St Anton and the Ski Arlberg region are amongst the world's best ski areas for a reason. The mix of terrain, reliable snow, untracked sidecountry and accessibility is just unparalleled. In season 23-24, whilst many resorts were struggling for fresh snow, anyone at St Anton & its neighbouring interlinked resorts at Stuben, Zürs & Lech were feasting on regular storms, a deep snowpack in the alpine region and a stable backcountry snowpack that was producing wonderful fresh turns for many days after the last storm.
My visit in February coincided with a quite busy euro school holiday period. Despite that I was confident of skiing first lines particularly as I was heading out for a day with one of our fantastic Powderhounds’ partners, Stefan from Guide & Ride.
I have always wanted to ski the backside of the Valluga via the upper cable car but have been unable to do so due the requirement of having a certified mountain guide with you to go up the final lift with skis. Joyously on this journey as I was with Stefan I finally took skis with me up to the top of Valluga. The Valluga descent was certainly interesting (definitely one for confident skiers/riders not afraid of a little exposure), and followed with a cruisy, creamy snow run down to Erlach Hut, provided 900m of vertical. A skin up to Erlispitze then another long descent to the base of Trittalp chairlift in faraway Zurs highlights how far one can ski with just a little bit of effort. Whilst the route had a few tracks on it, we skied essentially untracked snow the entire route and saw only two other groups in the distance when skiing out up from Erlach Hut. And there are so many more variations to undertake. The possibilities are nearly endless, particularly with local knowledge provided by a mountain guide.
St Anton's biggest downfall, like many of the European mega-resorts (Sölden comes to mind!), is on-piste. Fantastic first thing in the morning, it then quickly degenerates into a massive procession of humanity. It is easy to avoid though - just don't follow the pack (which whilst it can take a little while to work out can be very simple). For example, whilst heading up the Valfagehr chairlift, I could see an incredible horde of skiers making the regular morning journey towards Stuben & Zürs on the 'Run of Fame' via piste trail #100 (called Valfagehr!). Meanwhile, on the freshly groomed #101 ski route (named Pfanneköpfe) running parallel to this piste trail but on the opposite side of the ridge, I saw only one skier during the entire journey up the chair. Simples! But still, it goes without saying that the pistes at St Anton can get smashed up quite early in peak periods, and beginner runs can and do get bumped and dangerous. Always keep your wits about you and get out early. Or just ski off-piste & backcountry to avoid the worst of it.
Aside from chasing some choice powder, another reason for my visit was to check out the new lifts in the region. The most recent, the new Albona I gondola, makes a stay in the village of Stuben all the more attractive. Its impact on the immediate ski area isn’t obvious from a point of view of increasing skier traffic but replacing a two-seat chairlift with an 8-seat gondola certainly futureproofs it. The other newish lifts, like Schindlergrat gondola & others further afield such as the Zugerberg, all dramatically increase uphill capacity. That’s a blessing and a curse. Shorter lift queues, comfortable rides up on one hand, always taking skis off & on, plus higher numbers on pistes on the other hand. Popularity has its downside, and one wonders how long it will take before the region absolutely reaches its carrying capacity.
On this visit I stayed in Lech (got a great place last minute) but found getting to the St Anton sector easy via the bus to Zürs & then taking the superb lift system from there (Trittkopf I gondola et al). Lech is a fun town, but possibly more expensive than St Anton, and not as boisterous. If you want after-hours action and full-on après ski, St Anton is the go. Of course you can experience that without staying in the village by utilising the masses of public transport options in the region (or taxis).
I reckon St Anton is one of those places that all skiers & snowboarders should visit at some point in their lives. Aside from some exorbitant accommodation costs in the village, everything else still represents incredible value for what one gets. Go check it out.
See our thoughts on the pros & cons of the ski resort via the St Anton overview page.