A ski resort worthy of a winter wonderland in the upper Paznaun valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol – Galtur, is a village of snowboarders’ dreams.
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With 40 km (or 25 miles) of well-prepared pistes and a large and varied selection of slopes to explore, Galtur is a popular tourist destination during the winter months.
Galtur Live Webcam View of Cable Car
It helps that the village is home to a family-friendly resort, with ski slopes that range from easy to medium difficulty, and for those who look for a challenge, ski pros find exciting runs and many deep snow slopes without any tracks.
Galtur Live Webcam View of Kopssee
The range is more than enough to facilitate as many people as you wish, with 10 mountain railways and lifts, you are surely going to be able to find a spot fitting your needs.
Galtur Live Webcam View of Health Resort
The ski resort is called Silvapark and is located around 2 kilometers outside the main village in the small village called Wirl. There are bus stops in every location, so you won’t have to worry about going around the local spots.
Just for the sake of better describing the amount of space the resort occupies, the Silvapark resort offers 40 km of groomed pistes, with many runs marked Blue and Red, once again making the resort accessible to families and beginners, with Red and Black runs, for people that want more of a challenge out of their winter trip. And of course, you’ll find some huts and restaurants scattered around with authentic Austrian food and a great and cozy atmosphere.
The local inhabitants are a rather interesting mix of descendants from different surrounding regions.
The main groups of descendants are of Romanshish origin from the Swiss Engadin, the Walser people that come from the province of Vorarlberg, and last but not least the Bavarian-Tirolean settlers.
Nevertheless, as Albert Einstein once said, “More than the past, it is the future that interests me, since that’s where I intend to live.” While the mentioned of the renowned theoretical physicist might look out of the left field, he and fellow physicist Erwin Schrödinger were regular visitors to Galtur and enjoyed the cool and refreshing air, right at the top of the 1,600m peaks above sea level.
Another famous visitor found in the beautiful mountains was Ernest Hemingway, who during the 1920s would be seen spending up to multiple weeks traversing the Samnaun region on his skis.
When you look at the Silvretta mountain chain that arises in the background of Galtur, it really paints a dream like scenery.
The 74 mountains and glaciers are the center of attention in the summer season, as when the winter sees plenty of visitors hitting the trails with their skis or snowboards, during the summer you’ll be able to find a fixed rope route in Silvapark that sometimes gets established at an altitude between 2,300 and 2,700 m.
You’ll also be able to find around some 250 km hiking, walking and nordic-walking trails in the surroundings of Galtur, and 1,000 km trails in the whole Paznaun area, which makes this mountainous area great both during the summer and the winter months.
When it comes to the different seasons, the climate is rather tame, both during the winters and during the summers. The summer months see the temperature sit around 10 to 12 degrees Celsius (50 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit) while the winter months drop to around -5 degrees Celsius (around 23 degrees Fahrenheit).
While this might sound like somewhat extreme temperatures to some, to others this should sound like a comfortable average year round, for great hikes through the mountains during the summer and great ski experience during the winter.
No matter what your reasons are for visiting this Austrian treasure, you are in for an adventure. But if you don’t feel like booking a plane ticket just yet, feel free to take a look at the amazing mountainous region of Galtur by using one of the free webcams you can find on this site!
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