One turn straight off the motorway and car-parking within 30 metres of the gondola is always a great way to start at a ski resort. Exiting the gondola at the top (1,840m), clicking into skis and descending slightly into a ‘basin’ in front of the cavernous Bergrestaurant Sonnenkopf and finding no simple way out, is not so great. I wonder how many first-time visitors to Sonnenkopf have faced similar confusion.

Skating back up a small rise to one of the shortest T-bars we have ever seen, it makes a little more sense from slightly higher up. The Sattelkopf T-bar, the Obermuri rope tow or a short bootpack are required to get further progress up the hill. It is possible to ski straight down to the restaurant and skate around to the valley trail, but that’s not necessarily the most ideal way to start a day as you will end right back where you started.

With gloomy cloud & flat-light hanging low on the more interesting higher terrain toward the Obermuri chair, we headed in the opposite direction toward where the sun was shining brightly on the Riedkopf quad chair (the resort’s newest at around 15yr old). A few rides up its 170m ish of vertical, revealed low-angle terrain of little interest to most accomplished snow-sliders, but perfect for beginners. Of interest though, from the top of the lift, is the sidecountry jaunt that is possible up to the Muttjöchle summit with a few tasty powder turns on the way back. The Muttjöchle restaurant at the top of the chairlift also looks a peach but holds no interest at 9am!

For anyone other than novices & beginners, the real action is the zone served by the Obermuri, Glattingrat & Obermoos chairs. The many intermediate pistes off Obermuri provide 350m vert of rolling skiable vertical on the chair, and much longer if one heads down to Obermoos. The Glattingrat chair is a slow, old double clunker (nearly 45 yr old) with a spicy exit ramp at its top elevation of 2,300m. Whilst only providing 220m of skiable vertical, the terrain is fun and at times challenging due to its variable pitch and flat light on its heavily shaded slopes. The #14 ski route starts as an airy traverse along the ridge but really only has one shortish steep pitch before it levels out again. We skied windblown powder here on multiple laps with hardly anyone else about. The chair seems to be largely ignored by most visitors. If the Obermoos chair is running (even as slow as it is!), fantastic descents of up to 700m vertical (down to 1,600m) are possible on a and off-piste. Serious freeride terrain to the skiers left of Obermoos exits conveniently onto the #10 piste, allowing relatively easy returns to the chair. Expert/extreme terrain exists in the lower section skiers right of the piste. If the valley trails are open, the full 1,300m vertical is doable from here all the way down to the gondola base at 1,000m altitude. Despite the resort’s generally shaded north-aspect, given there is no snowmaking, we do wonder how often a full valley ski descent is possible.

On a sunny day Sonnenkopf provides a convenient, well priced place to learn to ski. In foul weather, novices should stay away as the beginner lifts are above treeline and exposed. When the sun is shining everyone will enjoy the long beginner piste #5 which runs splendidly along the ridge from the top of Obermuri chair all the way down to the bottom of the Riedkopf chair. In stable snow, dropping off the groomed to the skier’s right will provide short but exhilarating freeriding back to the chair.

Over lunch (at the main self-serve Sonnenkopf restaurant), I observed the surface tows around the main mountain basin and confirmed in my mind that it is by far the mountain’s biggest weakness. For despite there not being many people on the mountain the lines for the Sattelkopf T-bar were at times lengthy and slow to move. Whilst a minor quibble in the greater scheme of things, it still unnecessarily detracts from the resort’s relaxed experience. There has to have been a better way to design this zone. Thankfully it is a problem for someone else to solve……or not as the case may be!

Despite recent snowfall, the ‘seasonal conditions’ meant that both valley trails were not open all the way down, and we had to be content with a ‘first track’ down piste #1 to the gondola mid-station at 1,580m altitude. A pleasant run down for sure, and better still if the Bündthütte had been open. The sledding trail ends at the mid-station too. And a reminder for anyone that has never done sledding in Europe. Try it at least once, and if you don’t love it, you must have been doing something wrong! A most under-rated experience that is definitely not just for kids!

Sonnenkopf’s location just off the motorway has meant we have driven past here (and indeed come by in the train too!) on innumerable occasions without skiing it. On this late January day we didn’t drive past, and don’t regret it. Skiing here provides an increasingly rare insight into a resort that has zero snowmaking on the piste and reveals how much challenge and fun they are with an all-natural snowpack. The upper mountain sector above 1,900m had fantastic snow quality for off-piste skiing. Having said that, spending just the day here seemed about right. Unless there was fresh snow and a more favourable avalanche condition, any more than a day would have been too much for us, but maybe not for someone else?

On this particular mid-week day in January the ski area was all but deserted (particularly in the sector we favoured) and we have given it the highest powder paw rating for ‘uncrowded’. However, note that on some days, particularly sunny weekends, the resort can be over-run with skiers. Whilst we parked directly across from the gondola, we have driven past on days where parked cars are lining the roadside a long way from the resort base.

Ending the day, it was a shame we had to download, but such is life when one doesn’t want to destroy their ski bases on the closed valley trail’s many hidden rocks & roots. It was however so satisfying just stepping off the gondola and directly across to our parked car. Gotta love that.

A quick reconnaissance of the nearby villages of Wald am Arlberg & Klösterle revealed them to be exceedingly quiet and lacking ambiance as they are spread out wide alongside the main road heading toward Stuben. The relatively low elevation, plus location on the sunny side of the valley meant natural snow cover was minimal, presenting them as more of spring/autumn than winter villages. Nevertheless, there are several high-quality accommodation options which could be used as a base to ski locally as well as the broader region. Most are located along the main road, but thanks to the nearby motorway, through traffic in the villages is limited. Basic services are mostly absent in Wald, but present in the more distant Klösterle and include supermarket, bakery, ski rental/service and restaurants. We skied Sonnenkopf comfortably from our accommodation in St Gallenkirch in the heart of Silvretta Montafon, with a journey time of less than 35min.

When in the area, we can recommend Sonnenkopf, if nothing else just so you get the taste for a small, authentic, natural snow ski area that offers a totally different atmosphere to the nearby mega resorts of Ski Arlberg & Silvretta Montafon.

See our thoughts on the resort’s pros & cons via the Sonnenkopf - Klösterle overview page.

See our video here

We did a day trip here from St Anton many years ago back during Christmas.

It was a fantastic little hill and was practically deserted.

It certainly felt like the entire mountain was skiable - offering up virtually endless powder options.

We arrived 3 days after the last snowfall and the place was still completely untracked. It was my first real powder experience.

It is a small hill though, so you wouldn't plan on spending much more than a day here as an add-on to the other Arlberg resorts. It would probably make for a good weekend option when the locals come out to play in the bigger nearby resorts.

On mountain facilities were fairly basic, but they got the job done as one would expect.

Lift infrastructure was adequate for the size of the mountain.

Apres was not existent, but things may have changed since I visited......... (Blog Moderators comment - no, its still a mostly quiet hill with a bit if weekend action, maybe!)
See our video here