Most beautiful hiking routes

A horizon of snow and clouds

In no man's land: in diffuse weather conditions, the contours become blurred.

(Bild: Bergauer Rubina)

A hike for all fitness levels leads across the snowy plateau on the Flexen Pass. This has a long history of use dating back to the Bronze Age. 

If you are looking for a snowy winter tour, you have to go high up at the moment. While the landscape in the valleys is bare and bare, the Arlberg is still covered in a bright white blanket of snow. This also applies to the plateau on the Flexenpass, over which a well-prepared winter hiking trail leads. You can travel by bus or car to Zürs at just over 1700 meters above sea level. It is high season in the winter sports resort and the small village is accordingly bustling.

Tips and information

Type: leisurely winter hike
Duration: just under two hours (there and back) Starting point: Trittkopfbahn I valley station in Zürs Equipment: winter-proof hiking boots or snowshoes, touring pants/ski pants, anorak Refreshment stops: Flexenhäusl at the end of the winter hiking trail, other options directly in Zürs
Public transport: Bus route 750S from Langen a. A. train station to Zürs Flexenpass

The "Zürsch" inn is mentioned in documents as early as 1846. Thanks to the construction of the Flexenstrasse (1895 to 1897), the settlement became increasingly popular with skiers. Over time, more and more hotels and guesthouses were built until Austria's first T-bar lift was constructed on the practice slope in Zürs in 1937. The accelerated development of the ski area with chairlifts then began in the 1950s. The commissioning of the Rüfikopf gondola lift created a ski connection between the villages of Lech and Zürs. This new ascent aid also created the famous ski circuit "The White Ring", which runs through Lech, Zürs, Zug and Oberlech.

The Flexenpass as a gateway
Today, winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world can be found in the small village on the Arlberg. The Flexenpass acts as the gateway to the Ski Arlberg winter sports area, but the region also has plenty to offer ski tourers and winter hikers. Today's winter hiking trail starts directly at the Trittkopfbahn valley station at the start of Zürs. The trail is marked with pink-painted wooden poles and initially runs parallel to the ski slope for a short stretch before meandering through the Flexenpass plateau. The tour is easy and suitable for almost all fitness levels.

The small "Felxenhäusl" is an ideal place for a short break.

(Bild: Bergauer Rubina)

You soon leave the hustle and bustle behind you and walk across a quiet plain where cows graze in the summer months. The Flexenpass was already used as a crossing point in prehistoric times, as evidenced by archaeological finds from the Bronze Age, which were made during the construction of the road to Zürs. Even on cloudy days without perfect mountain weather, you can take a long walk here with confidence. The dense cloud cover then seems to become one with the snow, swallowing up contours and immersing the landscape in a strange silence.

European watershed

The Rhine-Danube watershed, which is part of the main European watershed, runs over the Flexen Pass. The latter is a geographical line that divides Europe into two large catchment areas for rivers and bodies of water: Waters that flow into the North Sea, Baltic Sea or Arctic Ocean and those that flow into the Black Sea or Mediterranean Sea. A watershed is a boundary that determines the direction in which the water of an area flows. The line runs through several European countries and runs roughly along mountain ranges and elevations. The Flexen Pass marks a border between the catchment areas of the Danube and the Rhine, i.e. between bodies of water that drain into different seas. Water that flows west of the mountain pass collects in the Lech, a tributary of the Inn. The Inn later flows into the Rhine, which transports its water to the North Sea. Water that flows off to the east of the pass flows into the Sill via the Rosanna, then into the Inn and finally into the Danube, which carries its water to the Black Sea.

No distant views, just a diffuse horizon that blurs in all directions. It is precisely this atmosphere that gives the hike its special charm. It is like a journey through a wintry no man's land. With no distractions for the eye, all that remains is the here and now, the crunch of snow under your boots and the feeling of immersing yourself in an almost unreal scenery. In such weather conditions, as well as when there is a considerable risk of avalanches, as has often been the case recently, you are well advised to stay on prepared and signposted paths anyway. The hiking route ends directly at the Flexenstraße, opposite the inviting "Flexenhäusl". If you wish, you can stop there for refreshments before returning to Zürs via the same route across the plateau.