Gschnitz: in search of deeper snow

After a leisurely morning, we once again took the bus to Trins. However, this time we stayed on until the end of the road past Gschnitz. There was more snow than there was in Trins and it was colder because the valley is narrower and receives less sunshine.

The hamlet of Gschnitz suffered a devastating mudslide on 30th June 2025 and there was still evidence of it, even though everything was blanketed in snow. Some of the buildings still had mud up their sides and the damage to others was obvious.

Having taken photos of the waterfall and pretty church, we set off to hike up the valley. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take the route we wanted to because of avalanche and path closure signs. Despite thinking these signs must be old because much of the snow has melted on the mountainsides, we obediently sought out an alternative track on the other side of the river.

Sadly, we were thwarted again because the path reached a steep-sided gully that was quite deep with no way obvious safe way across.

After trying and failing to cross the gully higher up, we gave up and turned back towards Gschnitz. The snow wasn’t deep enough to need snowshoes, but we put our spikes on our boots for the downhill return. Some areas were quite icy and slippery, especially in the shade of trees or where the snow had melted in the sunshine then refrozen.

We enjoyed a pleasant stroll back up the valley alongside the cross country ski tracks. The valley bottom was wider here and the walking was flat and easy. It was lovely to feel the sunshine now we were out of the trees.

As we had time to spare, we had a drink in an hotel bar before walking to a bus stop further along the valley to catch the bus back to Steinach.

We ate our sandwiches as we walked, and I kept stopping to take photos of the river, loving the way it was covered in ice and snow.

Now we’re back at the apartment, getting ready to go out for dinner. Tomorrow we plan to get the Bergeralm ski lift and do a ridge walk. It looks as though it’s going to be another sunny day.