Standing at the top of the Pitztal Glacier feels like you are standing on the roof of Austria. At 3,440 meters, it is the highest glacial ski area in the country, and the air up there is so thin and crisp it actually catches in your throat. You take a futuristic funicular through a tunnel inside the mountain to get there, and when you finally step out into the light, the view of the Wildspitze peak is enough to make you forget about your skis for a minute.

The snow here is different from what you find further down the valley. Because of the altitude, it stays dry and powdery long after the rest of the Alps have turned to slush. You can usually ski here from September all the way into June. It is a massive, open expanse of white where the runs are wide and forgiving, but the sheer scale of the landscape makes you feel very small.

One of the best things about Pitztal is Cafe 3.440. It is a sleek, glass-walled building perched right on the edge of a cliff. Sitting there with a coffee and a piece of strudel while looking across at the jagged peaks of Italy and Germany is a surreal experience. The terrace hangs out over the drop, and on a clear day, you can see for hundreds of kilometers in every direction.

It isn’t a place for the nightlife or the massive crowds you find in St. Anton. It is much quieter and more focused on the mountain itself. You go there for the high-altitude silence and the feeling of being completely disconnected from the world below. By the time you take the train back down the mountain at the end of the day, the valley feels like a completely different planet.