Skiing St. Anton – Exploring Austria’s Legendary Ski Slopes

Known as the cradle of alpine skiing, St. Anton am Arlberg is located in the heart of the Tyrolean Alps in Austria’s western corridor between Germany and Italy. The village of St. Anton anchors one end of the interconnected resorts of St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben, Lech, Oberlech, Zürs, and Warth-Schröcken. There are more than 85 lifts, eight historic villages, and 186 miles (300 kilometers) of piste terrain–plus an additional 124 miles (200 kilometers) of off-piste terrain. It’s one of the largest ski areas in the world.

We visited Austria this spring to explore its storied slopes and experience St. Anton’s celebrated ski culture.

Sunny Schindler

We were lucky to arrive in St. Anton on a beautiful, sunny spring day after a recent snowstorm. We knew we had limited time before the sun baked the snow. After doing a quick recon using the map and swiveling our heads around to get the lay of the land we decided to spend some time lapping the Schindlergratbahn. The Schindler is a high-tech gondola that accesses a staggering peak draped in craggy chutes with access to some mellower terrain behind it. The loading area is divided into expert and family loading areas. The expert cabins open at the top of the peak to let out skiers intending to ski the steep terrain from the top, while the family cabins do not open at the peak but instead deposit their riders farther along the line to the intermediate zone. We did an exploratory mission on the single-groomed run to get a better grasp on how the terrain links together. Then it was time to try the much steeper chutes off the west-facing side of the peak before the sun completely cooked them. The powder was still ripping and the chutes were satisfyingly steep, pitched at about 45 degrees. It seems oddly easy to ride seven minutes up the gondola, traverse 20 feet, enter through a gate in the fence, and suddenly be in such wildly extreme terrain. After that, we sampled the east-facing terrain on a named ski route, off the groomed piste, and marked for safety. The snow on the groomed pistes was generally firm, but the off-trail snow was playful and we continued to hunt for untracked soft snow on north-facing slopes until it was finally time to work our way back to the village.

Funneling Fiasco

Getting back to the village was more of an adventure than we anticipated. When the ski day winds down in St. Anton, all of the skiers from the upper mountain areas get funneled into a few main thoroughfare slopes to get back to the base. Some of these slopes are iffy and have a tricky combination of firm patches and large slushy moguls. Add that with the broad spectrum of skiing abilities and you have a recipe for some jam-packed slopes that though entertaining to watch, are not as fun to be amid. Luckily, we could see the coming fiasco and detoured 25 feet to the left of the piste onto a nice semi-rugged, mostly powder, face that kept us safely out of the carnage.

Intersport Ski and Boot Storage

Before returning to the hotel, we took advantage of the convenient ski and boot storage locker at Intersport located near the Galzigbahn Lift Station at the base area. This was a game-changer for our trip to St. Anton because it saved us from hauling our skis and poles half a mile up an unsympathetic hill while wearing our ski boots. Instead of taking the skis and boots back up to the hotel, we used a ticket supplied by our hotel to store the skis just 30 feet away from the ski lifts in a handy storage area in the basement of the ski shop. This was a terrific feature that was new to me – ski to the door, down the stairs, boots off, shoes on, and no need to carry all your gear to your hotel and then back again. Hooray!

After returning to our hotel, we made time to visit the luxurious spa located on the upper floors of the Arpuria to relax and recuperate before dinner. We walked back down to the main village for dinner where we had an outstanding sushi dinner at the Q Dinner Club . The Q featured a wide variety of sushi and Asian-inspired cuisine that is atypical for the Austrian mountains and bonus, it turns into a full-blown club later in the evening.

Guided Skiing in St. Anton

Over the next few days, we did some of the best skiing of our trip with our local guide, Hermann. Hermann is exactly the kind of ski guide we were hoping for. If you asked AI to generate an authentic Austrian Alps ski guide, this is who it would come up with. He has spent most of his roughly six decades on the planet in the greater St. Anton area and said in his thick Tyrolean accent, “Why would you go somewhere else? There isn’t a better place to ski.” He grew up just a few villages up the valley and has been working as a guide at the resorts for decades. He spent his career working lifts and instructing, eventually earning the highest level guiding certification within the ski school at St. Anton.

The Crown Jewel of St. Anton Skiing

We weren’t planning to backcountry ski on this trip so we had left our touring gear at home, but when we paired up with Hermann, our plans quickly changed. We discussed our backcountry experience before he set us up with avalanche safety equipment. To ensure we could handle what was coming next, Hermann took us through some leftover powder stashes to assess our capabilities. Then we headed straight to the crown jewel of St. Anton skiing–The Valluga, a 9,222-foot behemoth famously reserved for expert skiers who are accompanied by a guide.

Just getting to the peak of the Valluga is a unique experience. From the central area of the St. Anton section of the resort near the top of the Galzigbahn, you enter the first section of the two-part tram system aptly named Vallugabahn I. This section of the tram takes you high up to the sub-peak and is like a smaller version of the tram at Snowbird Mountain Resort or Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. To get to the true summit, you must ride Vallugabahn II, a small 5-person cable car resembling a Tic Tac box that only permits two kinds of traffic, scenic view riders and guided skiers.

Skiing the Valluga

Once you get to the top, you climb the stairs to a circular viewing platform that yields unreal views of snow-covered peaks as far as the eye can see in all directions. After taking that in, we clicked into our skis and followed Hermann down the north face of the Valluga. This was truly wild terrain and we were glad to have Hermann’s help to navigate us through the cliff bands and no-fall zones down to the ridgeline that separates the St. Anton part of the resort from the Zürs area of the resort. From the ridgeline, we skied some of the best snow of the trip down the bowls below the Roggespitze Peak and into Zürs.

Rendlspitze and Radlers

After cruising around the groomers above the town of Zürs for some laps, it was time for the next adventure. Hermann took us over to the Stuben area of the resort and off into the sidecountry to ski some near-perfect corn snow in an area where we did not see another skier anywhere in the whole valley. This was an interesting contrast to the many flocks of skiers we were constantly maneuvering through on the groomed sections. We had a lengthy runout through picturesque valleys, looming evergreens, cow fields, and quickly melting spring snow we arrived at a small guest house. Located exactly in the middle of nowhere, this lovely little chalet, the Wagner Hütte, had an idyllic sun deck and we had just enough time for a Radler, a local favorite mix of beer and soda water, before a bus picked us up and took us back to the center of St. Anton.

It was nearing the end of the day and we had already been to three of the villages and at least three major parts of the resort. Was Hermman finished? No, he was not and we were able to ski one more mega sidecountry lap across the valley from St. Anton off the back of the Rendlspitze. This gem of a run went forever and I suspect Hermann was testing my legs. We top-to-bottomed what felt like 3,500 feet of vertical through old power, fresh power, hot powder, moguls, gullies, and finally a long traversing road that required at least 10 skis-off transitions to cross creeks or hike over rocky patches that spring was reclaiming from the snow. This was one of the most rousing and extensively journeyed days I’ve had on skis.

The White Ring

The next day we were on a mission to experience the legendary White Ring , an epic lift-accessed tour of the terrain on the far side of the resort above the villages of Zürs, Zug, Lech, and Oberlech. Over 13 miles (22 kilometers) of groomed slopes, mostly in the blue square range, connect you around the head end of the valley as you ride an assortment of high-speed quads, six-packs, gondolas, and trams to cover over 18,000 feet of vertical. Since we started from even farther away in St. Anton we had some extra lifts and runs to get started, we had our work cut out for us. We lost count of how many people-movers we were on, but it’s hard not to notice how good Austria is at engineering them while zipping down groomers from lift to lift and village to village. This was another great day to have a guide to show us the way.

St. Anton Après Ski

It’s worth noting that some people visit St. Anton solely for the après ski scene and a surprising number of them don’t even ski. It’s no wonder St. Anton has been called the après ski capital of the world with famous on-mountain bars like Krazy Kanguruh and Mooserwirt pumping out euro-electronic dance jams from 2:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. to around 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. Après enthusiasts come by the hundreds clad in Goldbergh ski suits and Moon Boots and order Jägermeister shots and Märzen beers by the dozen. We made our way into the party deck at Mooserwirt and opted for Shandy Biers in Steins. It was a great vibe and the people-watching and culture-sampling were on point.

The departure the next morning was a breeze and our hotel shuttle got us to the station well before our train departed for Munich. Relaxing on the train and taking in the sights made us happy again that we had chosen to ride the rails on this trip and not rent a car. Now we know what to expect when we go back and we plan to visit the Austrian Alps again soon.

Where to Stay

We enjoyed a wonderful stay at the Arpuria Hotel , which is less than a mile uphill from the St. Anton am Arlberg rail station. This hotel has elegant modern rooms, a wellness area with a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, an infrared salt grotto, an incredible breakfast buffet, a bar, a restaurant, and great views. We took advantage of all of the amenities including the candy bar and classic fondue dinner. This adult-friendly hotel was the perfect choice for our ski vacation.

Does Austria have good skiing?

Yes! There are outstanding places to ski in Austria. The areas around Innsbruck and St. Anton am Arlberg are world-class and there are many other choices too. The most famous ski race in the world is held at Kitzbuhel in Austria.

What to expect when you ski in Austria?

There are a few things that are different. Lining up for chairlifts is a bit more aggressive and there is not much organization on the lift lines. Aggression tends to be rewarded. Also, expect the safety bar to be pulled down before you are even off the ground. Safety first on the chair, but you are on your own in the lift lines!

Why Ski Austria?

Because it is fun! The resorts are terrific and the overall feeling is very different from skiing in North America. The food and on-hill party scene is wonderful, and so different from what you may be used to. Also, the lift tickets are pretty reasonable on the wallet.

How do I ski in Austria?

You will likely need a plane ticket to get started. Sort that out first and the rest can fall into place pretty easily. Train or car to resort, then ski and enjoy the apres ski like a local. Austrians were very friendly and happy to show you a good time! Read the above article if you need more inspiration.

Related: A Taste of Tyrol