Kappl, AT 01/30/13

Day 4: Kappl in the morning + Ischgl in the afternoon
So after the last three days at Ischgl, which overwhelms you in all sorts of ways, I decided to try another of the smaller, family ski areas, like Galtür on Day 1, that are included in the Silvretta region ski pass: Kappl. It's just five minutes up the road from Ischgl and has a reputation for being "modest in size," "great for families," and "the sunniest ski area in the region," which means the same thing in all languages: south-facing. Hey, they even have it in English: "Sunny Mountain!"




From the base building:



... you take a 1983-vintage Doppelmayr gondola 2,500 vertical feet to the top of the treeline:



From there, you continue up to the summit, more than 3,000 feet higher, so that's the vertical you're working with. It's all above-the-treeline, which means the 27 miles of groomed trails (that's why it's classified as a "small" mountain) are a tiny portion of the skiable acreage and as you can see, pretty much everything is skiable, especially after Kappl got a six-inch shot of snow overnight:





I was really happy to be one of maybe 100 people on the mountain, 85% of whom weren't there to ski untracked. For the next two hours, I did lap after lap of calf-deep pixie dust -- anywhere that wasn't groomed was fair game. No in-action pix, but my tracks are somewhere in there:





By about 11:15, the sun had begun doing its work on the new snow. You can see in this pic -- the only in-action shot I could get -- that it was getting a bit more meaty:



So I did a few groomers that were like creamery butter, then went back to the top of the mountain because I had seen a sign up there with an Autobahn icon and wanted to know what the deal was. I followed a young couple and their kid:



Around the top of the peak; here's the father:



... and you come out the other side with this incredible view of a groomed path going right down the middle of a valley (Trail #9 on the far looker's right). You can just barely make out the trail and some people further down:



Here's a reverse shot looking uphill from the just below the top -- as always, you have the opportunity to grab some extra-credit untracked turns along the side:



Down you go at full speed:



Further:



Finally, you arrive at the bottom lift, 3,200 vertical feet later, with burning thighs:



At which point, I decided that it was time for a Weissbier at the conveniently located Restaurant Huiseralm:



After the beer, I went back to the base and headed over to Ischgl for the afternoon -- wait, it gets better.

After reading these posts, I've decided to start a small savings account ($25 a paycheck) entitled "Future European Ski Trip". I should have enough money in about 6 years.

Awesome reports

Thanks for sharing this.

I know what you post here is the closet I'll get to being there---looks incredible

Definitely the TR of the season..

I made it to the Ischgl mid-station Idalp hub by 12:45.



On my first run, where I was just poaching low-hanging fruit along the main arteries, I saw something that I can't imagine seeing in the U.S. 14, count 'em, 14 Pisten Bullies were doing a synchronized groom on a principal trail. On the trail map, there's a "did you know?" blurb that says Ischgl has 36 of them and they cost $650K each.





Also in the Idalp area is a complete helicopter landing area and admin building. This copter had just landed, I assume to pick up someone who had ridden down in the meat wagon.




For the next two hours, I did the same thing as at Kappl, lapped untracked snow, but at Ischgl, it was still in nice shape even mid-afternoon. I went back up to the Switzerland side and here is my very first self-made panoramic photo, showing half of Alp Trida, the other half is out of the frame to the left. The stitching software flattens the terrain; that's a 2,700-vert drop from where I'm standing.




Finally, here's an example of the five restaurants on the Swiss side. Sorry, I'm a traditionalist and don't think that a ski area is a place for Mies Van der Rohe, but apparently the Swiss do.

 

Please stop..
i'm sick with envy

Thanks yet again for making my day James!!!!



Please please please don't listen to JasonWx.....

(Sorry Jason.....)

TD

Wonderful shots. That last Swiss restaurant looks like a modern version of Hunter's top of the mountain concrete bunker.

Yea got to pile on. Awesome. Great story telling.

Love the 3000 foot plunge that ends with lunch, beer and then more skiing.

Beautiful.  Just gorgeous. I have, for over a decade, been dying to ski some of the areas that you've been posting about this week...along with a few places in Switzerland and Italy.  I may be skiing Platty's hardpack this weekend but my mind is high in the Alps.  

Thanks.

Nice report, thanks.  We skied in Austria about 5 years ago, and you perfectly capture the vibe:  strong preference of most of the the ski folk for groomers, eating and drinking over skiing.  I would like to point out that skiing over there isn't going to set you back much more than a trip out west if you plan carefully.