St. Anton: Now I Need Travel Advice

Tony Crocker

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I would like to ski the Arlberg region (St. Anton or Lech/Zurs) either the week starting Jan. 19 or Jan. 26. Reasons for the timing:
1) High snowfall, low elevation/bad exposure vs. other Euro destinations.
2) High season prices/crowds become a factor a week or two into February.

Nonetheless most lodging quotes I've found are in the stratosphere. Anyone know reasonably priced lodging (above the Patrick hostel level) in these resorts?
 
Tony Crocker":1onqmhan said:
Anyone know reasonably priced lodging (above the Patrick hostel level) in these resorts?
The closer I've stayed from St.Anton is in Landeck. It was nice and was above my hostel level places - serious, it was real nice. :D Not too far, but not slope side like St.Anton.

http://www.pension-can.com/en/karte.html

I would think that James is our Austria specialist on FTO.
 
25km away...

We will probably have a car, but still prefer to be in one of the resorts, not using the car while we're there. There are quite a few reasonably priced places at that distance. If we don't find something close-in, we may consider commuting.
 
Tony Crocker":3lihn9le said:
25km away...

We will probably have a car, but still prefer to be in one of the resorts, not using the car while we're there. There are quite a few reasonably priced places at that distance. If we don't find something close-in, we may consider commuting.

That is why I defered to James.

Of course, I wasn't skiing St.Anton. It was a train stop so I could ski Italy the next day. :) ...and then sleep near Hintertux. Price for a private room with bathroom in Tux was similar. They are a number of family run places in Austria.
 
Patrick":plkc36fu said:
Tony Crocker":plkc36fu said:
Anyone know reasonably priced lodging (above the Patrick hostel level) in these resorts?
The closer I've stayed from St.Anton is in Landeck. It was nice and was above my hostel level places - serious, it was real nice. :D Not too far, but not slope side like St.Anton.

http://www.pension-can.com/en/karte.html

I would think that James is our Austria specialist on FTO.

On my honeymoon my wife and I stayed in Landeck at a really nice place called the Tramserhof. It's a super nice town, but be reminded that the roads to St. Anton from there are all above ground and it is hilly and mountainous terrain that are one or two lane roads. The autobahn in the tunnels I don't believe have exits for the mountains resorts of St. Anton.
 
I just booked the Sandhof this morning for Jan. 19-26. I appreciate the recommendation. I think Lech is Richard's kind of place; his prior Euro ski trips were to Kitzbuhel and St. Moritz. One more question for james: Did you book the ski school for getting oriented, off-piste tours etc.? Do they do a good job of sorting out compatible ski groups? I'm inclined to pre-reserve for the first couple of days at least.

Garry Klassen was in the Arlberg twice in the 1970's, did it all on his own, even followed a couple of powder tracks down the backside of the Valluga to Lech. While I'm planning to use guides for a couple of days, the Arlberg due to lower elevation at least does not have the glacial hazards that Chamonix and La Grave do. Sandhof said I should bring my transceiver/shovel/probe so I will do that.

We will be flying into Zurich Jan. 18 and departing Feb. 4. Second week is still open. I lean toward Andermatt for snow reputation. Other recommendations for eastern Switzerland are welcome.
 
Tony Crocker":1bc6jzjp said:
One more question for james: Did you book the ski school for getting oriented, off-piste tours etc.? Do they do a good job of sorting out compatible ski groups? I'm inclined to pre-reserve for the first couple of days at least.
Both times I went, we got clobbered with snow so I didn't bother to book an off-piste tour to get fresh tracks; thus, I can't speak personally to how they handle it. That said, pre-reserving sounds like a good idea.

Lech's on-piste is well-known for being Deer Valley-friendly for upper intermediates; however, the off-piste/BC is incredible -- you will not be disappointed. While the Arlberg doesn't have the glacial hazards of Chamonix and La Grave, there is, as you can imagine, plenty of opportunity to get into real trouble if you take a wrong turn.

Glad to hear that you booked the Sandhof.
 
Tony, when I skied both Lech and St. Anton there was plenty of off-piste in bounds advanced(moguls!) options off most/many of the major slopes. I don't think there are any glaciers at all there in bounds. I don't see a need to book an inbounds ski school tour. Of course for out of bounds it would be a necessity. I recall one of the classic tours is from the top of St. Anton, down the backside into Lech.

Consider following the White Ring signs the first day in Lech. That way you'll make a huge 1/2 (or a littler longer i think) loop around the entire area. That will get you oriented on what areas you might want to focus on later.

There will be a bus you can take to St. Anton and of course that is not to be missed. I think the reputation is Lech does not have the advanced terrain as does St. Anton, but there are plenty of nice slopes. Sitting here and thinking, their was some remarkable scenery at Lech which was more dramatic than at St. Anton, if you can possibly compare such a thing. Don't miss taking the tram to the tippy top of St. Anton. I loved riding those big vertical euro trams! I made sure I hit them all.
 
I have also booked the 2nd through 5th days with Piste to Powder. Their website makes it fairly that's the place to go for "far out of bounds" skiing. Thanks to Staley for that reference. They are not cheap for 110 Euros per day, but perhaps not that expensive vs. cat skiing!

I'm on the fence about the first day at Lech. The White Ring circuit might be sufficient for orientation, especially since Piste to Powder will likely get over to the Lech side sometime too. The regular Lech ski school is a good deal for a 5 day package at 225 Euros, but not that great for a single day at 70 Euros.

Any eastern Switzerland advice? Davos/Klosters makes the most sense in terms of logistics between Zurich and the Arlberg, though I would still like some info about Andermatt.
 
Seven long years after my last trip to the Alps, I just pulled the trigger on Ischgl (to the southeast of the Arlberg) during the last week of January.
:bow:
 
We talked to one of Richard's in-laws who has lived in Zurich a few years. He advised to reserve lodging, particularly for short stays that include weekends.
We have 3 nights in Klosters, 2 in Laax and 3 a few miles outside Andermatt.
 
Tony Crocker":2b4t4tyn said:
We talked to one of Richard's in-laws who has lived in Zurich a few years. He advised to reserve lodging, particularly for short stays that include weekends.
We have 3 nights in Klosters, 2 in Laax and 3 a few miles outside Andermatt.
Since most people stay for week-long periods (Saturday to Saturday), hotels usually hit you with a supplementary charge if you stay less than three or four days. Not that you need to be concerned about saving a few shekels, but FYI many hotels have a "last-minute specials" section on their websites to sell off unoccupied rooms.

Arlberg, Klosters, Laax, and Andermatt: nice itinerary.
 
All the short stays were reserved via Priceline or Hotels.com for ~$200/night with breakfast but no dinners. No bargains, but I didn't expect any in Switzerland. Needless to say most listings were for a lot more than that. Cheaper deals if any are 10-15km outside the resort towns. That's probably the way to go if you're chasing the snow, which some people advocate for Euro ski trips in view of the compact geography and short drive distances. Richard is more of a resort and groomer skier, so I was trying to strike a balance here. My "adventurous skiing" is likely to be the 4 days with Piste-to-Powder in St. Anton and maybe something in Andermatt. Any recommended guide services there?
 
Tony Crocker":258ftds7 said:
Cheaper deals if any are 10-15km outside the resort towns.
That's exactly what I did on this trip. I booked a hotel directly next to the main lift of the 2,100-vert town hill in Galtür (not lift-connected to the main circuit), five miles from Ischgl. The savings for full-board accommodations -- including all meals and a six-day ski/regional bus pass -- were considerable: 750€ ($990) in Galtür vs. 1,100€ ($1,450), the cheapest I could find in Ischgl.

If only the dollar-to-Euro currency exchange were closer to the 1:1 days, that would be an insane deal.
 
Tony Crocker":21u1ndq0 said:
All the short stays were reserved via Priceline or Hotels.com for ~$200/night with breakfast but no dinners.
An additional buyer-beware for the price-conscious: don't use American sites like Priceline or hotels.com to search for accommodations in the Alps. They don't give you anything resembling a deal, as they may in the States.

The best way is to look up the tourism association (in German: "Tourismusverband") for the target region. Many, such as the one for Ischgl, have a great system whereby after sending customary details about your trip (arrival/departure dates, number of people, classification, which villages you're considering), you receive customized offers directly from the hotels. You then respond to the actual owners and can ask additional questions, try to haggle down the price :), etc. Very helpful and professionally run.
 
Additional info for Tony if he's not already aware of it...

They're finally going to connect the Grand Targhee of the Arlberg, Warth-Schröcken (pronounced Vaht Shrooken), to Lech next season after decades of back and forth. While far from the biggest (see map), tallest (2,600 vertical feet), or most challenging, at 430 inches a year, it's allegedly the snowiest lift-served ski area in the Alps and supposedly one of the quietest ones. I had considered going back to the Arlberg, but this is the reason I decided to ski Ischgl this season and hopefully go back to Lech next year (if I can get my ducks in a row). The connection will be near the bottom of Lech's Weibermahdbahn lift, which you'll certainly ride.

Here's the only decent background info in English, written before approval of the new gondola:
http://www.jaggedhorizons.com/can-they- ... -to-warth/

1289611502.png
 
Naturally I am interested in the documentation behind "snowiest" and "2nd snowiest" resorts in the Alps. Was it this?
AlpsSnowiest1.JPG

AlpsSnowiest2.JPG


The author sent me the attachments above in pdf format. I was not successful in getting him to reveal his sources.
 
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