The Valluga platform at 2,811 metres

The Valluga is the top of the Arlberg and the ride up is a piece of theatre in its own right. The Galzigbahn takes you from the village to 2,085 metres, the Vallugabahn I continues to the Vallugagrat at 2,650, and a last, much smaller cabin — it holds only a handful of people — swings up to the summit station just under 2,811 metres. From there a short walk on steel decking reaches the viewing platform.

What you get is a 360-degree horizon with nothing soft in it. To the south and east, Tyrol: the Verwall, the Silvretta and, on a clean day, the Ötztal ice. To the north-west, over the pass, the Lechquellen mountains and the valley that holds Lech and Zürs. The platform is narrow, the drop is immediate, and the scale does the work — a couple on that decking against all that rock is the picture.

Light is a matter of luck more than hour: at this height the difference between a clear morning and a cloud cap is total. Early is usually cleanest, and the last hour gives long shadows across the ridges, but book the mountain with a spare day if you can.

The small summit cabin has its own rules — carrying skis on it normally requires a mountain guide, and in strong wind it stops before the rest of the system does. Operation is seasonal on both the winter and summer calendars, with gaps between them. Check what is running, and check the summit webcam the same morning: there is no point riding three stages into cloud.