Weekend in Golm – Flying Fox & Lake Trail hike

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The Montafon has already proven to us twice that it is worth a visit. And on both visits, the focus was on the Golm Movement Mountain. We especially remember a wonderful winter weekend in 2016. Petrus meant so well with the amount of snow that our planned ski tour could not be carried out as planned due to “too much snow”. This autumn, our outdoor weekend on the Golm exercise mountain was also dominated by extremes. Actually, the excursion would have been on the program in mid-September and promptly “spotted” what was probably the rainiest September weekend ever. Despite all the joy of being outside, these gloomy prospects made us postpone the trip by a few weeks into the golden October. A good decision. The Vorarlberg cleaned its sky squeaky clean and delighted us with two days of perfect autumn weather.

Flying Fox & Co – Adventures for young and old

What distinguishes the Golm Exercise Mountain is its wide range of leisure activities. From challenging alpine tours, to themed hiking trails, to the adrenaline kick for young and old, there is something for every outdoor enthusiast. It was exactly this variety that we wanted to enjoy during the two days on site and therefore arrived on Saturday morning on time for the first gondola ride at the Vandans valley station (for once by rental car and not by train, because that is a bit more time-saving and above all more flexible in this direction). Via Latschau, we first took the gondola lift to the Matschwitz middle station, where we temporarily stored our luggage in Haus Matschwitz – our accommodation. After a short coffee break, the day got off to a really fast start, on the newest attraction of the Golm exercise mountain – the forest slide park. It was opened on 30 September 2017 and leads down from Matschwitz to Golm with seven different slides and a hiking trail running alongside them. On the first slide I had a lot of jitters and was totally surprised how quickly these stainless steel slides take you down.

In any case, a fun way to overcome the altitude meters down to Latschau and for me the perfect warm-up exercise for the rope park. After my visit to the Pilatus rope park on the Fräkmüntegg, I had taken courage from the fact that I could actually survive a rope park without “drama”. The one in the beautiful golden colored autumn forest in Latschau taught me better. The first round promptly failed to get started. I was too cowardly (and too “weak”) to climb the rickety wooden stairs up to the first platform. After these initial difficulties, I managed three of the four blue “easy” courses – after all, right?! The fact that everything is purely a matter of the mind was finally shown at the Flying Fox, where you whiz across the Latschau reservoir on a steel cable over 500 m long. What fun! That was exactly to my liking. Finally, I ventured onto the 2.6 km long Alpine Coaster. The toboggan run connects Latschau with the valley station in Vadans and is particularly popular with day trippers with children.

Up the mountain

After this brilliant morning, on the one hand we feel muscles that we didn’t know existed and on the other hand the stomach makes itself felt. Hunger! Fine traditional Montafon fare is served by the Berghof Golm at the Grüneck mountain station. I order a portion of Kässpatzen, the friend schnitzel and fries and then we let the sun shine blissfully on each other’s faces. Such summery October days are simply wonderful. Shortly before the last gondola transports us down to Matschwitz, we walk a good 15 minutes towards Aussergolm to a fantastically placed bench to digest ourselves. What a magnificent view!

Autumn splendour on the Golm Lake Trail – Hiking in Golm

If you spend the night at Haus Matschwitz, you can enjoy being the first or the last on the mountain in the morning and evening. The next morning we wake up with the first rays of sunshine and after breakfast we set off again with the first gondola lift (and this time of course with a head start to the people who start in Vandans below) towards the Grüneck mountain station. After the action-packed day before, today we want to dive away from the infrastructure facilities into the wonderful mountain world of the Rätikon. The Golm hiking area offers a wide range of route options, from the Golm High Trail to Golmi’s Research Trail. What they all have in common: the magnificent mountain panorama consisting of the three towers, the striking Zimba, the Sulzflueh and the Schesaplana. Our choice falls on the approximately 8-kilometre-long Golmer Seenweg. This leads from the Grüneck mountain station first steeply uphill to the Golmer Joch. From there, the trail continues along a ridge to the Kreuzjoch – the highest point of the hike – and then via Aussergolm down to Matschwitz. With an ascent of 425 metres in altitude and a good three hours of hiking time, this is a “leisurely” Sunday round that is definitely not stingy with views. Only the lakes are not particularly impressive in autumn and seemed to us more like small “ponds”. The Golmer Lakes Trail is said to be particularly scenic during the flowering season of the alpine roses (beginning of July). We, on the other hand, are already sniffing winter air at the sight of the white-sugared Three Towers! Since we started the tour early in the morning, we reach our destination just in time for lunchtime and treat ourselves to a hearty portion of Kaiserschmarrn before the journey home – this is a must for me on a mountain trip to the beautiful neighboring country.

Practical tips about the Golm Exercise Mountain

• Journey from Zurich to Vandans: 1.45 h by car and min. 2 to 3 h (depending on time) by public transport
• Overnight stay directly on the mountain of movement in Haus Matschwitz – price per person in a family room with private shower/WC and half board 57 Euro/person (summer season)
• An overview of the hiking routes can be found on the website of the Bewegungsberg Golm
• The combined ticket (Forest Rope Park, Flying-Fox, Alpine-Coaster-Golm and Golmerbahn) costs 39 euros for adults (27.30 euros for children)
• The day ticket for the Golmerbahn costs 18 euros
• On a very busy autumn weekend, we hardly had to queue for a long time for any activity – it is still worthwhile to visit the forest rope park / Flying-Fox / Alpine-Coaster in the morning, because there are fewer people on the road