Day 4 was the beginning of a multi-day storm cycle for the region and with snow and flat light in the forecast, I didn't see any urgent reason to return to Ischgl. I decided to hit the last of the three smaller lift-served areas in the Silvretta/Paznaun Valley region: See (pronounced "Zay" -- German for "lake"). I'm not sure why the village and ski area are called "Lake" as I didn't see one. I should've asked a local about that.
Just like Kappl and Ischgl (and most of the mountains here), you take a gondola a couple thousand feet about the village, then a chairlift for another 1,800 feet. The above-treeline upper mountain has a Grand Targhee feel about it: a consistent double-blue pitch. By the time I arrived at 10:30, four inches had already fallen and it continued snowing hard through closing bell:
The most impressive lift-served terrain at See is the Mediggrat area on the looker's left. You start by skiing along this ledge from which you look down into a deep valley:
There are all sorts of interesting lines through the trees -- this aspect went 4,000 verts to the valley. I only sampled a bit of it due to visibility issues and because I didn't want to get cliffed out for a third time on this trip:
In another similarity to Kappl, there were no more than 100 people on the hill today, all of them locals, it seemed. I was delighted to be away from the hordes of tourists and hanging out with locals. Just like in Quebec, everyone puts their small children in these sleds and drags them around:
"Please Hang Helmets on the Clothesline!"
Salad and a beer for 6 Euros -- food prices were less than half of Ischgl:
Even during a storm, Austrians like to drink outdoors:
Finally, around 3:30, soaking wet, it was time to head back to the village. The valley run, which had some interesting pitches, takes you right to the main street:
Another successful Euro trip in the can.
Just like Kappl and Ischgl (and most of the mountains here), you take a gondola a couple thousand feet about the village, then a chairlift for another 1,800 feet. The above-treeline upper mountain has a Grand Targhee feel about it: a consistent double-blue pitch. By the time I arrived at 10:30, four inches had already fallen and it continued snowing hard through closing bell:
The most impressive lift-served terrain at See is the Mediggrat area on the looker's left. You start by skiing along this ledge from which you look down into a deep valley:
There are all sorts of interesting lines through the trees -- this aspect went 4,000 verts to the valley. I only sampled a bit of it due to visibility issues and because I didn't want to get cliffed out for a third time on this trip:
In another similarity to Kappl, there were no more than 100 people on the hill today, all of them locals, it seemed. I was delighted to be away from the hordes of tourists and hanging out with locals. Just like in Quebec, everyone puts their small children in these sleds and drags them around:
"Please Hang Helmets on the Clothesline!"
Salad and a beer for 6 Euros -- food prices were less than half of Ischgl:
Even during a storm, Austrians like to drink outdoors:
Finally, around 3:30, soaking wet, it was time to head back to the village. The valley run, which had some interesting pitches, takes you right to the main street:
Another successful Euro trip in the can.
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