There are different types of skiers: Those who head straight into the next bar as soon as they leave the slope and those who would like to fully embrace the nature and atmosphere. For the latter, heading down into the valley after a day of skiing is almost physically painful. But you do not have to leave the mountains just because the sun is setting. What about sleeping on the slopes (or to be precise, next to it)? Most of the cabins in the mountains only open in the summer months. But some are occupied in the winter as well, so visitors can stay there instead of a hotel in the valley.

In theory, our place to sleep for the next couple of nights should be right in front of us. But at the moment, there is only white visible. In every direction, everything is white. It was already quite foggy when Con Crema arrived at the parking space of the valley station of the cable car. With Skies in our hands and fully packed backpacks on our shoulders, we made our way up into the mountains. At the top station of the cable car, we handed our bags to the friendly lift operator who reassured us that the bags would make their way to the lodge where we will live for the next days while putting them into individual lifts. We decided to trust this system and made our way to the other slopes to enjoy our first day of skiing. Now, in the late afternoon, we are trying to find the place where our bags are hopefully already waiting for us but the weather did not get better and visibility is really poor. After double-checking the map, we drive in the direction where we assume the cabin to be. And just as we are getting a little nervous, we see a deeply covered sign indicating we are not far away from our destination. Indeed, after a few metres, we can see the wooden chalet with the red window shutters. Furthermore, our bags made it as well.

*Will you be the next to leave your tracks here?*

We remove our skiing boots and straightaway are welcomed by a friendly staffer. First things first, we have a welcome Schnapps and afterwards, we are shown where we are going to sleep. We went for the full cabin experience and reserved some beds in the dormitory. While you do notice other people around you, the wooden dividers offer some level of privacy. Nevertheless, this is not one of the highlights of this cabin. That would be the dining area. There are wooden tables throughout the area and you sit on truly vintage chairs or banks. The furniture and wooden panelling of the walls make a very cosy atmosphere. The tables have different sizes and based on your group’s size, you can occupy one of the calmer corners and stay within your peers or you sit at one of the larger tables and make some new friends. Either way, you will be served a hearty and good-tasting meal with three courses. There always is a vegetarian option and one with meat from which guests can choose but in case of any other allergies, the team is happy to find an alternative.

People staying in a cabin like this tend to get up early in the morning. The reason for that is not that breakfast is quickly out of stock because this is not the case. But they want to leverage the biggest advantage of staying in a lodge: Being the first one on the slope. As soon as the cabin crew gets the call from the mountain rescue service, you are allowed to take off and enjoy the freshly prepared slopes. Being one of the first has some advantages. It is a very special feeling to be able to use the whole slope and dive into the calm beauty of the snowy mountains.

There is one additional benefit of staying in a chalet on a slope: Seeing the sun rise and go down behind the mountain panorama. As there are no other people around you except your fellow cabin friends, you can feel the tranquillity. It is quite difficult to put this atmosphere into words. You should probably try it yourself.

Sleeping on the slope

Take a break

Superski