Today we went snowshoe hiking in Montafon for the first time. Therefore, we decided to book a guided tour. Meeting point was the Vermuntbahn valley station in Partenen in Montafon. There, we meet our guide and the other participants. First everyone got their equipment (snowshoes, sticks and avalanche gear) and we got an introduction on how to use it. Afterwards, we took the Vermuntbahn up to 1700 meters. And from the top station we had to take the bus for about 10 minutes. The bus drove us even further up the mountains.
Snow as far as the eye can see
At some point the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere and we got off. The view was just breath-taking. Somehow it was a little bit sad that we could not start hiking right from the meeting point but this allowed us to get to a place where no one else was around and we were totally on our own. We were lucky that it snowed two days ago and there were no tracks of previous groups visible. As far the eye can see there was untouched snow.
After everyone put on their snowshoes, we began our hike. The guide up front and we followed her. It did not take long until we were at the end of the group because we always had to stop to take pictures but at the end it was easier to walk because the others had already prepared the way. After about 15 minutes, we had to take the first break and take of the first layer of clothes because it was already getting too warm.
The weather gets better and better!
Actually the weather forecast for today was rather bad – cloudy with some snow. But already at the valley station we could see some blue sky. After about an hour into our hike the weather got better and better and we had permanent sunshine. The pace was very moderate and on top of each hill we took a short break where the guide would handout some cookies or tea. At the hill side we could see that some small avalanches went off, so as beginners we were quite glad that we were on a guided tour. For a short while on the way, we had a very nice view on Piz Buin, the highest mountain of Vorarlberg.
After about 5 hours, we reached our goal, the Berggasthof Piz Buin. We all sat down together and had some drinks. A very nice ending of a perfect tour.
The snowshoe hike to the Silvrettasee is a very nice snowshoe hike for young and old, experienced and unexperienced. For unexperienced ones this tour is a very nice opportunity to discover some untouched winter landscapes.
The costs of this tour is 30€ for the guide plus expenses for the Vermuntbahn. As a participant of the snowshoe hike you will get a discount for the Vermuntbahn.
