Day 3 – Skiing Into Val Fiscalina

Jan 16, 2024

Today’s Adventure

Our adventure for Day 3 started with a short bus ride up the Sexten valley from San Candido to a small town called Moos. At Moos we found the Rundloipe Schönfelder, a very level and nicely groomed beginners (blue) cross country ski trail that took us deep into the Val Fiscalina.

The weather was sunny and clear as forecast but also rather cold. The morning temperature was in the single digits while the afternoon barely made it into the 20’s (and it felt even colder than that in the shade). All in all a perfect day for cross country skiing!

We haven’t been on cross country skis for four years, coincidentally since our initial trip to this region, so we wanted some place like the Rundloipe Schönfelder that would be rather forgiving in case we’d totally lost our skills. We also have new cross country skis and boots for this trip so that was another factor.

Cindy had done a lot of research before picking out our ‘next generation’ skis and they received glowing reviews online but you just never know how they will work out until you actually get them on some snow. The good news is that we both felt very comfortable after just a short distance on the Rundloipe so we decided to hop onto a nearby intermediate (red) trail for a scenic cruise up the lovely Val Fiscalina.

This nicely groomed trail took us along one side of the valley floor all the way up to a rifugio called the Talschlusshütte. We’ve had lunch there twice before – in September of 2022 and in February of 2023. We weren’t ready for lunch yet and the restaurant promised to be quite busy (there was no outside seating due to the weather) so it was an easy decision to keep on skiing.

After passing the Talschlusshütte the trail looped back and started down the other side of the Val Fiscalina. It was a quick, mostly downhill run to the Fischleinbodenhütte where we decided to stop for lunch. At this point we had skied five miles with 800 feet of vertical in just over two hours.

It was definitely too cold to sit outside, especially with the sun already setting over the valley walls, so we took a booth inside and perused the menu. Cindy ordered the hausgemachte (homemade) bratwurst with roasted potatoes and a Maxlrainer weizenbier. Stuart also had the bratwurst, except with fries and a Steigl draft. The brats were quite tasty as they were split lengthwise and then grilled. For dessert we shared an order of Strauben – think beignets crossed with funnel cake. We’re doing so well on our pledge to cut back on desserts during this trip! 🙂

After lunch we reclaimed our skis and poles from where we had left them leaning on restaurant’s front railing and walked across the street to the bus stop. Once again we timed it perfectly as our bus arrived just a few minutes later for the short ride back to San Candido.

The next few days are forecast to be cloudy and may have some snow so we’ll continue to play it by ear in terms of our outings. We have no set schedule for each day, but as usual Cindy has done a lot of research beforehand. This means that we have any number of things to choose from each day to best match the weather conditions – and our own conditions as well!

For Innichen’s main page click here.

For Seefeld’s main page click here.

For the entire trip’s main page click here.