3 days of heavy snowing (at the end of April!) just before the last weekend that Ischgl – one of the biggest ski-resorts in Tirol (crossing Austria and even Switzerland) – is open.
And the weather forecast? Sunny bluebird. This means one thing: get up Saturday, take all our skiing gear and head direction Ischgl. Goal of the day was clear – a proper skiing farewell to 2016/17’s winter season.
Conditions couldn’t be better, might even have been the best during this entire season. Fresh, glittering snow covers the slopes…but most importantly, the great off-piste areas.
Whilst waiting for the first gondola, we saw that we weren’t the only ones that had realized these heavenly-conditions. Many groups of excited skiers and snowboarders were standing in the line with us. We needed to be fast to catch as many fresh-lines as possible before all of it was ridden. Of course, with full avalanche -equipment in the backpack. Safety first.
At 12pm it was time for a well-deserved break. As we already had skied the best lines, sunbathing and food was now more attractive than staying on the slopes. We wanted to avoid the usual midday-overload in restaurants in Ischgl, and rather find a cozy, calm place to have a break. So we took the off-piste ride to Heidelbergerhutte.
Heidelbergerhütte is a mountain hut located in Silvretta Alps in Switzerland, almost touching Austrian boarders. It is easily accessible from Ischgl resort – via Piz Val Gronda and some nice off piste ride (otherwise via several ski-touring routes). Skiing over the border, we found us a sunny table on the terrace of hut. It was the last week that the hut is open for the winter season (it opens again for the summer season beginning of June).
They serve Kaiserschmarrn. Amazing. There is no need to read the other possibilities of sweet-treats (even though the home-made cakes are very luring). After 15 minutes, the Kaiserschmarrn was served in pan, I love this ‘authentic’ touch as it gives me the feeling of being at traditional hut. It had big fluffy pieces with two different and delightful toppings (cranberries and apple mouse), a sufficient dusting of sugar and no raisins. It was delicious, and did not take long until it was all gone.
With happy bellies it was no problem to take a quick nap on the sun and afterwards enjoy last ride down, back to Ischgl. Nicely tired driving home to Innsbruck, we agreed that we couldn’t ask for better winter-goodbye session. It was a blast! Can’t wait when the next winter starts again.
Visit the website for Heidelberger Hütte: http://www.heidelberger-huette.at/
Written by Zuzana Gálfyová, living in Insbruck and spending all her time in the mountains. She is actively taking part in supporting outdoorchicks, community of outdoor motivated girls in Innsbruck (check the website: www.outdoorchicks.org) She is an avid and experienced Kaiserschmarrn lover, and part of the Schmarrn Kaiserin family.
The Schmarrn Kaiserin 