Silvretta Montafon (Ski area)

Coordinates: 46°58′51″N 9°57′57″E / 46.9809°N 9.9658°E / 46.9809; 9.9658
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Silvretta Montafon
LocationVorarlberg, Austria
Nearest major citySchruns, Bludenz
Coordinates46°58′51″N 9°57′57″E / 46.9809°N 9.9658°E / 46.9809; 9.9658
Top elevation2430 m
Base elevation700 m
Skiable area141 km
Lift system
Websitehttps://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]

Geography[edit]

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.

Lifts and slopes[edit]

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.

On a piste in the ski area Silvretta Montafon
The mountain station of the gondola lift "Panorama Bahn" in the Silvretta Montafon area

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 Hochjochbahn (cable car) and Zamangbahn (6-person gondola) in Schruns,
  • the Valiserabahn (6-seater gondola) and Grasjochbahn (8-seater gondola) in St. Gallenkirch,
  • the Garfreschabahn (2-seater chairlift) in Gortipohl,
  • the Versettlabahn (6-person gondola) in Gaschurn and
  • the Kapellbahn (2-seater chairlift) in Silbertal.

The lift capacity in the entire ski area is 65,882 people per hour.[8]

Snowpark Montafon[edit]

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]

Cross-country skiing[edit]

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]

Sledding[edit]

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]

Panoramic photo from the mountain station of the "Panorama Bahn" in the Silvretta Montafon ski area

Races in the Silvretta Montafon[edit]

FIS Snowboard World Cup[edit]

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]

Chronology of Snowboard World Cup races in the Montafon valley[edit]

  • 2021/22: from 9–11 Dec 2021
  • 2020/21: Due to policies to fight Covid-19, all races in the Montafon valley (FIS Ski Cross Weltcup, FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup) had to be postponed to 15 and 16 January 2021, and later be cancelled completely.[14]
  • 2019/20: snowboard cross (men/ladies) on 13 Dec 2019
  • 2018/19: In December 2018, all races of the Montafon World Cup had to be cancelled due to lack of snow.[15]
  • 2017/18: snowboard cross (men/ladies), team snowboard cross (men/ladies) on 16 Dec 2017
  • 2016/17: snowboard cross (men/ladies) on 16 Dec 2016, team snowboard cross (men/ladies) on 18 Dec 2016
  • 2015/16: snowboard cross (men/ladies) on 12 Dec 2015, team events (men/ladies) on 13 Dec 2015
  • 2014/15: parallel slalom (men/ladies) on 18 Dec 2014, team events (men/ladies) on 19 Dec 2014
  • 2013/14: snowboard cross (men/ladies) on 7 Dec 2013, team events (men/ladies) on 8 Dec 2013
  • 2012/13: snowboard cross (men/ladies) on 7 Dec 2012, team events (men/ladies) on 8 Dec 2012
Heimspitze mountain top

Open Faces Freeride Contest[edit]

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]

Photo gallery[edit]

  • Vorderkapell in the ski area Silvretta Montafon
    Vorderkapell in the ski area Silvretta Montafon
  • A gondola lift in the Silvretta Montafon
    A gondola lift in the Silvretta Montafon
  • View from the Nova Stoba hut to the Valisera mountain (2,716 m) of the western silvretta in the Montafon
    View from the Nova Stoba hut to the Valisera mountain (2,716 m) of the western silvretta in the Montafon
  • The ski hut "Nova Stoba"
    The ski hut "Nova Stoba"
  • View in the ski area
    View in the ski area
  • View of a slope of the ski area
    View of a slope of the ski area
Panoramic view of the Silvretta Nova

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "BERGFEX: Skigebiet Silvretta Montafon - Skiurlaub Silvretta Montafon" (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  2. ^ "Größte Skigebiete in Österreich - Meiste Pistenkilometer" (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  3. ^ Pellert, Hans Günter (2010-08-26). "Die Hochjoch-Fusion geht ins Finale". vol.at. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  4. ^ "Skiing - Silvretta Montafon". www.silvretta-montafon.at. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  5. ^ "Skiing Silvretta Montafon: Ski area Silvretta Montafon - Snowboarding Silvretta Montafon - Cross-country skiing". www.bergfex.com. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  6. ^ "BERGFEX: Skigebiet Silvretta Montafon - Skiurlaub Silvretta Montafon" (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  7. ^ Winter: Winter-Facts at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-08-12), montafon.at – mit Pistenkarte ski3.intermaps.com; Silvretta Montafon. bergfex.at – mit Pistenkarte und Details Lifte, Pisten und Sport.
  8. ^ "Skigebiet Silvretta Montafon - Skiurlaub - Skifahren - Testberichte" (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  9. ^ "Skigebiet Silvretta Montafon - Skiurlaub - Skifahren - Testberichte" (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  10. ^ "Skiing Silvretta Montafon: Ski area Silvretta Montafon - Snowboarding Silvretta Montafon - Cross-country skiing". www.bergfex.com. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  11. ^ "Nachtrodeln Garfrescha - Bergerlebnisse Silvretta Montafon" (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  12. ^ "Weltcup Montafon im Dezember 2019". www.montafon.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  13. ^ "World cup Montafon December 2020". www.montafon.at. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  14. ^ Montafon Tourismus GmbH. "PRESSEINFORMATION MONTAFON TOURISMUS. Weltcup Montafon im Jänner abgesagt" (PDF). Montafon.at. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Weltcup in Montafon – The world's top-ranking ski- and snowboard-crossathletes". Urlaub in Vorarlberg. 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  16. ^ Qualifier, Open Faces Freeride. "Archiv". Open Faces Freeride Qualifier Austria (in German). Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  17. ^ Qualifier, Open Faces Freeride. "4* FWQ Silvretta-Montafon". Open Faces Freeride Qualifier Austria (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  18. ^ Qualifier, Open Faces Freeride. "4* FWQ Silvretta-Montafon". Open Faces Freeride Qualifier Austria (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-28.
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