Lech off-piste & powder guide

Vorarlberg, Austria · 1444m to 2450m · 4 documented zones

Finding powder at Lech

Lech Zuers claims around 200 kilometres of powder runs, and its particular appeal is how little work they take: you step out of a mountain station, make a short traverse, and you are in it. The resort is blunt in return, telling visitors never to go out without full emergency equipment and a certified ski guide.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 4 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Steirloch

Madloch sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvancedGuide recommended

From the top of the Madloch-Joch chair, starting through a narrow couloir before opening out and running down into the village of Zug.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Madlochbahn
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the top of the Madloch chair.
Getting back
Descends into the village of Zug.
Known hazards
  • A narrow couloir at the entry
  • Avalanche terrain

Woestertaeli shoulder

Ruefikopf sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvancedGuide recommended

The shoulder of the Woestertaeli from the top of the Ruefikopf cable car back down to Lech, at its best late in the season when the snow is deep and settled. The nearby Zuger Hochlicht is the other option from up here.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Ruefikopfbahn
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the Ruefikopf cable car.
Getting back
Descends back down to Lech.
Known hazards
  • Avalanche terrain
  • Best only when the snowpack is deep and settled

Mohnenfluh east flank

Steinmaehder sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvancedGuide recommended

From the top of the Steinmaehder lift, holding as much height as you can above the top of the Rotschrofen lift opens the east-facing flank of the Mohnenfluh and a spread of lines running towards the Auenfeldjet.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Steinmaehderbahn
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed, then a traverse keeping as much altitude as possible above the top of the Rotschrofen lift.
Getting back
Lines run out towards the Auenfeldjet.
Aspect
East-facing· Holds powder well
Known hazards
  • Avalanche terrain
  • Losing height on the traverse leaves you below the good lines

Abendweide, Woester, Zupert and Klemm

Lech Zuers sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvancedGuide recommended

The classic freeride areas of Lech Zuers, and between them the essence of what the resort offers: step out of a mountain station, make a short traverse and drop in, with no long ascent needed.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Steinmaehderbahn or Madlochbahn or Muggengratbahn or Trittkopfbahn or Ruefikopfbahn
Walk in
No hiking — A short traverse from one of the five mountain stations.
Getting back
Descents feed back into the Lech Zuers lift and piste network.
Known hazards
  • Unpatrolled avalanche terrain across all of these areas

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Lech snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in Austria