Have you ever got cold teeth from the permanent grin? If not, or if you feel the need again, put on your skins and head up to the Heimspitze. This northern descent from the Heimspitze into the Valisera Valley offers pure freeriding pleasure. At around 700 meters in altitude, the ascent is easy to manage even with heavy equipment.
Ascent
We start the tour in St. Gallenkirch and shorten the ascent by a good 1,500 vertical meters by first using the Valiserabahn, then the Madrisella chairlift and finally, to gain a few more vertical meters, the Schwarzköpfle chairlift. Once we arrive at the top station of the Schwarzköpfle lift (approx. 2,300 m), we set off on a long traverse south-eastwards to Novatäli. At the valley floor at around 2,000 m, the skins are put on and the actual ascent can begin. The tour leads us up to the Matschunerköpfe (2,177 m) past the Matschuner Joch (2,425 m) and on to the Heimbühl (2,540 m) directly to the saddle between the Heim- and Zwischenspitze (2,661 m). From the saddle (2,610 m) to the Heimspitze there are only a few meters of altitude left. The approaching clouds cause us to abandon our plans to climb the summit of the Heimspitze and so we start our descent from the saddle.
Descent
We take off our skins on the saddle between the Heimspitze and Zwischenspitze and start our descent northwards from here between the two mountain peaks of the Heimspitze and Valiseraspitze. Caution is advised here, keep as much height as possible. If you get too far down (east), you will head straight for a precipice!
The descent leads through a wide, perfectly inclined gully and makes all the effort of the ascent fade away. After almost 600 meters of enjoyable riding, your teeth start to get cold from the permanent grin. However, the really big fun is already over at around 1,900 m. From here, we cruise on through the fairly flat Valisera valley past the Valiseraalpe (1,588 m) until we reach the road to and from Gargellen (B192). There is a bus stop not far from where the forest spit us out. The bus is not long in coming and takes us - raving about the descent in the gully - back to the starting point of our tour, the parking lot at the Valiserabahn.
Variant
From Heimbühel, a south-facing descent first leads towards Vergaldner Alpe and on through Vergaldatal directly to the Gargellen ski area. From here, you can treat yourself to another ride on the cable car and end the day in the legendary Nidla (see book "PowderGuide: The best freeride areas in the Alps", p. 86).
Information
Difficulty (5-level scale): ***
Special dangers: very steep start, drop-off point when crossing to the gully
Average steepness/maximum steepness:18°/ approx. 45-50° (depending on the line)
Exposure: N / NW
Altitude difference start and finish:approx. 2000 m | 2610 m
Altitude difference uphill and downhill: approx. 700 m | 1700 m
Duration: 5 hours
Best time of year: February - April
Addresses:Silvretta Montafon, 0043 5556 722530, Montafon Tourismus GmbH, 0043 5556 722530
How to get there: A14 Bludenz, exit Montafon, St. Gallenkirch, Valiserabahn
Topographic maps:Swiss Map 25, Graubünden
Other recommendations: favorable avalanche situation required due to exposed access
