Ski Holiday in St. Anton am Arlberg
After a flight to Innsbruck Airport in Austria in the beginning of march 2011 we arrived by train at the St. Anton am Arlberg train station.
St. Anton am Arlberg is situated not far from the German border, making it very easy to drive there through Germany if that is where you are coming from. The connections by train through Austria, Germany and connected airports are also very good.
Accomodation
The village St. Anton offers a wide range of accommodation. Both in the village centre (on and surrounding the dorfstrasse) as well as in oberdorf (the upper part of the village) are a lot of Hotels and Apartments (for a selection of some of these accommodations see: http://www.myslopes.com/austria/ski-holiday-st-anton-am-arlberg.php). We were staying in Hotel Grischuna, a nice hotel in Oberdorf. The hotel picked us up at the train station and arranged ski lockers next to the ski lift in the middle of the village, making it easy for us to walk down in a few minutes every day. For people staying in Oberdorf, we would definitely recommend the ski lockers (ski depot) at the Galzig main gondola.
Ski slopes of Ski Arlberg
The ski area Ski Arlberg has great blue ski runs for beginners, beautiful long red slopes and a number of challenging black runs. The ski area also has a number of mogul runs and all sorts of offpiste and powder descents. The ski area is actually a combination of two separate ski areas; St-Anton, St. Christoph and Stuben already offer a lot of variation in ski slopes, but the same ski pass also allows you to take a ski buss to the slopes in and arround Lech, Oberlech and Zurs.
We prefered the ski slopes from the top of the Valluga gondola, because they are very wide and there are terrific panoramic views. From this top it is possible to ski all the way into the village of St. Anton, passing by the Ulmer Hütte. From down here, you can take a ski gondola back up the mountain towards the other side, the rendl ski area. Here are really nice descents, and it is more sheltered, so very good on snowy or windy days.
We also really enjoyed the slopes near Zug and Oberlech. The descent that brings you all the way down into the village was open during the whole period we were there. St. Anton is therfore very snow secure. With 35 cm of fresh snow in the beginning of March, there will be plenty of snow there untill the end of the season!
Toboganning in Oberlech
Even though St. Anton has its own toboganning run, we chose to do this one afternoon in Lech. The toboganning route here runs from Oberlech until the ski gondola in Lech (Bergbahnen Oberlech). Having this lift, makes it ery easy to go back up and go for another run down in the snow. You can rent sledges in Oberlech and the toboganning run is open until 10PM each day.
Apres-ski
Usually we write a piece about the apres-ski options in a ski area. St. Anton has a fine array of apres-ski, including restaurants, cafes in the center, the Post Keller nightclub under the Hotel Post, and a very nice tapas restaurant in the village center, Bodega.
Talking about apres-ski in St. Anton, however, is but one thing that sets St. Anton apart from all other ski resorts: The Moosenwirt. Perhaps the best apres-ski bar in the whole of Austria (or as they say themselves "Wahrscheinlich slechteste Skihütte am Arlberg). The apres-ski in the Moosenwirt takes place mostly outside on a sunny day, but inside the Moosenwirt the atmosphere is at least as good.
When you arrive on top of the slopes by gondola from St. Anton, one of the options is the blue ski run 8. This descent brings you to the nearby village of St. Christoph where you can lunch at one of the best restaurants in the region, the Hospiz Alm.
Local specialties such Käsespätzle and Kaizerschmarren are great, but you can also choose a beautiful Käse & Fleisch counter (a plate with assorted cheese and meat possibly as a starter). The pictures in the lobby of the Hospiz Alm show how many celebrities have been here to eat, the guests range from Vladimir Putin, Boris Becker, David Coulthard, Prince Charles and almost every other monarch in Europe..
The Balmalp skihütte at the top of the ski slopes in Zug requires a bit more effort because you must follow the ski slopes from Zuers and from Zug go back up with a small ski lift. The two-person chair lift that brings you here is definitely worth it, because besides the good food and good music, they have a fantastic view on the terrace here!
Having previously been to many other ski resorts in Austria, St. Anton has clearly become one of our favorites. St. Anton combines beautiful ski slopes, good snow conditions with nice accommodations and a great apres-ski!
Ski Holiday in St. Anton am Arlberg
