmost Austrian federal state of Vorarlberg.
Schruns is a municipality in the Montafon valley, in the Bludenz district of the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg.
Sankt Anton am Arlberg, commonly referred to as St Anton, is a village and ski resort in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It lies in the Tyrolean Alps, with aerial tramways and chairlifts up to 2,811 m (9,222 ft), yielding a vertical drop of 1,507 m (4,944 ft). It is also a popular summer resort among trekkers and mountaineers.
Lech am Arlberg is a mountain village and an exclusive ski resort in the Bludenz district in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg, on the banks of the river Lech.
The Bezirk Bludenz is an administrative district (Bezirk) in Vorarlberg, Austria.
Galtür is a village and ski resort in the upper Paznaun valley in Austrian state of Tyrol located in the Central Eastern Alps 35 km southwest of Landeck near the border of Vorarlberg and Switzerland.
Katschberg Pass is a high mountain pass in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria between Rennweg am Katschberg in the state of Carinthia and Sankt Michael im Lungau in Salzburg.
The Bielerhöhe connects the Montafon valley in Vorarlberg with the Paznaun valley in Tirol. At 2,037 m above sea level, the Bielerhöhe lies in the Vorarlberg region, due north of the Silvretta Reservoir.
Gemeinde Gaschurn-Partenen is a municipality in the district of Bludenz in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The two largest villages are Gaschurn Dorf and Partenen.
The 2015/16 FIS Snowboard World Cup is 22nd multi race season in snowboarding. Competition consists of the parallel slalom, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross, halfpipe, slopestyle and big air.
The Brandnertal is a valley in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg as well as a ski resort named after the valley.
Damüls-Mellau is a ski area in Vorarlberg, Austria. It is most popular for its snow safety. In 2006, the village Damüls was awarded the honorary title 'snowiest village of the world'.
The Ski Arlberg ski area is situated in the Arlberg massif in the states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol (Austria).
Stuben am Arlberg is a winter sports resort in the town of Klösterle in the westernmost Austrian province of Vorarlberg. It is located at an altitude of 1,410 meters and had 90 inhabitants.
The SBX World Cup Montafon is a snowboard competition that takes place annually in Montafon in Vorarlberg (Austria) as part of the FIS Snowboard World Cup.
Snowboarding at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was held at the „Hochjoch“ ski area in Schruns, Austria from 27 to 29 January 2015.
The Laterns-Gapfohl ski area is a winter sports area in the Austrian municipality of Laterns in Vorarlberg. The ski area stretches across 27 km of slopes.