ST ANTON
Ski & Snowboard Resort Review
St Anton, AUSTRIA is one of Europe’s most popular resorts; it has a picturesque village, diverse exciting skiing and snowboarding terrain, great snow record and breathtaking scenery.
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St Anton Skiing and Snowboarding
The skiing and snowboarding terrain at St Anton consists of wide open treeless powder bowls, steep cliff drops and tight chutes, mogul covered runs, long seemingly endless linking groomed trails and gentle beginner areas all supported by a fast and efficient lift system.
St Anton is lift linked to the neighbouring resorts of St. Christoph, Lech and Zurs; they are referred to as ‘the Arlberg ski area’ and are all accessible on the one hands free ARLBERG CARD ski pass. The pass is placed in your upper jacket pocket to automatically enable lift access without staff manually checking passes ensuring less crowd congestion. For more information on Lech and Zurs click here
Advanced Skiing and Snowboarding
Advanced skiers and snowboarders are spoilt for choice at St Anton with the off piste options endless.
The Vallugabahn I Gondola reaches St Anton’s highest peak the Valluga peak at 2,811 meters. From there you are free to pick your own off piste ski or snowboard route all the way down into the village! Head right to the Kapall area for huge wide open and steep fields or stay in the middle of the resort for natural powder filled rolling gullies and drops.
The sharp and fast Kandahar Galzig trail heads off to the right hand side of the new Galzigbahn Gondola, after a big snowfall cut off the trail after you have gone under the Osthangbahn Chairlift into open wide deep superb powder.
From the top of the Kapallbahn Chairlift turn right to access the steep mogul covered Kandahar-Kapall trail that eventually links with the Fang trail for a bumpy challenging long run down to the lift base area.
Intermediate Skiing and Snowboarding
Intermediates can happily cover the St Anton terrain on long well groomed wide trails.
For an extraordinary long run take the new Galzigbahn Gondola from the village to access the Vallugabahn I Cable Car leading up to St Anton’s highest peak, the Valluga peak. From there take the groomed steep Vallugagrat trail down to the Schindlerkar trail which eventually links up with the Kandahar and Osthang trails leading all the way back down to the village. It’s such a long run most skiers and snowboarders need to stop for a rest at least once on the way down!
The new Galzigbahn Gondola opened in 2007, it is based on a Ferris wheel design with twenty eight separate gondolas on a cableway entering a round glass base station before dropping down to floor level enabling passengers to enter then rising straight back up to the cable height. It increases passenger numbers by three times making the long morning queue in the valley a thing of the past!
Also great for intermediate skiing and snowboarding are the Grun-St Anton and Standard-Platti trails located on either side of the Gampenbahn Chairlift they are quite steep and fast just right for big early morning warm up carving turns.
Beginner Skiing and Snowboarding
The lower slopes leading into the St Anton village are wide and gently sloping perfect for first time beginner skiing and snowboarding.
Once beginner confidence grows catch the Gampenbahn Chairlift up to the Gampen area for more gentle slopes. From the top of the chairlift turn left to access the wide and winding Plattiwald trail back down to the base area.
The Kapallbahn Chairlift is located next to the Gampenbahn Chairlift transporting beginners up to 2,330 meters for a really enjoyable and long run back down to the base area.
The Rendl area located behind the village has a couple more wide beginner runs and tends to have fewer crowds.
St Anton has two ski and snowboard schools; Skischool Arlberg and Skischool St Anton both offering group, private and day long lessons for all ages and ability levels with professional bilingual instructors. Mountain guides, freestyle and off piste powder lessons are also available.
The small Funpark is in the Rendl area behind the St Anton village. It has limited jumps, table tops, slides and rails and a basic halfpipe.
Other Activities at St Anton
Outdoor activities at St Anton include ice skating, ice curling, winter walking trails, horse drawn sleigh rides, paragliding, snow shoeing and cross country skiing.
There are a lot of tobogganing runs at St Anton a particular favourite is the Rodelbahn Gampen run. It is 4.3 kilometres long starting at the top of the Gampenbahn Chairlift and leading all the way down to the edge of the village; it’s illuminated in the evenings and takes about twenty minutes from start to finish.
Indoors go to the Center for Wellness and Communications for three indoor swimming pools, saunas, massage therapies and a gymnasium.
Shopping at St Anton
The main street in St Anton is lined with a myriad of shops; there are ski and snowboard equipment and rental shops, fashion boutiques, gift and souvenir shops, art galleries, newsagencies, pharmacies, jewellery shops, antique shops, children’s clothing boutiques and beauty salons.
The St Anton village also has food grocery markets, butchers, bakeries and good delicatessens.
St Anton Restaurants
St Anton has over ninety restaurants, cafes and bars serving international cuisine ranging from German to Austrian, Swiss, French, Italian, Thai, Indian and Mexican cuisine.
For a fine dining a la carte dinner go to the Arlberg Hospiz Hotel Restaurant it has award winning Austrian cuisine and one of the largest wine cellars in the region.
The Museum Restaurant located in a very old and small wooden house has a warm and friendly atmosphere serving delicious local Austrian and Mediterranean dishes.
The family friendly and busy Floriani Restaurant serves good value for money gourmet pizzas and grilled meats while cheese lovers should go to Robi’s Rodel Stall Restaurant for cheese fondue and raclette.
St Anton has takeaway outlets throughout the village selling pizzas, hamburgers (meat and vegetarian), kebabs, crepes and sweet snacks open until late.
On the mountain the Krazy Kanguruh Restaurant serves traditional Austrian cuisine as well as fast food, it has an ice bar which is very popular for après ski drinks and a large sun terrace covered with deck chairs.
The self service cafeteria style Galzig Kandahar Restaurant serves local Tirolean hot dishes, soups, salads and has a good selection of desserts.
St Anton Nightlife
The nightlife in St Anton is very lively, you can literally ski all day and party all night in the many pubs, bars and nightclubs littered throughout the village.
The popular Funky Chicken has the best margaritas in the village, good music, huge plasma screen televisions and cheap meals. Scotty’s Bar attracts the British crowd for daily après ski happy hour and live music.
The modern Anton Bar, located behind the new Galzigbahn Gondola station has DJs playing funky music late into the night while the Vino Bar attracts those looking for a quiet drink and a game of pool.
St Anton has two nightclubs; the Postkeller Bar and Kandahar both open all night for dancing to the latest international DJ music, drinking and having fun!
New for 2007/2008 at St Anton
The Skischool Arlberg and the Skischool St Anton have combined to create a weekly multi media ski show demonstrating the history of skiing. Over 145 instructors are involved in the show which is titled "Schneetreiben - the snow must go on". It runs for 45 minutes every Wednesday night from 9pm at the World Cup stadium in St Anton. Admission is free.
More About St Anton
Your St Anton Ski & Snowboard Resort Reviews
Anna Withers, Switzerland. March 2006 St Anton is the home of extreme off piste powder riding, it is one of the most challenging resorts of all. The sheer expanse, the long groomed pistes, the endless off piste, open wide fields all extending over an area of 250 kilometers. I especially enjoy the natural rolls and gullies in the Schindlerkar area and the lower tree areas of the Schongraben area after a large snowfall. The village is as vibrant as the mountain, it never sleeps, I am not too sure how I manage it but when I am visiting St Anton I can always seem to be able to survive on about 3 hours sleep a night then ride all day
S. Mathews, Australia. Feb 2006 Wow what a place. I had only ever boarded in Australia before I went to St Anton - what a sheltered life I led! I tell you - plan on going spend as long as you can afford. I only got 1 week in, next time I'm going to stay for 4 or more. hint - on a weekend go to Rendl - you can catch a bus or hitch - it is not busy first thing and after a dump there are some wicked powder spots around the Riffel 2 lift and the cruise back down to the car park really gets the legs burning - and is longer than anything you will find in Australia Valluga is awesome, you have to catch the cable cars all the way to the top then spend hours exploring - off the groomed trails is powder powder and more powder. There is also some wicked riding heading down to St Christoph - steep and deep an understatement. Also buy the ski pass Arlberg it means that you can board at St Anton, St Christoph, Stuben and Lech/Zurs on the one pass. We stayed about 1 km from the center at Hotel Alpenhof - you catch the bus to the lifts each day - only took a few minutes- then at night we just walked into town to the pubs after tea. I met as many Aussies as i did international people, it is a mix of people from all over the world, all going hard at it at night, the night life rocks, just schnapps, beer, bands and chicks!!!!
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300
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86 |
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Halfpipe |
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1 |
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1 |
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Resort
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