Lots of different exposures mean a constant supply of good snow at St. Anton … if you can pull yourself out of MooserWirt.
Lots of different exposures mean a constant supply of good snow at St. Anton … if you can pull yourself out of MooserWirt.
ST. ANTON
RECOMMENDED BY Geli AND Stefan Häusl
Some venture to St. Anton to ski in the footprints of some of the sport’s earliest pioneers. Others come to partake of the resort’s famed off-piste powder … or to revel in the village’s infamous après-ski scene.
Few go home disappointed!
“The mountains around St. Anton were simply made for skiing,” Stefan Häusl said. “We’re famous for our tree skiing and off-piste terrain in general, but the mountains also offer all sorts of piste terrain. It’s like a big playground. You can go up one slope and ski down into a whole different valley—sometimes you’ll have to take a taxi back to town. If you go down the wrong side of the mountain in New Zealand, it might take you a year to get back.”
“At St. Anton, you don’t have one big bowl facing in one direction,” Geli Häusl chimed in. “You can always find good snow if you shift to terrain that has a different exposure. What makes St. Anton special is that the love of skiing that brings people here is a great equalizer. We have a reputation for attracting royalty and jet-setters. But once you have your helmet and goggles on, everyone is the same, from the royals down to the ski bums. They’re all here to enjoy the same terrain.”
St. Anton, like Kitzbühel (this page), is situated in the Tyrol province of western Austria. It is both a town and a ski mountain, as well as the catchall name for a collection of areas in the Arlberg mountain range that include St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben, Zürs, Lech, Oberlech, and Sonnenkopf. St. Anton am Arlberg is nothing if not vast—the combined area includes 160 miles of groomed trails, 114 miles of off-piste terrain, 82 lifts, and nearly 5,000 feet of vertical drop from Valluga, the region’s highest peak at 9,222 feet. (Skiers and boarders can explore all the Arlberg region’s slopes under one pass.) St. Anton am Arlberg has a rich ski pedigree; the region’s first ski club was formed in 1901, and its first races were held in 1903. One of the events was won by a twelve-year-old boy named Hannes Schneider. A few years later, at the age of sixteen, Schneider became a full-time ski instructor at the Hotel Post in St. Anton and began developing the instructional technique that would come to be known as the Arlberg method. The technique—which takes new skiers from a simple snowplow to a stem christie turn and onto a parallel turn—was developed to give new skiers more control on the slopes. Schneider opened the Ski School Arlberg in 1921. That same year, he starred in what would become the world’s first instructional ski film. The film—and a subsequent book, The Wonders of Skiing—helped establish the Arlberg method around the world. His techniques are still in wide use today.
Stefan described how he might show off St. Anton’s alpine amenities to a visitor. “I’d pick up my guest at their hotel and walk to one of the lifts. The village has a large pedestrian zone, and the lifts are all in walking distance. I’d probably go up the Galzig lift, as the sun is on the slopes here in the morning. Assuming that my companion is an average piste skier, we might head up to Valluga, the highest point reachable by lift. There are beautiful views out over the valley from there. We’d take a red (intermediate) slope down; it’s a 4,500-foot vertical drop if you go all the way down to the village, so you need to have some thighs! Next, we’d take the Kapall lift. The 2001 world championships were held here, and you can ski the men’s/women’s downhill run. Next, we’d break for lunch. There are many options on the mountain and in the village. One I like is Café Anton, right at the bottom of the Galzig lift. They have good food and coffee and the people are very friendly. After lunch, we’d head to the Rendl lift, as this part of the area faces the west. We’d take some runs here and maybe stop to watch the freeskiers and snowboarders on the jumps and rails in the fun [terrain] park there. If it’s later in the season or a sunny day, we’d definitely visit Rendl Beach. There are deck chairs set out there for people to enjoy the sun.
“More experienced skiers come to St. Anton to ski the off-piste terrain, and there’s a great deal available. Perhaps the most famous of these is the run from the top of Valluga to Zürs; you’re skiing the backside of the mountain. You need to be accompanied by a guide, take a gondola up the final section of Valluga, and then hike up to the very top. It’s extremely steep. Quite a few people who go up to do the run look over the edge, get a bit of a tummy ache, and ride the gondola back down. People who can make the run are proud to tell their friends they went from Valluga to Zürs on skis.” Other well-regarded off-piste trails include Bachseite, Zwischen, Schindlerhang, and Black Osthang.
One St. Anton must for anyone the least bit interestest in après-ski activity is an afternoon stop at the MooserWirt, perhaps the Alps’ most famous—or infamous—slope-side watering hole. (It’s situated at the bottom of Blue run number one, off the Zammermoos chair.) Here’s how English ski blogger Sidney Reilly described the scene at MooserWirt:
It sells more beer per square meter than anywhere else in Austria and it has the worst euro trash music on the mountain unless you are German…. The food is very good and the portions very large so it is a good bet for lunch but be warned in peak season it will be very busy. But from 3pm onwards the crowds really start to arrive and by 4pm you have no chance of finding a seat as the music booms out across the piste. To truly enjoy the Mooserwirt experience I would suggest that you get there early (ideally book a table) and watch what happens at 3:30 when they start the “Final Countdown,” the electronic shutters all close, the amazing light show starts and the crowds pour in…. Very soon the place is packed, literally to bursting point with very loud, beer drinking skiers all singing along to the mostly naff [i.e., tacky] German dance music.
“I don’t know exactly how it works,” Geli offered, “but every day it does. When that song comes on, everyone gets up on their chairs, and it’s crazy from the first song to the last.”
STEFAN HÄUSL was born in Salzburg, Austria, and grew up in Saalfelden. He started skiing at the age of three and soon became a ski racer. At age eighteen, Stefan started his ski instructor and ski-guiding exams. When he completed his training, he started as an examiner for the top-level ski instructors in Austria. He moved to the Arlberg region and worked for the Ski Akademie St. Christoph. In 1999, he won the Powder 8 World Championships held in Canada. In 2000, he was third in that competition. As the free-riding scene in Europe started to grow, he began to compete in that realm, learning how to drop off cliffs and ski big lines. He has been a professional freeride skier since 2005. In 2011 he won the first Freeride World Tour stop in Austria. He lives near St. Anton with his wife, Geli, and their daughter, Jana. Learn more about Stefan at www.stefanhausl.com.
ANGELIKA “GELI” HÄUSL grew up in the Arlberg region of Austria. After a brief career as a hairdresser, she began her ski-instructing exams, and has been teaching/guiding since 2004. Geli had a successful career as a professional freerider, winning the 2003 New Zealand National Freeride Competition, the 2003 New Zealand Base Ultracross Series, and the 2007 Snowfever in Fieberbrunn, Austria. She finished third on the 2005 Freeskiing Euro Tour. Geli has skied around the world, including Nepal, Tibet, Alaska, Greenland, New Zealand, Argentina, and Iran. She’s been featured in two movies, Elements and Headscarf vs. Beanie (about her travels in Iran). She now works as a guide in St. Anton and also operates a ski school. She lives near St. Anton with her husband, Stefan, and their daughter, Jana. Learn more about Geli at www.geliskiing.com.
If You Go
Getting There: St. Anton is roughly sixty miles from Innsbruck, which is served by Austrian Airlines (+43 5 1766 1000; www.austrian.com) and British Airways (800-247-9297; www.ba.com).
Season: St. Anton’s season runs from November 30 to April 21.
Lift Tickets: Adult lift tickets are 47 euros, and provide access to St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben, Zürs, Lech, Oberlech, Klösterle, and Sonnenkopf. Multi-day passes are available. See details at www.skiarlberg.at.
Level of Difficulty: St. Anton offers terrain suited to a host of ability levels, and is classified as follows: 41 percent beginner; 48 percent advanced; 11 percent expert.
Accommodations: St. Anton am Arlberg Tourism Office (+43 5446 22690; www.stantonamarlberg.com) lists the region’s many lodging options.
