Austrian Getaway (Feb 23)
Of all the Alpine villages of this region, this has to be one of my favourites. At the top of a valley half way up the Montafon you’ll find Gargellen. This tiny picture-post-card village sits above the snow line at this time of the year so skiing down from the much higher peaks right to your door is almost always possible. It’s right on the Swiss border and forms part of a much larger ski pass area of Brand and Montafon which takes in several other resorts in this valley and beyond.
On the map, it’s midway between Davos in Switzerland and St. Anton, Lech and Zurs further up the Alrberg valley in Austria. Ischgl and Galtur are a stone’s throw away, just across the Silvretta Pass which is closed this time of year.
This place has somehow managed to maintain the character and charm of the region with traditional wooden Alpine buildings and Austrian apres-ski vibe that I love. It lacks the concrete monstrosities that adorn many ski resorts elsewhere. Its size, location, plus the absence of commercialism means that it doesn’t attract the masses, its also a haven for locals who are “in the know”.
We always have lots of elbow room on the slopes here and visit this tiny village most years as a final-day treat when we are staying anywhere nearby. However, this year we decided to book our entire holiday here, staying at the Alpenhaus Montafon apartments, right in the centre of the village.
There is an air of exclusivity about this place, but without the accompanying pretentiousness that many ski resorts have. This place feels a little special, as if the Austrian locals are deliberately trying to keep it secret from the outside world, not that I’m complaining!
We had a good dump of snow the week before we arrived, so it meant we had pretty much perfect conditions for our break with Families Cook and Barlow. We also had five days of unbroken sunshine helping to make the scenery spectacular.
There were fourteen of us here this year, some of us in lessons, but most simply blasting around the slopes in small groups. We spent the week meeting up for breakfast or lunch on the slopes and alternating our evenings entertainment, sometimes staying with our families, other times having a larger group gathering, the latter usually entailed a lot of drinking games!
Occasionally we’d head further afield to Silvretta Nova, Hochjoch or down the valley the Golm ski area near Schruns. The night time toboggan run in Garfrescha was magical as usual…
I was experiencing a “different” kind of holiday than usual, having to cancel my usual off-piste free-ride adventures (with a ski guide), and all the other high risk activities on account of being knocked out cold/unconscious at the end of the first day. I had to spend a night in hospital under observation after a CT scan! It followed a rather ridiculous slow speed fall that I can’t remember… The fall cracked open my ski helmet and left me sparked out on the floor like a Mike Tyson opponent… Luckily I was skiing with Cameron who went into rugby head-injury-assessment mode as soon as he was able to get a response…
So lots of hiking in the days that followed given I was under doctors orders not to ski for the remainder of the holiday! I was forced to slow down and simply take in the scenery, enjoy the food and relax more than I’d usually do… so always an upside!
Natty, Cameron and Tom (old Trojan Rugby team mates) loved the fact that the legal age for buying beer at a bar is 16! So a few late nights (3am+) were followed by groggy mornings! They quickly learned that commitments made for the morning have to be honoured regardless of how bad your head is feeling. Fair play to them, they all stepped up to the line!
On top of the wide array of local dishes found at the many mountain huts dotted across the resort we had a few special meals including a treat at a restaurant called Alt Montafon in Gaschurn. And for those who did the 07:30 “Hochjoch Totale” ski run before the piste opened, a scrumptious all you can eat breakfast buffet.
Hike in the Sibertal
This was the morning I was joined for a walk along the Winter-Wonder-Weg at the top of the Sibertal valley by Sarah and Alex. As soon as we walked away from the pistes the noise levels dropped and scenery which was already breathtaking, morphed into a magical landscape of isolation and wonder.
So few people had ventured on this walk that the snow of last week looked like it had fallen last night.
The sunlight glistened off the surface and the silence forced you to slow down and relax, well, that was until Sarah fell into yet another snow hole and started yelping and laughing loudly again! No chance of seeing any wildlife whilst hiking with a travelling circus!
Biking fun
Back at Gargellen, we found some mountain bikes to play on, it was so tempting that I did a quick “on the spot risk assessment” and surmised that I was unlikely to bash my head (ok, ok I put some huge blinkers on when doing the assessment), so we all took a quick spin… it was quickly determined that Emma was a natural! Just not a natural at riding a bike like this !
The card game in the Barlow’s apartment mid week, got a little silly when after 10 minutes one person (name withheld for legal reasons), was forced to drink four shots in quick succession…. We had to change the rules shortly afterwards!
My Godmothers family
We were joined on the slopes two occasions by one of my Godmother’s sons and his family, and on Friday night we visited him at his house, which is about 35 minutes down the Valley. We were joined by his brother & family, who I hadn’t seen for a few years, and my godmother and husband. So a houseful of almost 20 people sat down to a raclette cheese feast, followed by beer, schnapps and wine!
The night ended with some good old fashioned entertainment, with some violin, piano and guitar playing with the inevitable sing song! Von-Trapps – listen and learn (well – perhaps not)!
I’ve spoken about my Austrian connection in a dedicated page on this site. It explains why I’ve been coming back here following my first visits as a young child back in the 1970s. The link can be found in the side bar at the very top of this page (where-it-all-began).
The rest of the week
The end of our holiday arrived too soon! So after handing in our skis we wrapped up the week with a trip to the Alpine Roller Coaster in Golm. It is a 2.6km long exhilarating ride, where you are simply strapped to a souped-up plastic tea tray which is connected to a metal pipe. It does has a break, but the aim of the ride is to attempt it without applying it at all (if you dare)! It has twists, turns, sharp bumps and steep drops. This is always fun, and was tried out for the first time for a few of us in our group.
We always squeeze a 7th day of skiing into our holidays, it’s a really cost effective way of extending the fun.
We ended up leaving the valley about 3pm on Saturday afternoon, and headed for a small German Village called Hornbach, right on the French border, not far from Saarbrucken. A fuel top up in Luxembourg on Sunday morning, and then home via the channel tunnel. The Cooks and Barrows flew home via Zurich on account of the longer drive need to get them back to their homes in Cornwall.
OK – and as for my injury! Well, everyone in the Emerson posse managed to get seven days of skiing, and I only managed one, but it didn’t really affect the holiday as much as I initially thought it would.
I ended up doing lots of hiking and having days out in villages across the valley, oh and a memorable trip to the local sauna (more about that in a mo). It meant I was kept busy for the 6 days I couldn’t get on the slopes. I ended up doing a lot of things I wouldn’t usually do and slowed down more that I would have. There are things that I will remember from this holiday much longer than other ski-trips simply because it was different. It was also great to see Natty, Cam, Tom and Ben chill and relax into a lifestyle that isn’t permitted back home, all part of growing up and being responsible!
The quote of the week came from Emma who tried valiantly to explain to the sauna attendant in Bludenz that she was “English” and “the English don’t go naked in Saunas back home”… and after an awkward stand-off (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere) she relented and joined the Austrians, Germans and Scandinavians in their local pursuit of healthy living! Well, when in Rome… !
Now to start thinking about next year….
