The last few metres are tough. The small group trudges silently through the deep snow. One more step to the summit. A breathtaking view then opens up: across the valley and the peaks, the wonderful expanse‚ of the snow-covered Montafon landscape. “It’s discovering, step by step, until you’re at the top. The view and the complete silence there are overwhelming,” says Lukas Kühlechner, who is leading the ski tour. He grew up here and is familiar with every nook and cranny. He turned his passion for the Vorarlberg mountains into his job when he was still in his early twenties.

You can feel his passion for nature when he talks enthusiastically about the beauty of his home, about the winter idyll and the diversity of the Montafon, which he points out to the people he takes on ski tours. “You have to be able to push yourself out of your comfort zone a little,” he says because you can’t get to the summit by lift – only by your own efforts. No body should set off into the outdoors, however, without an emergency kit and it also makes sense to go with a mountain guide. Once at the top, another reward awaits beyond the silence and magnificent views: The return trip down to the valley with long parallel swings through virgin powder snow.