First things first; Stansted Airport. What a pleasure it is to fly from this well organised airport. Maybe a different story for those who use Ryanair or Easyjet, but then thats what you get when you pay for the cheapies and the scrumming that goes with it I guess. We met at check in at 7.15am which was already open, and there were only about 6 others there at the time, so getting all our gear booked in and tagged was a painless task. Inghams had a rep on duty who wanted to check people off, and make sure ski carriage had been paid for. He was very jovial and chatty, and also helped with moving all the bags. Stansted has an outsize baggage check in which is far better than Gatwick where you throw your ski bags on a trolley. Here you actually put them on a conveyor and they go through x ray, and only then when they are on the way to the plane are you allowed to leave them. Far far better.
Decent choice of facilities through the other side, much improved security with lots of channels open.
We just about had time for a Weatherspoons breakfast and first drink or 4 of the day before we took the shuttle round to the plane.
Austrian Airlines; what a refreshing business this was. Efficient, clean, organised, punctual. It was a Fokker 100 which only seats 100 people with 2 on the left and 3 on the right, but the legroom was the most I have ever had in economy anywhere. Makes First Choice, Thomas Cook etc look like sardine cans.
We took off bang on time, the flight was smooth and quicker than expected, food was served and drinks offered free of charge, and after 90 minutes we were flying between the snow capped mountains of the Inn Valley and landing at Innsbruck.
Innsbruck Airport; its not the biggest by any means, but an improved passport control means no waiting on the runway like before. Bags were already on the carousel when we came through, and skis had been positioned as always against the wall outside departures. This may seem an odd system, and some people were a little concerned their skis might "walk" but as long as you are aware this is the norm its fine.
Unfortunately it was 18c in Innsbruck, despite there being plenty of snow on the ground. It was seriously warm, and we had an hour to wait for the Gatwick flight to come in, so we headed strangely enough to the little bar in arrivals. Top tip - don't bother going up to the fancy pants cafe upstairs, the little bar downstairs has draught beer, coffee, snacks etc all at reasonable prices. Just not many seats, but then we wanted to go out into the sun anyway.
The Gatwick flight finally arrived a few minutes late and we were on the bus and on the way.
Inghams had plenty of reps at the airport and finding the transfer bus was a breeze. Ours was specifically for our hotel with no other stops or drop offs.
The rep on board was pleasant and helpful, but far too slow in getting round with the welcome packs and sorting out lift passes, ski hire etc. He seemed to do a lot of faffing around with paperwork. Luckily we sorted our lift passes on board and picked them up later that evening at reception. £191 for the javascript:void(0);St Anton area pass, exactly the same as in resort.
Sporthotel St Christoph;
Inghams and Esprit (sister companies) jointly run this hotel under the Inghams banner. It is fantastically positioned at 1800m altitude, just on the main road from St Anton to Stuben and Lech/Zurs. It has a swimming pool, sauna room, 2 adjoining restaurants, 2 bars (sport bar and lounge bar) with reasonably priced drinks (4.50eu for a pint of draught lager) with 1eu off in happy hour, 4-6. Reception was manned 24 hours, and the lift took you up to the 3 floors of well equipped, clean, large bedrooms. Inside was a double or twin bed, ensuite with shower, wc and plenty of storage space, a separate lobby with large wardrobes, plenty of hanging space for ski jackets etc, a desk, tv with various channels including sky sports 1 and the fantastic Austrian webcam channel, and we paid £2 a night for a balcony which came in useful when it got very warm as we just opened the door at night.
St Christoph the resort; I have to say that despite its perfect ski in/out location, the resort itself isn literally nothing other than half a dozen hotels. We walked out the first evening and found the few bars deserted or closed, and had time only for 1 drink at the top of the hill before they closed at 6pm and wanted us out! Back to the hotel bar then..... Luckily, the hotel bar was well priced as mentioned, and had plenty of seats with a nice open log fire as well.
There are a couple of bars on piste just at the end of the blue runs into the village including the Hospiz Alm which is famous for its slide downstairs to the toilets. Unfortunately this bar was stupidly over priced and the staff anything but welcoming. Its not clear whether there is an issue generally with the English, or Inghams guests maybe, but they were quite rude. Never before in Austria have I come across this kind of attitude, so my guess is they're royally peed off about the financial situation with the UK not agreeing to bail the Euro out. Anyway...
Outside the hotel is a drag lift with bunny slopes for kids and beginners, and a double T Bar which allows access onto a fairly short blue back into the village, but from which you can ski in to the piste side bars (the best of which is the Alberg Alm highest up and the oldest rustic looking one - see photo below) and also you can ski across the road into the St Christoph chair which opens at 9am.
9???? Outrageous. I could have had an hour in by then....
The St Christoph 4 man chair whisks you up to Galzig, one of St Antons main areas at 2185m, and from the Galzigbahn gondola station at the top you can ski back down to the village on blue 8, which can be seen in the background of the photo above.
So, Sunday morning came round with eager anticipation. The sky was blue, the sun was out, and there was plenty of snow on the mountains, albeit a little packed and hard. We decided to split into 2 groups as I had kind of expected; those who wanted to head off and explore and who were experienced skiers (that was 8 of us) and those who wanted to bumble around and get their feet on the local blues around St Christoph.
Wickers came out to play and brought along his new big bobble. We soon found ourselves on the famous Kandahar run, black 2, without having planned to, so legs were warmed up sooner than expected. Galzig has a collection of runs all linked with chairs, a large gondola and a T Bar down into the valley below where St Anton lies at 1304m. To ski into St Anton from this side, you effectively have to head down into the valley at Streissbachtal underneath the Schindler Spitze and ski down blue 4 and blue 1, which leads you into town past all the famous piste side bars, including the Mooserwirt and Krazy Kangharu. Doing this run early in the morning is an absolute pleasure, but as most people use it to head down, it gets very busy and chops up badly by about lunchtime - especially in warm temperatures!
This is what blue 4 and 1 regularly look like, and its twice as busy at 4pm:
There is a collection of huts and bars along the lower end as you approach St Anton, and we found the Heustadl to be the best for us in terms of location, food quality, price and atmosphere. Here it is from above:
They serve superb food at great prices. Grostl with Sauerkraut was 10,90 euros and was enormous:
Lunch on the first day was taken at the Ulmer Hutte which sits under the Valluga peak off red 14, which in the main junction point at the top. From here you can turn left and take blue 4 down the valley into St Anton, or head down to catch the Schindlergrat chair up to 2660m and take the start of red 14, the ski route off Schindler Kar (which we did several times) or carry on down blue 17 to Alpe Rauz and the link into Stuben. Blue 17 seemed to be most peoples favourite run. We hit it early one morning about 9.30 and it had hardly been touched, and was fresh with about 30cm of powder from overnight snow. It could not have been a lot better. It runs for a few miles down to 1500m, and you can ride the Valfegehr chair (heated seats, covers and tissues available) back up or ski on down to Stuben.
This is the view from the Albona I chair in Stuben looking up the valley at Galzig. You can see the run at the bottom into Stuben, and high in the background is blue 17 sweeping down into the valley. Beautiful.
Down at the bottom here is the rustic old village of Stuben. There are several superb cafes, bars and restaurants here, and you can catch the bus on to Sonnenkopf or round to Zurs and Lech, or back to St Anton if you dont want to ski back. We headed up the Albona chair and on to the deserted pistes of Stuben which turned out to be a fantastic surprise. The snow was better over here despite the highest point only being 2400m. However be warned - the 2 long Albona chair lifts are slow, painfully long, and exposed to shaded and windy areas. You can pick up a blanket and the bottom and drop it off at the top - much needed on the last morning when it was minus 15 up there. The slopes are all red higher up, wonderfully sweeping runs back down either into Mittelstation where theres a lovely restaurant, or back down into Stuben. You can also take the S1 blue run off across into Alpe Rauz which will bring you back to the Valfegehr chair and back into Galzig quickly. We spent 2 superb mornings over at Stuben, where the off piste is also extensive and the snow seems to keep particularly well.
Wickers had a trek over to Stuben with us early in the week and liked it, but this was shortly before his knee packed in.
Stuben:
One of the best runs, especially after decent snow fall, is ski route 18 which runs off the side higher upo from blue 17 down to Alpe Rauz. its marked as a black, and has some steep sections. Its basically an unpisted track which then opens up into tons of off piste, and we had a great hour on here on the last morning:
Shame about the snow, eh????
Directly above St Anton is Gampen/Kapall. You ride the 4 man chair out of town up to 1850m, or take the Nasserain gondola from further across town, and this brings you out at a plateau at Gampen where there are a number of cafes and where ski schools tend to meet. I had hoped that Stewart and his group might find their way over here as its perfect for more timid skiers, but they only did so whilst on a lesson one morning sadly. You can then ride the Kapall chair up to the peak of Kapall at 2330m where 3 of us made it up to one very foggy morning as this was the only clear section in the area, and we found ourselves skiing in shin deep powder ON the pistes!
It was a different story on our last day where conditions were absolutely perfect, with views right across to Rendl and both ways down the valley:
Talking of Rendl, this is a separate area across the valley from Galzig and Gampen, but should not be ignored. There is a new gondola installed last season which makes acess much better from town, but its still never as busy and there is a lovely variety of slopes, from cruisy blues at mid station, steep reds higher up, ski routes with moguls and tons of off piste. It may only be a small area, but the amount of skiing is infinite.
We tended to hit Rendl after lunch when it seemed quietest, and take the run off or Abfahrt back into town in order to either have a beer or 4 at Scotty's Bar and take the bus/taxi back to St Christoph or ride the Galzigbahn back up at 4.15pm (last run up) and ski down to St Christoph.
Rendl does have some interesting ski routes and stacks of off piste to go at. We took Mrs W through the trees which she seemed to enjoy somewhat, despite her shrieking on the way down!!!!
Here are some shots at Rendl.
The top of Rendl peak at 2030m, the start or Red R2 which is quite steep:
Here is Ellistine going down R2:
Skidaddle assessing the way down one of the reds:
Mrs H skiing off the mountain on the glorious and long Abfahrt at the end of the afternoon:
Round the Flexen Pass from Stuben, and down the back of the Valluga Peak lie the villages of Lech and Zurs. I had never skied round there before, so we decided to head over and take a look one morning when it was cloudy and foggy round in St Anton. We skied down to Stuben and picked up the Postbus for 2.50eu and dropped off at the Trittkopf at Zurs in order to get back on the snow asap. This meant leaving Lech until later in the week.
We headed straight up the Trittkopf cable car, a real old fashioned thing which took you back to the James Bond films. At the top here is only one run, red 7, but when you get up there you see why its so popular. Its right away from it all, a lovely long sweeping and in part steep red, with just infinite amounts of off piste off the edges everywhere. Sadly no cafe up here but some splendid views, and we were blessed by the cloud clearing and the sun coming through:
Left to right: Mrs H, Ellistine, Steve (reader on here), Mrs W, Skidaddle, Mrs Ellistine.
We skied back down into Zurs, and then headed up the other side of the valley on the Seekopf and Zunnega chairs, where there are some delightful cruisy reds and blues, and where we felt our less experienced party members would really love the skiing. There is also an excellent cafe at Seekopf under the Madloch-Joch peak. Some of the snow over here was sensational, and the slopes were literally deserted:
Needless to say there was much whooping and giggling going on here.
After lunch, our "piece de resistence". We headed up the Muggengrat as I wanted to do the long red that winds back into Zurs, but the snow underneath us as we went up the chair looked amazing, and so finally convinced everyone in the group to have a go. I believe Mrs W got a stiff telling off from Ian when she told him we had gone off piste onto non patrolled sectors. Oops. BUT it was amazing. Thick snow which was only tracked in places, leaving miles of fresh in which to make pretty patterns and generally feel like we were a million miles from reality:
After playing around here for a while, we headed over the back to do the Muggengrat red, but sadly it was thick fog all the way down and almost impossible to see your own tips in front of you so we took it slowly and missed all the wonderful views hidden in cloud. Zurs was lovely, and we decided to head back another morning and bring all the gang over, but unfortunately on that day the ski bus was packed and didn't stop and the next one was an hours wait, so those of us who wanted to get on and ski took off into St Anton and the others waited an hour and got a couple of hours skiing in over in Zurs, which they said they found really good fortunately.
Lech would require another week to ski the whole area in my opinion, and consistently has the best snow record in the Alps year in year out.
So, as can be seen a good week was had by us all, in particularly the group of us who just wanted to get out and ski first lift to last lift.
Its now my 2nd time in St Anton, and as enjoyable as it was, I don't think I'd rush to go back again in the near future. I certainly wouldn't stop in St Christoph, despite the hotel and access being very good, it was just too quiet and with our group being mixed ability it was almost impossible to arrange to meet up elsewhere around the mountain. However for anyone who enjoys good standard skiing, off piste, and a challenge, I'd recommend it as a place to ski at least once in your life.
As for the banging nightlife, we are all too knackered to bother once we had got back to St Christoph for dinner.
Inghams Hotel St Christoph was perfect, decent food and a selection of wines over dinner too. Reasonable bar prices, good rooms, decent sized ski and boot room with individual places for your skis and boots according to your room number. Ski in ski out, pool and sauna. You cannot go wrong if you like it quiet.
Austrian Airlines, superb.
Mountain Huts and restaurants; all of a good standard, with the best in our opinion being the Heustahl on blue 1 and the Seekopf at Zurs. Expect to pay around 4,50 to 5 for a large beer which whilst its not cheap, for a major resort is pretty acceptable. Spag bol was around 9 euros, Wiener Schnitzel 12 euros, 4 euros for a coke though in some places so you may as well have a beer. Take your own water with you and choccy bars!
Rendl beach is a nice place to sit in the sun and watch the world ski by. Deckchairs and posing galore.
Weather; for March I was delighted with conditions. Austria has been lucky with snow this season and there was so much already there before we went. We skied on hard packed pistes day 1, through to deep powder and soft fluffy off piste midweek, and every skiers dream on the last morning - pisted fresh snow with a topping of around 20cm. Piste bashing is pretty good across the mountains.
Favourite runs:
Ski route 18
Blue 17 down to Alpe Rauz
Black 2 Kandahar
Ski route 15 off Schindler
Blue R11 on Rendl
R1 Rendl Abfahrt
Blue 11 and the off piste at Zurs on the Muggengrat chair
Red 7 at Zurs
Red S3 and Red S5 at Stuben
Now, where to for next season........????
