Panorama path Gantakopf

The hike begins with the ascent on the Versettla Bahn. From the Versettla Bahn mountain station (2,008 m), after a few meters you reach the mountain restaurant Nova Stoba. Here there is a beautiful, large playground and you can also discover the Montafon stone sheep. In addition to the Montafon brown cattle, the unpretentious Montafon stone sheep is the only animal breed originating from Vorarlberg. From Nova Stoba, you reach the beautiful viewpoint Gantakopf (1,958 m) in about 15 minutes. The view of the opposite Verwall mountains with the distinctive Valschavieler Maderer as well as towards Gaschurn-Partenen is especially beautiful. From here, the path leads along a wide ridge or crest towards Garfrescha. A small barga (small hut) invites you to a picnic. After a nice last view down to Garfrescha, the path leads steeply through a forest to the mentioned Maisäß settlement. From there, you reach Gortipohl with the double chairlift Garfrescha Bahn (1,485 m), from where you can easily get back to the starting point (Valley station Versettla Bahn) by bus no. 85 (bus stop on the main road at the top).

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Montafon linguistic roots: Gortipohl, Garfrescha, Versettla – what sounds exotic at first are old Montafon place and field names. The Montafon dialect is considered one of the most difficult to understand dialects of Vorarlberg and dates back to the Rhaeto-Romance people who settled Montafon around the 9th century AD. They came from the Swiss Graubünden, where Rhaeto-Romance dialects are still maintained today. The Montafon dialect also shows influences from the Walser people, who came from the Valais to Vorarlberg in the 13th and 14th centuries. Accordingly, today’s Montafon vernacular contains many old expressions and idioms whose meanings cannot be directly derived from Standard German. Examples are “Hees” (clothing), “Ehni” (grandfather), “Ahna” (grandmother), and “mara” (tomorrow), while “Fazanedli” (handkerchief) strongly resembles the Italian “fazzoletto.” The name “Montafon” itself is of Rhaeto-Romance origin. With references to the mining tradition and the rich water resources of the valley, it is most plausible that it is composed of “munt” (Latin mons = mountain), the Romance term for an alpine area, and “tovone,” the term for a ravine (from “tovo” meaning channel or ditch). Montafon can therefore also be translated as “alpine area with ravines.”