St Anton Skiing & Snowboarding
The St Anton ski resort is part of the vast Ski Arlberg region that includes St Christoph, Stuben, Lech, Warth Schroecken and Zurs ski resorts (to name a few). St Anton is now fully interconnected via lifts & piste with all the Ski Arlberg resorts. The combined ski areas of the Ski Arlberg alliance provide 85 lifts, and 305km of groomed piste, plus a vast off-piste limited only by your imagination (and perhaps skill!).
St Anton skiing & snowboarding terrain is divided into two areas on either side of the valley. Both are accessed directly from the centre of town. Rendl is the smaller, more north facing ski area on the opposite side of the valley to the main sun-soaked St Anton ski area which include Galzig, Gampen, Kapall, Schindlerspitze & Valluga. Depending on the direction of a winter storm, snow conditions are sometimes better on Rendl due to its more shaded north-westerly aspect.
St Anton is particularly suited to advanced skiers even though there are very few black runs on-piste. Most of the vast advanced and expert terrain is off-piste & on marked ski routes. A huge number of intermediate trails criss-cross the resort. Many of the blue 'beginner' runs are pitched well enough to be red/intermediate runs anywhere else in the world.
St Anton Skiing Highlights
There are many highlights to a visit to Sankt Anton, but here a few to tick off when in the resort.
- Discover the resort by completing the challenging 85km Run of Fame. Leave early, you will need all day to do it. Note that it can get busy & skied off in parts - so we repeat …… go early in the morning!
- For the best way to sample the on-piste groomers, head directly to a different sector every morning and ski it until the crowds arrive. Start with Rendl, then Kapall, Galzig, and lastly Stuben. That’s four morning of the finest groomed pistes you may ever slide on!
- Intermediate riders should endeavour to get away from the crowds and spend the day cutting laps around Stuben - our favourite part of the mountain.
- Advanced & expert riders should try all the marked ski-routes. They are effectively just black runs, and some are even groomed. The best ones are off the Schindlergrat gondola, under the St Christoph chair, and Kapall chairlift.
- Take an early morning bus up to Zürs for first lifts and experience the best ski area in the region before the crowds from St Anton arrive after 10am!
- Get a guide and do the off-piste run off the highest point at St Anton, the 2,811m Valluga. Its awesome!
- On a powder day, avoid the pack and settle into a zone like Stuben or Rendl.
Ski Lifts
With around 87 major ski lifts to choose from in the region, it is safe to say you will enjoy the diversity in the resort. The modern lift system at St Anton most significant change recently was how it connects to the broader Ski Arlberg region. The biggest change to happen to ski lifts in the region occurred in season 2016/17, when four new gondolas were installed to replace old lifts above Stuben and finally linked the St Anton ski resort to nearby Zurs and the rest of the Ski Arlberg region. The gondolas, called Flexenbahn, Albonabahn II & Trittkopfbahn I & II, are a showcase of engineering excellence as well as a skiers’ boon: exceptional views, comfortable, fast and no more bus rides to Zurs from St Anton (unless of course you are running late and need to get back to your hotel after the lifts close!). Since then they have steadily replaced most of the resorts older chairlifts, including the old Schindlergrat & Zug chairs, with modern gondola systems. The latest lift to be replaced for winter 23/24 is the old Albonabahn I double chairlift, which was built in Stuben am Arlberg in 1983. Its replacement is an 8-seater gondola, which certainly future proofs the lifts in one of the better, quiet zones in the resort.
Near the centre of town, the 24-person Galzigbahn funitel gondolas moves vast numbers of skiers up the hill to Galzig with supreme efficiency. The lift base station is also an engineering marvel and is worthy of a few moments to fully comprehend. It is also incredibly amusing to watch the disorderly manner in which people push to get into the gondolas, assuming of course that you are not one of them. At the other end of town, the Nasserein gondola has less people first thing in the morning heading up to Gampen.
Most other lifts are modern, but even with the super-efficient lift infrastructure, there can still be some incredible lift queues. It’s hard to remain relaxed considering the very unattractive culture of pushing and shoving to get to the front of the queue, but patience is a virtue. If wanting to avoid the worst of the crowds, ski St Anton in January after the first week.
Lift Passes
St Anton's lift pass is the Ski Arlberg Pass, which is also valid in the resorts of Zurs, Lech & Warth Schroecken, plus neighbouring Klösterle/Sonnenkopf.
For international guests, the Vail Resort's Epic Pass is now valid for use on the lifts with strict conditions. Epic Pass, Epic Australia Pass & Vail Resorts lifetime Pass Holders receive three complimentary days of skiing & riding at Arlberg ski resorts when they stay a minimum of three consecutive nights at a participating Arlberg resort lodging property. Eligible resorts include St Anton, St Christoph, Lech, Zurs, and Stuben. Epic Pass Holders must book at least three consecutive nights of lodging at a participating resort lodging property to redeem their three complimentary lift tickets. This offer is valid once per season. Lodging must be booked directly with the participating property to qualify for this benefit. Minimum night stay may vary by lodging property. If the property requires more than three nights, guests will still only be eligible for three complimentary tickets. The participating property will deliver lift tickets to the Pass Holder upon confirmation of their Epic Pass card.
Trail Map
The St Anton ski trail map and the whole Ski Arlberg trail map somewhat simplifies what is an extremely complex ski area. Whilst it can be great fun trying to work it all out, if in doubt get a guide for the day. There are some fantastic guiding companies in St Anton that can show you all the sweet spots without the drama!
Check out the ski trail map for the entire interlinked Ski Arlberg Region below.
Snowboarding at St Anton
Snowboarding at St Anton comes with few reservations. The modern lift system and trails are all snowboard friendly. The few flat spots on linking trails . The few unfortunate terrain shortcomings in the middle of the resort where there are major dips can be very frustrating for snowboarders and skiers alike but are no worse than anywhere else in the world.
There is a small terrain park in the Rendl area which has limited jumps, tabletops, slides, rails, and a fairly simple half-pipe. Go elsewhere if looking for a decent park - i.e. Livigno or Laax.
On-Piste Terrain
With over 305km of interconnected ski trails to explore, there is no excuse for anyone to be bored when skiing on the groomers at St Anton. Some of the slopes get remarkably busy and when combined with bumps and ice, they can become incredibly unsafe for those who are not confident and assertive skiers. On the plus side, the mayhem makes for an interesting spectator sport!
Novices & Beginners
Novices should start on the gentle slopes just above the village between the Galzig base & Nasserein. A number of conveyors, surface tows & lifts will get you going. Other learning areas are on Gampen itself, and in St Christoph. Stuben has a learn-to-ski area too, but it is not connected to the rest of the lift system, which can be good as no one will come screaming down through the runs at warp factor 10 to scare the pants off the beginners!
The beginners’ runs up higher can be relatively challenging, and as St Anton ski resort tends to be crowded, these “blue” runs can quickly become bumped making them even more difficult. Even advanced skiers may find it challenging to navigate all the moving obstacles and fixed bumps on the main runs as the day goes on.
Progressing beginners will find easy runs in all sections of the resort; however the best are the long 1,000m vertical descent from Kapall to the village (combination of runs 43 and either 27 or 31). Other good locations are the quiet slopes of Rendl, or the upper Galzig slopes before 10am.
Intermediates
Same as for beginners on the 'easy' rated terrain, for intermediates, the red runs at St Anton are probably more difficult than many other Europe ski resorts. Some are quite steep & those on major routes become readily covered in bumps, so hang on and enjoy the ride. The bottom half of the no.1, 29 & 33 runs are particularly perilous towards the end of the day, but you’ll be rewarded by some fabulous action in one of the slope-side après bars!
However, there is plenty of variety for intermediates with our favourite run being the long 1,000m vertical runs down to Stuben from Albona. The Rendl area is great also, particularly in the afternoon when it catches the sunshine.
Advanced
There is little on-piste for advanced skiers, although some of the intermediate runs may be challenging enough. Notable exceptions are the 1,000m vertical runs from Kapall down to the village (combination of runs 42 & 34), plus the lower parts of Galzig. For the most part, advanced riders need to head for the off-piste, with many areas to choose from. The steepest on-piste trail in the area is at Lech off the Rüfikopf.
Off-Piste, Freeride & Backcountry Terrain
As an introduction to the off-piste, many of the marked ski routes are worth a look - there are over 200km of them! Some are easy groomed piste trails (on the White ring from Zurs to Zug), whilst others are interesting, playful zones like into St Christoph, or tougher around the Mattun run (no.90) which is nice in powder but seriously bumped otherwise. A nice place to explore the off-piste is across at Rendl where the fear factor is not too extreme. If in any doubt, these places may be best explored with an experienced guide. A guide or instructor will provide safety plus perhaps improve your backcountry & off-piste skiing skills as well.
With most of the resort above the tree line, there’s a large range of off-piste areas to be consumed by experts at St Anton. There are some serious frighteners reached from the Valluga summit. There are also several delightful steep chutes off the new Schindlergrat lift. As you turn left off the lift at the summit, the first run is fenced off and accessed via stairs; perhaps to make sure no one accidentally skis the run! Don’t be fooled by the easy-looking wide entry because it tapers off into a tight chute.
Backcountry ski touring from the high points of St Anton can include easy skinning & cruisy descents in wide alpine bowls or involve super steep, adrenaline pumping couloirs. If accompanied by a guide, the route off the backside of Valluga down to Zurs is popular. For first-timers to St Anton, it may be beneficial to hire a guide to aid your orientation to some of the best runs.
Like the rest of Europe, it can be a case of luck for powder hounds. The frequency of powder days is not too bad with its annual snowfall of 7 metres (up to 10m average further up the range!). Most of the resort is above the tree line, so there are plenty of open areas to sniff out the powder. The downside of course is that there is only minimal tree skiing. Another disadvantage of St Anton is that there are sooo many local powderhounds, and after a big dump they appear on the slopes en-masse. The chances of finding easy fresh tracks after 10am are minimal, but thankfully the backcountry is vast. Go forth & explore.
The north-aspect terrain in Stuben was a highlight for us, where five days after a snowfall it was still possible to find fresh snow. This area also has a little tree skiing, or at least shrub skiing. Shush, don't tell anyone!
Another tip is after the morning rush, the vast terrain around Zurs holds some of the region’s best lines and is the 'go to' sector after the initial onslaught in Sankt Anton.