Skiing in the Montafon

From summer retreat to winter sports hotspot

Historical impressions: The Schrunser Hochjochbahn in the mid-1960s.(Bild: Sammlung Risch-Lau / Vorarlberger Landesbibliothek)

The first tourists were drawn to the Montafon in the middle of the 19th century - for a so-called summer retreat. Later, the valley became one of the largest ski resorts in Austria.

People enjoyed nature, climbed one or two mountain peaks and breathed in the fresh Alpine air. However, ski tourism only took off much later. Although the first winter sports clubs were founded at the beginning of the 20th century and the Hochjoch became a playground for ski pioneers, there was no sign of a boom like the one on the Arlberg. Between the two world wars, the first ski schools were finally founded, making the sport accessible to many people. 

The first lifts, the first ski resorts
However, winter sports only became an economic factor in the Montafon after the Second World War. The first ski lift was built in Grabs in 1947, followed by the Hochjochbahn in 1950. The fact that the Illwerke opened up their lifts for the power stations - for example on the Golm - for tourist use also contributed to the development of the first ski resorts. However, it would take until the beginning of the 1980s before the number of guests in winter caught up with those in summer and eventually surpassed them.

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The fact that the Montafon is primarily known for skiing today is due in no small part to German entrepreneur Walter Klaus. He had been driving the expansion of the infrastructure since the end of the 1960s and was responsible for merging the Gaschurn and St. Gallenkirch ski resorts to form the "Silvretta Nova".

One of the largest ski areas in Austria
In 2007, Klaus sold his shares to the Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg, followed by the merger of Silvretta Nova with the Hochjoch cable cars in 2008. This created the Silvretta Montafon ski area, which is now one of the ten largest resorts in Austria with around 140 kilometers of pistes and 35 lifts.