It's been three years since I was last in Austria, so I decided to make a return visit to the Vorarlberg and ski some areas that I either missed last time or didn't get to see due to poor visibility. It's a region that couldn't be better placed, about 90 minutes east of Zürich airport via the autobahn, with atmospheric villages and a wide variety of ski areas (more than 40), so no surprise that it's finally gaining the attention of long-distance destination visitors.
Day 1
Following an overnight flight from Philadelphia, I landed in Zurich at 9 am and was skiing by early afternoon at Bezau, where you take a tram from the valley floor and climb 3,250 feet to the ski terrain. Once at elevation, all of the lifts are old-school: a handful of t-bars and a double chair.
A view of the upper tram station, which almost appears to be suspended in mid-air:
Photo: Seilbahn Bezau
To the west is a vista of Lake Constance that looks very similar to what you see from Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho:
Here's a shaky helmet cam that shows what it's like there at Niedere:
Day 1
Following an overnight flight from Philadelphia, I landed in Zurich at 9 am and was skiing by early afternoon at Bezau, where you take a tram from the valley floor and climb 3,250 feet to the ski terrain. Once at elevation, all of the lifts are old-school: a handful of t-bars and a double chair.
A view of the upper tram station, which almost appears to be suspended in mid-air:
Photo: Seilbahn Bezau
To the west is a vista of Lake Constance that looks very similar to what you see from Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho:
Here's a shaky helmet cam that shows what it's like there at Niedere: