2026/27 season plans

Yes that’s dirt cheap for the lodging. And yes you want to base in St. Anton due to the early morning meetups with guided groups.

I do not believe a car is more needed in Japan than the Alps. I did not have a car on my first Japan ski trip that was to both Hakuba and Niseko. The second trip had one for hitting some smaller areas on Hokkaido.

In both cases it boils down to whether you are mainly staying in one place or moving around a lot. And solo is the best case for public transit. That first Japan trip was solo and a very rare instance of me not having a car.

If Sbooker is going multiple places that makes the public transit trickier. Sticking with trains I’d vote for Zurich since Swiss system is so comprehensive plus it’s the easiest gateway for St. Anton.
 
Sbooker said:
Warm up days choice determines destination airport. Munich for a couple of ski days around Innsbruck. Zurich for a couple of ski days in Jungfrau. Thoughts?
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Gateway Airport & City:
Munich is a far better city than Zurich, but Zurich is quite interesting (and compact!) for a day or two.

Warm-Up/Add-On Area:
Jungfrau is a world-class alpine destination. Skiing is just one activity. Scenery is amazing (easily Top 3-5 Alps). People go winter hiking, ride trains/S3 Gondolas, sledding, sun-chair lounging, etc. Interlaken (Est) is only 1.5-2 hours from Zurich by train.
Innsbruck. I'm the wrong person to comment too much, but Stubai Glacier, Nordkette, etc. look interesting. And economical.
Alternatively, Kitzbühel is another easy stopover on a Munich-to-St Anton route, and it sits in the middle of the massively interconnected KitzSki+SkiWelt. I have considered this trip before: Munich + train + Kitzbühel + St. Anton.
My pick: Jungfrau, then Kitzbühel, then Innsbruck

St. Anton Guides:
Piste2Powder - I believe it is UK/British owners? Anyways, it's Anglo-focused, some German. Looks like it's 3 levels now. Some days there were 4 groups going out; other days, only 2 groups. Almost all groups went to the same zones and selected slightly different terrain depending on ability. We did 2-3 days and highly recommend it. It was easy for my brother and me to do repeat runs ourselves and ask for recommendations. Issues: They likely will never take you to Warth, and barely to Lech. Also, different skiers every day. Some repeats. Positive: Easy to take a day or two off from guiding.

Ski Level

Ski Level » Piste To Powder ™ - Off piste skiing and freeriding - ski & mountain guides St. Anton Arlberg
pistetopowder.com pistetopowder.com
Snoworks - It might be fun skiing with the same group over multiple days. You certainly will not repeat terrain.

Swiss Railways: You can drop your gear off to or from the airport to any station in Switzerland for $15-20. I dropped my 50 lb body bag/ski bag at the Murren railway, and picked it up 1.5-2 days later at the Zurich airport. Traveled to Lucerne and Zurich for 48 hours with just carry on.
 
Sbooker said:
I was looking at the accommodation offer late last night. I just had a better look. It’s actually cheaper that I thought. I must have done a quick calculation in my head that rounded it to about 1000AUD.

728 Euro for 7 nights is within my self imposed budget.
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Yes, I considered a solo trip to St. Anton. I found many options at inns or pensions with single-occupancy rooms within walking distance of a lift for around $100+/night or slightly more. Especially January. Stuben was also an option, but not as well located. Lech, Zurs, or even Ischgl are more expensive. Austrians in my ski groups complained that many Swiss were crossing the border to ski, inflating prices in St. Anton.

Although Arlberg's largest base, St. Anton, is semi-reasonably priced, it does not cater to average intermediate skiers. Local terrain is limited.
This helps explain the daily migration of intermediate skiers from St. Anton over to Zurs/Lech or Stuben. Busy! However, Rendl and most upper-mountain St. Anton lifts are uncrowded.
 
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