The Arlberg rarely leaves anything to be desired: even in winter, via ferrata fans are happy here. Albeit with skis on their backs - but a fantastic freeride descent rewards the effort. Welcome to the Arlberg winter via ferrata.
Traditionally, there are few limits to the sheer size of the Arlberg. 88 mountain lifts, over 300 km of pistes, around 200 downhill variants - there are so many options for whizzing down into the valley on skis. But a wire rope as a guide to the untracked powder slope? That's unique even on the Arlberg. But why not! The Arlberg winter via ferrata is specially designed for the cold season and is the only one of its kind in Tyrol.
At the start of the Arlberg winter via ferrata (Photo: Simon Schöpf)
The wire rope spans 850 meters in the Rendl area over to the Rossfallscharte, a high alpine ridge crossing, insured throughout. A good quarter of the route has to be climbed on rock, otherwise you have to trudge along the ridge. If you want to train your arms as well as your thighs, you'll be happy here. Because there is no lift to pull us up this wire rope, we have to do it ourselves.
Wire rope acrobatics with skis
"So, now bend far forward, lower, right, half a turn and through", mountain guide Naggy instructs us in the gymnastic exercises that have to be completed when tackling a via ferrata with skis on your back. The steel cable can sometimes hang over your head when the wind has blown the snow off the ridge, and acrobatics are not really an option in this terrain. It's a good thing that Naggy helps us over the key sections with his well-rehearsed routine.
Ski meets wire rope: Arlberg winter via ferrata (Photo: Simon Schöpf)
Naggy's real name is Erich Schweiger and he is a veteran among the Arlberg mountain guides. For more than 40 seasons, he has been roaming the mountains of his home village of St. Anton, which he calls "the most beautiful office in the world". If you take the Galzigbahn lift to the top, Naggy knows every single lift operator by name and you float just a few meters past his parents' house. For him, leading the winter via ferrata is a welcome change from skiing and freeriding.
Continuing on the via ferrata, a clinking rrrrrrrtsch reminds us again and again of the fact that ski tips and rock don't usually meet very harmoniously. We always climb at an altitude of between 2,600 and 2,800 meters, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, then uphill again, but always along the ridge. The exposure is spectacular, with the terrain dropping steeply on both sides. We look down to the lift stations and feel like we're in another world. The lonely via ferrata is probably the starkest contrast to the regular skiing on the blue, red and black slopes far below us.
Often exposed on the ridge: the Arlberg winter via ferrata (Photo: Simon Schöpf)
Via ferrata in winter, somehow wild
A biting wind motivates us to climb on quickly. Click, click, goes the via ferrata set in the steel cable, ratchet, ratchet the ski tips on the rock. Climbing in ski boots takes some getting used to, the steel cable on your fingers is cold, the rucksack with the skis on it is heavy. But it's still fun, you feel somehow wild. After a good two hours, we reach our destination, the Rossfallscharte. And Naggy - all ski instructor - pulls a small flask out of his jacket pocket as a reward: "Swiss stone pine always tastes the best."
It tastes good, the Swiss stone pine, but the even more intoxicating reward comes when the ski boots click into the bindings: 1,500 vertical meters of descent through the unspoilt Malfontal valley await us, all the way down to Pettneu. Naggy makes parallel turns into the slope like in an instructional video, symmetry at its best, we cheer after him in a slightly less symmetrical fashion. At the bottom, not only our tired thighs but also our arms are now singing the song of sore muscles. Once again, the Arlberg has delivered, in a complete package. And we can feel a little bit like heroes.
With a great panorama: Arlberg winter via ferrata (Photo: Simon Schöpf)
Info: Arlberg winter via ferrata
The Arlberg winter via ferrata is a unique experience: with skis on your back, you set off from the mountain station of the Riffel II cable car over an 850-metre-long ridge and the Vordere Rendlspitze (2,816 m) to the Rossfallscharte. The effort is rewarded with a magnificent descent into the Malfontal valley.
Approach
From St. Anton take the Rendlbahn cable car up to the valley station of Riffelbahn I on piste no. 4. Take the Riffel lifts I and II to the mountain station (Riffelscharte, 2,645 m). The entrance to the winter via ferrata is on the right behind the lift cabin and is marked with a sign.
Descent / Departure
From the top of the climb down to the Roßfallscharte. From there, descend either eastwards through the Malfontal valley or westwards via the Roßfallwinkel back to St. Anton.
Equipment
Winter sports equipment is absolutely essential for transportation with Riffelbahn I & II (pedestrians may not be transported on this lift). Also via ferrata equipment with harness and via ferrata set as well as touring boots. The winter via ferrata on the Rendl is considered very difficult.
Alpine experience is essential, otherwise book a mountain guide! Difficulty: D Duration: 2.5 hours Difference in altitude: 250 meters Topo from Climbers Paradise Mountain and ski guide
The Arlberg ski instructors have already achieved cult status worldwide, so it's best to see for yourself. The tourism association offers a good overview of the ski and snowboard schools in the region: stantonamarlberg.com
More information on site
The competent staff at the tourist office can help with accommodation, activities and equipment hire.
St. Anton am Arlberg Tourist Office, Dorfstraße 8, A-6580 St. Anton am Arlberg, Tyrol. Tel. +43 544 622690, www.stantonamarlberg.com
Information about the winter via ferrata on the TVB website.
But at least you can go downhill on skis ... (Photo: Simon Schöpf)
