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off-piste in St Anton
Here you'll see successive lines cut by skiers traversing high and wide in search of good lines back down to the main ski route. But with so many off piste powder hounds around you need to be quick off the mark to find fresh tracks in these high traffic areas.
In St Anton and throughout the Arlberg there is plenty of scope to practice your off piste technique between the pistes without engaging in the big adventures further a field, but even between the pistes you are entering avalanche terrain so knowledge of avalanche risk and mountain safety is essential and be mindful of the fact that the majority of skier related avalanche fatalities happen a short distance from the pisted runs.
Galzig
The Galzig ski area is reached by cable car from St. Anton and offers excellent off-piste ski terrain, but you’ll need to be quick here as Galzig attracts heavy skier traffic on a powder day, especially when the higher slopes of the Valluga and Schindler are closed due to wind or avalanche risk.
Straight off the cable car, you’re faced with numerous options. First off the bat is Zwischen which is sandwiched between Ostang (Blue 5) and Kandahar (Black 2). Here you’ll find powder slopes and challenging lines between the trees which will bring you out close to Feldherrnhugel lift. Backseite is the Galzig classic, it's north facing, steep and perfect for developing off piste technique on steeper terrain.
Backseite is accessed by riding the Zammermoos chairlift or head skiers left at the bottom of Tanzboden T-bar or skiers left at the top of the Kandahar run to ski off piste down the steep north facing pitch into Steissbachtal (Happy Valley). Zammermoos affords easier access to the steepest terrain and on a powder day you can make excellent laps using either the Feldherrnhugel or Zammermoose lifts and heading right at the top.
Rendl
The Rendl ski area on the opposite side of the valley is accessed from the Rendlbahn gondola station just a 2-minute bus ride from St Anton. The off-piste skiing at Rendl is a personal favourite and often used for guiding due to its variable terrain and predictable snow. There is good off piste skiing between the pistes left and right of the Maass Bahn, where you’ll find gentle slopes meandering through the trees; always a favourite area during stormy days as the trees help with the visibility.
Moving higher up the mountain, take the Gampberg six-man chair lift and skiers right, skiing the line under the chair lift, it’s long and perfect for getting into that powder rhythm, you can either traverse out left back to the piste or continue further for more fall line turns to reach the Tobel T-bar which will take you back to the restaurant area.
Off the back of the Valluga
St. Anton’s ‘off the back’ is legend and can be crowded on a powder day, but these ‘must do’ descents are worth skiing even many days after a fresh snow fall, especially the mighty Valluga descent to Zürs. The gut-wrenching Valluga summit descent into the Paziel-Tal to Zurs is world famous for being one of the “must ski” off-piste descents accessible from a lift station and justifiably so. more...
St Anton's Rendl mountain really comes into its own when you want to start venturing farther away from the lifts with a number of short side-stepping climbs allowing access excellent hidden off-piste stashes. Rendl's many 'off the back' options include the Hinter Rendl bowl, the challenging North Face and scenic silence in comparatively gentle Rossfall more...
High on Schindler challenging off piste descents can be accessed by experts from the top of the liftstation with varying degrees of difficulty and in all cases they seem a lot steeper standing at the top than when viewed from the bottom up. A choice of equally steep and narrow fenced-off couloir descents run down Schindler's west facing slopes and on powder days in safe conditions Schindler's southern slopes offer good deep snow possibilities more...
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Avalanche guide
Some passages in this section are extracted from Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper, Director of the Utah Avalanche Center.
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