Fresh Powder at Sölden: Exploring the Gaislachkogl Peak

Fresh Powder Day: My Second Day Exploring Sölden's Gaislachkogl Terrain

It's day two in the Ötztal Valley, which means my second day of riding at Sölden—and thankfully, I still have a whole other half of the resort I haven't even seen yet. Before leaving the hotel, I head over for an amazing breakfast to ensure I have enough fuel for the day ahead, then it's time to start the drive. It's raining in Ambach, which sits at the entrance of the Ötztal Valley. If it's raining down here, it likely means it's snowing up in Sölden, as there's close to 650m difference in elevation between the two towns.

About halfway into the drive, the rain changes to snowfall and continues to get heavier as I climb up through the valley, which is surrounded on either side by towering peaks all rising above 3000m. About 15 minutes outside of Sölden, the traffic comes to a complete standstill, and I'm stuck for close to 30 minutes. I never see what's actually happening, but after a while, the traffic starts moving again. I believe the police closed one side of the road to control traffic in the heavy snowfall.

I reach Sölden by 9:30am, and today it's time to explore the Gaislachkogl side of the mountain. This base area is deeper into the valley, and you get to drive through the charming mountain town until you turn a corner and see the gondola rising out of the village up into the clouds. There's a large parking area at the Gaislachkogl base station, which I pull into and easily find a spot. I'm thrilled to see that as I walk outside, the snowfall has increased and the flakes are getting fatter and heavier.

With my two-day lift ticket already organised (thanks to the Ötztal Tourism Team), I head straight over to the Gaislachkogl gondola, which takes me to the halfway point of the mountain where I'll start my day of snowboarding. Yes, after three days of skiing, it's time to jump back on the snowboard, which feels more natural, especially with all this fresh snow to explore. The Gaislachkogl part of the resort feels like its own ski resort and is really only connected to the other areas via one chairlift. This is the thing about Sölden—it's so huge and spread out that it feels like it could be three different ski resorts. In reality, you could probably spend a whole week skiing here and only then feel like you've explored all the areas completely.

For me, I had two days and I was on a mission to conquer the Gaislachkogl and eventually get myself up to the top of the peak—the third main peak at Sölden which rises over 3,000m in elevation, something the team is quite proud of here. I head down from the middle station with limited visibility. It's also the first day I've been back on my snowboard in about 7 months, so I'm feeling a little rusty, but I continue on the number 3 piste, which eventually turns into an advanced trail full of powder moguls and a few powder stashes on the side. This run leads me down to the A14 lift, an express six-pack that would take me somewhere—honestly, I have no idea where I'm going; I'm just getting on lifts and seeing where I end up. Thankfully, this lift has a nice blue bubble to keep all that fresh snow outside and not making me wet on my first lift ride of the day.

Heading to the left of the summit of the A14 lift leads to the number 2 piste. Again, visibility is limited, so I just decide to ride until I find another lift, which turns out to be the A12 T-bar that goes up between the trees.

There's something very special about riding a T-bar through a forest while fresh snow is falling—you really have to experience it to understand. At the summit, you pop off to the side and end up back on the number 2 piste, which connects through to number 8, the run that will take me all the way back to the base of the Gaislachkogl gondola. The number 8 piste is long, flat, but an incredible ride as it weaves down through the forest. You need to keep your speed up here; otherwise, you'll have to unbuckle and push along, and it might be hard to regain speed.

Back at the base, I decide I need a coffee, so I go hunting for a café or even the supermarket. I take a 15-minute walk through the village and eventually find the Spar, the local supermarket, only to discover it opens at 1pm. There's an incredible bridge behind the supermarket that crosses over the river below and is magical to see as fresh snow falls across the whole area. I never do find that coffee, but there's a RedBull in my car, so I make my way back there to have a RedBull and a Snickers for morning tea. Then it's back onto the gondola as it's now time to get to the very top.

From the mittelstation (middle station), you change from the A10 gondola onto the massive 3S Gondola, a beast of a machine—this will be my chariot to take me from 2174m up to 3058m, the summit of the Gaislachkogl peak. As the gondola heads up, I can see the clouds starting to clear, or maybe it's just the difference in elevation, but I can now see the sun. The views from this part of the resort might be the best Sölden has to offer. At the top of the gondola station, there's a viewing platform on the roof and a walkway that leads to the biggest mountain cross I've ever seen. But it's the views of the Tiefenbach Glacier, the Giggijoch zone on the other side, and even over to Hochgurgl and Obergurgl (the other two ski resorts in the Ötztal Valley) that are truly spectacular. I'm not visiting them on this trip as I need reasons to come back.

The other major drawcard at the summit of the Gaislachkogl is the 007 Elements museum, which is, of course, a James Bond museum. The whole area was used in the filming of SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond film, with a lot of the outdoor shots taking place in the resort. You can pay to go into the museum and see all the history of James Bond; however, I'm here at Sölden to ski, and with only two days of riding, James Bond will have to wait. What is really awesome, and everyone should do, is to take off your skis or snowboard and use the walkways to climb up to the viewing platforms and the Giant Cross, which marks the summit of the peak.

Now it's time to head down. There's only one trail that leads down, and of course, it's the Number 1 Piste—this intermediate run is long, wide, and contains a number of interesting sections. There's an advanced 1A run, but I can never find the entry point, only the lower section where the main piste reconnects to it. After winding your way down, the trails connect to a number of other pistes, and you find your way back to the middle station, where you can decide to go back up or head further down. I, of course, decide to go back up because, one, this lift is an awesome piece of engineering, and two, I have one day to explore this area, so I want to make the most of it.

It's back down the Number 1 piste—again, can't find the entry to that advanced trail—but this time when I get to the number 4 piste, I head left and down toward the northern side of the Gaislachkogl mountain. There are tonnes of fresh snow under the A16 lift, which makes for incredible powder runs, and then connects to the number 5 piste, which leads me down to the lifts. I'm originally trying to get onto the C31 lift but don't realise the base station is further down the run, so by accident, I end up on the A17 lift that takes me back to the start of the number 5 piste. I'm not complaining, as the powder runs I've just taken are so much fun, and here I am getting to do it again. A quick lap through the powder with incredible views of the whole valley, and I'm now on my way to the C31 lift, only because I now know where to go.

The views from the Gaislachkogl summit looking back towards the Tiefenbach Glacier. Credit: SnowStash

Why am I trying to get to the C31? It's because I need to take this lift to connect up to the glaciers. It's mid-afternoon, and I want my final run at Sölden to be a full top-to-bottom experience. To achieve this, I need to reach the top of the Rettenbach Glacier at 3340m. Getting there is no small task. From the C31, I ride to the D51, then get on the D53 gondola, which takes me to the E61 gondola, and then connect to the E62 gondola. That's five rides, but I also climb about 1500m in elevation and cross over a LARGE part of the alpine mountains.

The top-to-bottom trail at Sölden is the longest connected ski run in Austria, about 15km in length with 1977m of vertical—yes, from 3340m down to 1363m—so it's a leg-burner of a run. I take the 32 piste, which is wide open with not many riders; most jump on the 33 as that's the main trail. But I want to take on the number 31 piste, as it's used in the FIS World Circuit and is normally the opening event of the World Cup ski races each year. You then connect onto the number 30 piste, and this is where it gets busy but also flat.

I know about this flat section going into this adventure, and I also know that being on a snowboard is going to bring challenges. However, I tell myself that I just need to keep my speed up, and all will be ok. You could say this part of the run is the hardest; it's a beginner slope, so it's busy, and people are going left, right, left, right, while I'm trying to maintain my speed.

Eventually, the run opens up where I started this whole journey at the C31 lift, and it's now time to take the number 7 piste, which weaves its way down to the base area. After spending so long on the flat sections, it's fun to have a bit more adventure and pitch to the trails. One thing I love on a snowboard is moguls, as it becomes a technical challenge where you just have to quickly move between bumps. The number 7 run connects me down under the two T-bars but also to Phillips, a bar I've been told to check out. It's here I spend the next hour enjoying a beer, the music, and reflecting on how amazing my two days at Sölden have been.

The resort is really something else and needs to be seen and experienced to believe. While it doesn't seem as connected as other ski resorts, it feels like three different resorts that you can ride on one pass. If you look at it from that aspect and choose a place to spend your day rather than trying to explore the whole mountain, you'll find joy in Sölden.

With that, it's back to the car where I start my 2-hour drive over to the Zillertal Valley. We're only four days into this European adventure, and I'm already blown away by this region. But with the Zillertal Valley up next, it isn't hard for me to get in the car and enjoy the mountain views on the drive.