Omaela Story
Cross-country skiing in the Verwall
10 km of the finest cross-country skiing trails with ascents, descents, pulling passages and lots of wonderful moments: the cross-country skiing trail in the Verwall is probably one of the most beautiful in Tyrol and offers both leisurely and demanding sportsmen and women every opportunity to let off steam.
The start of the cross-country ski trail in the Verwall is right after the car park at the entrance to the Verwall. Here you can comfortably put on your cross-country skis, set your sports watch, take a last breather and then off you go. Classic and skating run side by side and there is enough space for both.
This trail is no longer a "quiet start", as there is a first small ascent right after the start. Our tip: don't give it your full power right away, you'll need it. At the beginning, the trail runs alongside the road to the heliport. From there the trails separate, the trail goes off to the left and becomes wonderfully open before the helicopter landing pad, before the first short but steep descent.
You can make good use of the momentum to get to the small tunnel. Depending on the snow conditions, this tunnel can easily be skied or you have to take them off briefly if there is no snow in the tunnel. This is the first short breather...
After the tunnel, you can comfortably ski down, followed by another short descent and then another flat section. This part of the route is wonderfully idyllic and seems somewhat hidden.
After this fine and somewhat quieter part of the route, you cross the road and there is an ascent to the right of the road - and this is also definitely worthwhile, because after the bridge, a little above the road, the route changes into a wide, open landscape. We also often take a short time here to capture these moments with the camera...
The next part then leads past the Wagnerhütte with an easy climb, short flat sections and then a very crisp, short climb to the Verwallsee - the next impressive photo spot.
Once you have the pictures in the can, you go "around" Verwallsee on your cross-country skis: past the great playground (this is a hot tip, especially in summer!) it's a pleasant walk to the far end of Verwallsee, where you then move along the right side of the river to the "Salzhütte". There you cross the bridge to the other side, where the first ascent awaits you.
Once you reach the top, you can take a breather and after 2 or 3 bends, the trail descends slightly towards Lake Verwall. We find photos from this side of the lake almost more beautiful ;)
Now it gets exciting: on this side, after Verwallsee, the descent is quite steep - here you have to be fully concentrated and careful: you have to keep an eye on bends, pedestrians and of course other cross-country skiers. Because you don't want to make a "descent" here, the downhill to the left of the path is quite uncomfortable.
Once you have made this descent, you come to the next bridge and here you can decide whether you want to stop briefly at the Wagnerhütte or continue on the beautiful cross-country trail - this now leads along the stream to the next climb. And Martin finds this one particularly treacherous: it starts quite "innocently" until you cross the road - and then the climb is very crisp. And it's just the thing to get you going.
After this climb, you have to take a short break and breathe deeply. Because the next decision is coming up. Enough for today and back to the start? Or are there still enough reserves for a second helping? If the former is the case, you can turn right here and run back to the start. That's also a few more kilometres and at the end you'll have 10km in your legs and hopefully have taken some wonderful impressions and photos with you. But if you still have the desire and reserves to continue, you can turn left again here and start a 2nd (or 3rd/4th) loop around the lake - past the Wagnerhütte again, around the lake, out on the other side of the lake, down the steep descent and up this steep ascent again at the end - as often as you like until you are really exhausted enough or it gets dark (and the headlamp is at home).
For us, the cross-country ski trail in the Verwall is actually one of the most beautiful in the area: varied, wonderful landscape, with refreshment facilities and also this variant of doing more laps around the lake.
Have you already tried the trail?