It’s white outside here in Vaasa and much of the Northern Hemisphere, and inevitably my mind turns towards skiing! At the moment the next trip towards snow-covered mountains is still a wee bit off, but telling you about my last trip to Vorarlberg with Björn makes the waiting time more enjoyable - and helps you plan your own visit to the secret spot of Warth-Schröcken!
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You like winter? The sound of crunching snow under your soles, the crisp cold air of the mountains blowing in your face, your breath visible in the minus temperatures and fresh snow on the hills sounds like Paradise to you? Then you probably are as excited about the winter season as me! Lets kick this trip report off with a visual feast from Warth-Schröcken in the Bregenzerwald Region of Vorarlberg, Austria.
These tiny villages lie just across the Border from Germany, but even when they are close to Germany it’s not too easy to get there so it has remained a calm ski area, but with over 300 km of ski slopes, 15 cable cars and 45 chair lifts it’s easy to get up the mountain - and there are also connections to the Ski Arlberg ski area, which has close to hundred lifts and hundreds of kilometres of slopes for you to explore. Overall there’s enough possibilities here for one to stay for a week and never ski the same slope twice. And if groomed slopes are not your cup of tea, then rest assured - there’s plenty of skitouring and lift-assisted skiing off-piste possible in Warth-Schröcken - just make sure you have your ∞ safety equipment along and know how to use it!
Björn and me spent a long weekend in the region, with three days on the hills and slopes. Out first day we spent with a local legend, Olympia Gold-Medal Winner Hubert Strolz. The idea was to do the Pfarrer-Müller-Ski-Tour together, but conditions were not perfect and so Hubert, Björn and me explore the local powder hills in vicinity of the lifts.
It’s a great morning and afternoon that we spend together, the three of us, and Hubert has many tips for us what to explore during the next couple of days. It’s starting to get dark when we say good bye to Hubert, head a final time together up with the chair lift and ride back down to our Hotel. It’s tempting to go and have a drink, but Björn and me are even more tempted by the Spa area in our Hotel, with the different Saunas!
Skitouring around Warth-Schröcken
The next morning we decide to do some lift-assisted off-piste skiing - a fresh layer of ❄️❄️❄️ makes this a very nice way to explore the ski area while not needing to put on the ∞ Contour skins and hiking up the mountains. The sun comes out, together with some blue sky, and Björn and me are really enjoying the pretty views and great snow just besides the groomed slopes.
Shredding through the powder with screams of joy, we take the lifts up again and again, happy about the great weather and conditions. Our common friends Nina and Dirk saw that we are in the area, and as they life here over the winter they suggest to meet up for an afternoon of skiing. Björn and me take the Gondola over to the Lech-Zürs ski area - we have a ski pass which allows us to use the lifts in the whole area - where we meet Nina & Dirk - though as it’s past noon we all feel lunch is in order, so we head to one of the many restaurants on the slopes.
With renewed vigour the four of us ski in the sunshine, laughing together, while Dirk and Nina share stories from local adventures in these pretty mountains. In the afternoon we decide to head up to the start of the Pfarrer-Müller-Ski-Tour, but after some tests of the slopes we decide together it’s better to head back down the way we came and enjoy the Powder Snow there.
And so we finish our second day in Warth-Schröcken, which we end once more in the Sauna of our Hotel and with a tasty vegetarian dinner!
The next day the Weekend starts, and it’s a lot more busy than it was the previous days. Additionally, in Warth grey clouds hang above us, so we decide to head again over to the Arlberg with our combined Skipass, which gives us access to hundreds of lifts and slopes. And see there - over on the other side of the mountains we find blue sky and sunshine!
We ski on the slopes and off-piste, finding some pockets of untracked powder, which on this busy Saturday is rather nice. Sadly our luck with the weather doesn’t hold too long, and soon also in Lech-Zürs the clouds hang above us. Ah well, there’s no bad weather - just bad clothing, and so we continue to ski and enjoy the good conditions on the slopes - and the tasty food in the Restaurants!
As we haven’t been to the village of Schröcken just yet, we decide to ski the long run to the village and take the local Ski Bus back to Warth. On the way beautiful wooden cabins stand alone under a blanket of snow, and we also find some more untracked powder runs!
Back in Warth we head up the mountain for one final run - one final run down to Warth, the small village which lays in a deep valley, with so many great ski mountains around it!
Getting there
Warth-Schröcken is a “Secret Spot” because it isn’t so easy to get there with public transportation. When Björn and me where looking at going there from Munich with Public Transportation there were some options, but it was much easier to rent a car and drive there. So that is what I would recommend too, if you want to travel there the fastest way possible - for us it was actually more important to be in a timely fashion back in Munich at the Airport and Railway Station to catch our plane and train back north. If you don’t have such time pressure, then you can check via Google Maps the Options available with Public Transportation to Warth-Schröcken.
Where to stay
We stayed at the wonderful Hotel Walserstube in Warth, a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hotel with very beautiful and comfortable rooms, a magnificent Spa area and tasty breakfast and dinner. Björn and me shared a spacious room with a balcony and a great view, and what is very great about the Walserstube is also that it’s just across the street from the Lift Station and a Bus Stop. Overall a great place to stay and I can’t wait to return there in the future.
Should you go? Definitely!
Warth-Schröcken has been everything I thought it would be - and more. Friendly locals, a superb skiing infrastructure and easy off-piste possibilities next to the slopes, with great powder snow. Add in many different possibilities of sleeping, eating and enjoying the village - you also can go winter hiking and sledding here, amongst other things - and it’s easy to see why people who have once visited Warth-Schröcken continue to come back to it!
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