St Anton

Thank's for your help Tony, and for rescuing a shambolic thread (of my own making) :lol:

steverandomno wrote:Thank's for your help Tony, and for rescuing a shambolic thread (of my own making) :lol:

No probs. In fact, I'd really love to go back there thinking about it.

St Anton/Arlberg is a fantastic ski area with some of the best freeriding/back country/off-piste that there is. It has one of the best snow records in the alps. The terrain is fantastic. To access the brilliant snow and terrain on offer, you really must have a mountain guide. Without one you will not come close to even scratching the surface, and it can be very dangerous without one in Europe. There are a number of companies offering their services. The best value, and best guiding I have had is with Piste to Powder. Check out www.pistetopowder.com

I was in St Anton for a few days with Tony and I agree it's quite some resort, I threw myself down a couple of un-pisted ski runs on my board, and went off piste from them. Was great fun. Unfortunately I was only there for 3 days so did not get round to Lech etc.

Although good, St Anton is expensive. I would compare it as a resort with Zermatt in Switzerland and Tignes/Val in France in terms of the whole package snow-related-stuff-wise. However I found it more expensive than both which schocked me somewhat. In terms of paying that wee bit extra for the extras then I would have to take Tignes/Val of my shortlist leaving Zermatt and St Anton. From those it comes down to altitude and this is where Austria loses out a little. Being able to drop 2km vertical down into Italy for a cheap and tasty lunch is one of the highlights of my brief sliding career.

Back to the topic though, St Anton is fantastic. Thoroughly reccpmend it.

Oh yeah, ignore the Piste grading! Not worth the placards it's written on.

You're going to love St Anton, if you want challenging skiing then there few areas to match it.
If you get fresh snow head over to Rendl the powder is superb and it's always a little quieter over there. Great terrain to explore in bounds where you wont need a guide.

If you're a good off piste skier, get a guide and ski the North Face of the Valluga. It's an off piste route not to me missed. (We always use Piste to Powder http://www.pistetopowder.com/)

There are too many other good routes to mention. Can't wait to back again!

Looking back at the North Face of the Valluga.


A well earned rest!

Nice photos. Looks great. Thanks for the info on pistetopowder - I fancy a day with them.

To get the most out of St Anton go with Piste To Powder for a week!!!!!!!