Resources

This is a resource page for a solo ski mountaineering tour of 5 days in the Silvretta Alps (Austria) in June, 2005. The main report page has thumbnail photos with some comments, and the thumbnails are each linked to a page with the full size photo and specific comments from that part of the tour. There is also a narrative page which describes the tour I did .

For anyone planning a ski tour themselves in this area here are a few resources:

Maps:

These two maps should be fairly easy to find in Innsbruck either in one of the bookstores or in the Alpine Club office. They should also be fairly easy to order in advance online somewhere.

2018 Note - These maps are for another tour and were copied over from that page. There are different maps in the same two series for the Silvretta. I discovered these webpages after 13 years and am currently completing them but I will have to find my maps to list the ones I actually used and to update this page.

Freytag & Berndt; Innsbruck Stubai-Sellrain Brenner; Wanderkarte 1:50,000

This is a fairly large scale to navigate by in the field but provides an excellent overview of the area, including essentially all of the Stubai range. The southernmost part, in Italy, is truncated and the Ridnauntal and Sterzig are just off the map. Muller Hutte and Becherhaus are on the map, on its edge. This is useful for getting a full view of the approaches and exits to begin and end tours with.

Alpenvereinskarte; Stubaier Alpen/Hochstubai Nr: 31/1; Skirouten 1:25,000

This is from the Alpine Club (Alpenverein) Series which is considered to be the standard for navigation in the field. They are green and white and the Skirouten versions have standard touring routes marked. (There is a summer series also which has walking routes marked instead. They are usually quite different - don't assume the walking routes are good ski routes or vice-versa.)

Books:

Alpine Ski Mountaineering, Vol 2: Central and Eastern Alps; Bill O'Conner; Cicerone

This is the only book I've found in English. It covers a number of tours through different ranges. The descriptions are of his favorite or typical routes but plenty of improvisation is possible using the maps, local information, and considering snow and weather conditions. It's a good starting point.

German Language Guides

One or more guides to the region which are much more comprehensive are available in German. Rather than describe a fixed tour like O'Conner does these books usually describe routes up various objectives separately. It is possible to link together the routes for various peaks into a tour using the comments and a map.

Websites:

Alpenvereinshütten - Good info on all huts in Austria, some in Italy are included as well. Opening dates for summer, existence of a winter room (open/locked), number of sleeping places are all available. Also lists of the next closest huts and the travel times to them.

Tirol Avalanche Warning Service - Current avalanche bulletin, also links to other related products and weather. In German but can be roughly translated online with the tools found at Google and elsewhere.

Alpenverein-Wetterdienst - The Alpine Club weather service page, again in German with translations available using Google or other sites with language tools.

Local Resources:

Having some current information from local knowledgeable sources is extremely helpful. In recent years the glaciers have been very active over summers and the crevasse fields are often much different that what is shown even on the best Alpenverein maps. Some tours are more hazardous now even though not marked with a dashed line as they should be to indicate that. On some routes new alternatives are being used here and there. And recent snowpack conditions are useful to know as well.

Unless you have friends who are guides or avalanche professionals you will have to track down sources of advice. Local guides are helpful in many regions, some may not speak much English.