St Anton
Ski Resort

Reliable snowfall and challenging skiing make St Anton and the Arlberg ski area a holy grail for advanced and expert skiers, but there is also masses of good skiing for intermediates and plenty of fun to be had by less experienced skiers and boarders too.

The St Anton ski area (St Anton – St Christoph – Stuben) alone has 60+ groomed pistes, from nursery slopes and easy blue runs to challenging black runs. Also 19 defined ski routes as well as lots of accessible off-piste terrain between the marked pistes, and extensive off-piste itineraries for experts.

Since 2016, important new lifts from Alpe Rauz to the Albona at Stuben and the connection to Zurs, have made Ski Arlberg the largest interconnected ski area in Austria with over 300 km of pistes and marked trails, 200 km of off-piste and 88 lifts included in the Arlberg lift pass. Prior to 2016, Lech-Zurs was only accessible by car or bus, or by skiing the off-piste from back of the Valluga.

Lift-connected resorts covered by the Ski Arlberg lift pass include Stuben, Lech-Zurs, and Warth-Schroecken. A haven for challenging off-piste and great snow, the north-facing Albona at Stuben also offers excellent red runs and a pretty village for lunch. Purpose-built Zurs has great skiing for all abilities, and plenty of easy skiing on the snow covered meadows at Lech, as well as many excellent mountain restaurants. Also, there’s more good skiing to be had at Warth (beyond Lech), and to check out “the snowiest ski resort in Europe”, allegedly.

The only part of the Ski Arlberg region that is not lift-connected is the small family-friendly ski area at Sonnenkopf near Klosterle. Just a short bus journey from St Anton, Sonnenkopf is all too easily overlooked, making it a peacefully uncrowded treat for easy piste skiing, as well as for off-piste.

While not an ideal resort for first-time beginners, as many as 35 of 108 groomed trails are blue runs, and ski schools in St Anton offer the highest standards of instruction for all abilities including guiding off-piste. If you learn to ski in St Anton, you can be confident skiing anywhere.

St Anton offers a wide selection of accommodation, from luxury hotels to simple guesthouses, chalets, and self-catering apartments. Demand is high and prices continue trending upwards, especially among the 4-star hotels in the centre of the village, but reasonably priced guesthouses can still be found in St Anton, if you book early. Also, more affordable options in Nasserein (1 km) as well as in St Jakob and Pettneu. Fortunately the ski-bus service is efficient, free and runs day and night.

St Anton is renowned for its great party atmosphere on and off the slopes. There are numerous good mountain restaurants, and several famous après ski bars on the lower runs back to St Anton. Also, plenty more bars, restaurants and clubs in the village, and recent new laws that prohibit partying in the village in ski boots after 8 pm, or you can be fined!