St. Anton am Arlberg is the oldest ski resort in Austria. Located in the Arlberg Valley – the birthplace of the Austrian ski school and the country’s leading ski center. The first ski club in the Alps was founded here in 1901, and in 1904 the first downhill competitions took place. “(Wikipedia).

St. Anton am Arlberg. Cradle of mountain skis

One of the largest ski resorts in the Alps, the season will be opened by the singers Anastacia and Melanie C, with events constantly taking place here, both traditional and modern, and bursts of adrenaline on kilometers of perfectly prepared pistes – this is only a small part of what St. -Anton am Arlberg offers its guests in winter. The resort is also one of the founders of the Best of the Alps association of the twelve most prestigious ski resorts in the Alps.

When a new cable car system opened in the region in December 2016, all ski resorts in Arlberg turned into Austria’s largest ski area with a total length of 305 kilometers and connected by 88 lifts and cable cars. The 40-kilometer continuous network of slopes attracts winter sports enthusiasts not only from Austria, but also from all over the world. As an alternative to skiing and snowboarding, the resort has toboggan runs, as well as skating rinks and curling rinks.

What makes a truly special vacation in St. Anton am Arlberg is the unique combination of unlimited fun from skiing and apres-ski after it, which includes an introduction to various gastronomic variations, from Tyrolean delicacies to outstanding dishes of international cuisine.

Nine of the resort’s restaurants are featured in the new 2018 edition of the Gault & Millau restaurant guide. Among the winners of the award is the restaurant of the Tannenhof Hotel (3 caps), which was also named “Best Hotel of the Year”. Other resort hotspots include Raffl’s St. restaurants. Antoner Hof, Galzig Verwallstube, Hospizalm St. Christoph, Hotel Arlberg Hospiz, Hospiz Alm in the arlberg1800 Resort (2 caps each), Hotel Alte Post and Hotel Schwarzer Adler, Das Sonnbichl (1 cap each). St. Anton am Arlberg now boasts an impressive 16 caps and 135 points according to the prestigious Gault & Millau restaurant ranking.

Are you frozen? The arl.rock multifunctional sports center offers a variety of indoor activities. Among them is climbing and bouldering, which includes the Via Ferrata route, up to the roof. Do you like comfort? Then you will like a romantic ride on a horse-drawn sleigh and viewing fabulous snow-capped mountain peaks. Tired after skiing? From morning to night, ARLBERG-well.com in St. Anton am Arlberg and Wellnesspark Arlberg Stanzertal in Pettneu invite you to enjoy hours of complete relaxation.

It is very convenient to get to the resort by train – the railway station is located right in the center of the city. Vacationers also do not need to use their cars – shuttles run throughout the region. Those tourists who stay directly in St. Anton am Arlberg will be able to make the most of their location and reach all the interesting facilities in the resort on foot.

Austrian ski resort St. Anton-2019

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The resort of St. Anton is called the diamond in Austria’s skiing crown. The “higher world” of skiing comes here, as well as winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world. Traditional Austrian rural charm, modern technology and Tyrolean hospitality are magically combined here.

People come here not only to ride on the enchanting sky of the vast Alps, but also to immerse themselves in an unusual atmosphere, to walk through the pedestrian zone of St. Anton am Arlberg , to soak up the charm of a small mountain village.

The winter resort of St. Anton, along with the resorts of Lech, Oberlech, Zürs and St. Christoph, is part of the Arlberg ski region. In addition, this resort is a member of the “Best of the Alps” organization.

Please note that the resort is located at an altitude of 1,300 m, so acclimatization may be required.

A bit of history

The world’s first ski school was opened in St. Anton in 1904 by the owner of the Post Hotel, Hannes Schneider. Twenty-four years later, the Arlberg-Kandahar competition was held here for the first time. They did not forget about the ski resort in the XXI century. In 2001, the world championship in mountain skiing was held here.

Now, in the small village of St. Anton am Arlberg, all the conditions for recreation in the mountains have been created. Hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, bars, pubs, saunas, solariums, billiards, bowling, indoor tennis courts, squash – everything for the comfort of vacationers.

In sports shops, you can buy everything you need for excellent skiing in the mountains or rent equipment of well-known brands. Ski schools in St. Anton are considered one of the best in Austria.

How to get there

St. Anton is located near the border with Switzerland. The nearest airport Innsbruck is located 100 kilometers away, the airport in Germany Friedrichshafen is a little further away, and the Swiss airport Zurich is 200 kilometers away.

It is very convenient to get to St. Anton by train, the railway station is right in the city. By the way, it was opened in 1884, when a railway tunnel with a length of 10,648 m was dug under the Arlberg pass.

If you plan to travel by private vehicle, buy a “vignette”. This traffic sign is attached to the windshield if it was purchased at a gas station or in shops at the border. Or be sure to save the purchase information on your phone if you bought it online. “Vignette” proves the payment of the toll and gives the right to drive on the motorways and highways of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova. They are sold for 10 days, 2 months and 1 year.

Do not forget that in Austria the speed limit on autobahns is 130 km / h, on ordinary roads – 100 km / h, in cities – 50 km / h. Violations of traffic rules are subject to a large fine.

Tracks and lifts

Thanks to the amazing nature, guaranteed snow in the winter season, excellent ski tracks, Arlberg attracts like a magnet.

Just imagine: 305 km of slopes of any difficulty level, descents on virgin snow, steep slopes, hotel areas for snowboarding. All this will give unforgettable emotions to fans of winter sports.

All 88 modern lifts, cable cars, funicular meet the highest standards of safety and comfort. Their speed is amazing – in just 5-10 minutes you will be at the top of the mountain. Six lifts take skiers to the main slopes right from the center of the resort.

The slopes of Schindler (2650 m), Walluga (2811 m), the classic descent “Kandahar”, the black track “Karl Schrantz” are known far beyond the region. Freeriders chose the slopes of the Valluga Grat ridge (2660 m) and the area of ​​Rendl and Albona.

STANTON PARK will interest freeriders and snowboarders with its new-fashioned kickers, rollers, rails and boxes. The 4.3 kilometer long natural sled will give you a lot of positive emotions.

The Arlberg region has a huge selection of sports and entertainment. For the convenience of vacationers, a special card with an ARLBERG-CARD chip has been created, which provides unhindered access to ski lifts.

Ski passes

The Ski Arlberg ski pass is valid for the entire Arlberg ski region.

A 1-day pass this season costs €54.50 for adults, €32.50 for children aged 5-15 and €49.50 for teenagers, and if you’re over 74, you’ll pay just €26.

It is more profitable to buy a ski pass for 6 days: adults for 289.00 euros, children for 172 euros, teenagers will pay 249 euros for theirs. Active pensioners who are 74 years old are offered to buy a ski pass for only 5 days, it costs 127 euros.

Rest in St. Anton

After a magical ride, it’s nice to relax in one of the mountain restaurants with a bottle of wine and local cuisine.

Some skiers call a vacation in St. Anton expensive, but this is not the case at all. With reasonable planning, there will be money left even for the purchase of Bogner skis for 2250 euros, if you need them.

In après-ski bars in St. Anton, you can drink coffee for 3 euros, for a small beer you will pay around 4-5 euros, a bottle of wine will cost you 20-45 euros. An exquisite dish of the day on the restaurant’s menu will cost 13-23 euros.

Fancy a more active nightlife? Go to discos and pubs. By the way, the most famous apres ski in the town is Mooserwirt. Believe me, the choice of recreation facilities in St. Anton will amaze you.

Be sure to visit the Museum of Alpine Skiing, which is located in a picturesque building. You will learn a lot of interesting things not only about the history of skiing, but also about the area where the resort is located.

Skiing in St. Anton. From the first person

Gampen and Kapall peaks

On the first day, we decided not to go far, but went to master the peaks in our “home” skiing area – directly from our apartments we climb the Nassereinbahn gondola lift, transfer to the Kapall chair (on the left side of the picture):

and we go to the very top, to the top of Kapall (2330 m).

Three tracks lead down from here – black, red and blue. Blue No. 43 was chosen for the warm-up. Oh, and it was not easy for her to be given to us that time! Maybe it’s New Year’s Eve and you drank champagne the day before. They remembered that, besides, they hadn’t skated since last season. However, we could not relax on this track in the following days either: despite its comfortable width, its slope is decent, we have to work along the entire length of the descent.

And red No. 44, which leads from the same Kapall peak, is narrower and with serious steep sections, is invigorating!

Moreover, it is so invigorating that we didn’t dare to look at the black track No. 42 leading from here.

A little lower, from the fifth point, where the lifts “Nassereinbahn”, “Gampen” and “Mattun” converge, a scattering of tracks leads down – for every taste. We were not in the mood for feats on this day, so we ignored black numbers 30 and 34, and the others – red and blue – pleased us.

Of course, they are all different: some are quite narrow, laid in the forest, very picturesque (for example, No. 27 and 31), some are as wide as football fields (No. 26, 29, 31). But they all have one beautiful quality in common: despite the vagaries of the weather, all of them, down to the very bottom, remained in an unfailingly beautiful condition until the evening. I still wonder how they manage to do it, with such, by no means small, number of those who ride.

By the way, it was at the top of Gampen that we found a cozy restaurant “Gampen”, where we often dined, with an excellent selection of perfectly prepared dishes and stunning views of the valley.

Rendl skating area

Historically, this is where skiing in St. Anton began (and if you believe that St. Anton is the cradle of skiing on the planet, then it turns out that this cradle is precisely in Rendl).

This area is very different from the skiing areas of the Kapall, Galzig, Valluga peaks located on the opposite side of the valley. Firstly, the northern orientation of the slopes, and secondly, visually, the slopes here are unlike any other: all the slopes of Randle are wide and treeless (except for those that lead down into the valley along the red route No. 1). Here they are – typical Randle landscapes – “birds don’t sing here, trees don’t grow…”

but right here – the famous photo point with a bright red inscription – the name of the resort:

And this is where the St. Anton snow park is located.

The skating area is not that big, but it is definitely worth the attention. There are some unremarkable and rather short blue descents. (It seemed that if one were to come to St. Anton to learn to ski, then after the children’s slides located between Nasserein and the center of St. Anton, one should go here first.)

Especially memorable was the black track No. 5, leading along the Gampberg ski lift (for the first time in Rendl, we got into very bad weather, heavy fog, and it turned out to be the easiest to navigate in space on this track, along the bright orange mats of the ski lift supports, along it and rode). For the first time in my life, I saw such a black track, as wide as a football field, and it has exactly the same (black) slope along its entire length. Delight! (The photo shows the upper half of the descent.)

Also really liked the red slope #1, which we followed down into the valley at the end of the ride in Rendl.

A serious slope (sometimes almost “black” sections), the track runs through the forest – beautiful, but here you need to be extremely careful: for some reason, we encountered the largest number of fallen skiers on it, if compared with all the tracks of St. Anton .

The “cons” of Rendl include the region’s oldest 2-chair lifts on blue tracks that hurt your legs:

(Know-how: if you are not too lazy to smile and say hello to the employee at the lower station of the lift, he will kindly hold the lift, and you will not be at risk of bruises).

Galzig, Schindler and Valluga peaks

In the Galzig area there is also great skiing. Sunny, wide slopes, blue and red, will please many.

Great modern lifts. For example, here is this almost alien structure – the Galzigbahn lift, which leads from the central part of St. Anton to the top of Galzig:

But we never discovered the “Kandahar” track, the fame of which thunders far beyond the borders of Austria. Rather, there is a guess that on the modern map it is black route No. 52, but this is not certain. Please share your knowledge on this matter!

Route No. 52 looks especially convincing from the top of Gampen: it is this angle that inspires awe, because from here the descent looks like a vertical wall (the black dots on the slope on the left side of the picture are skiers):

Fortunately, this illusion disappears when viewed from the Zammermoos lift located along its lower part. In favor of the guess about Kandahar, the fact that track No. 52 is probably the most popular track in St. Anton also speaks. Never before seen so many people on the black slope at the same time!

On one of the days, we reached the highest point of the entire region – Valluga (2811 m).

The huge Valluga “pendulum” type lift was closed quite often due to the wind, but we still managed to catch some good weather when it was in operation. Another lift leads from its upper station to the very top of Valluga – a 6-seater cabin:

At the top there is a traditional viewing platform, where all the surrounding peaks are signed on the tablets, as is customary.

The descent from here is on the red track No. 92, then up on the bugle, and then on the red track No. 85. I liked it very much: the tracks are fast and interesting, without ice, stones and other unpleasant surprises.

And the views!!!