As one of Austria’s premier winter destinations I had heard great things about St Anton. Visiting last winter we spent three and a half days exploring the slopes. In this review of St Anton snowboarding holidays in Arlberg ski area to find out how we got on.
Prior to heading to St Anton we spent a few days on a snowboarding city break in Innsbruck and the surrounding area. Getting from Tirol’s capital to St Anton is easy, you can hop on the train which takes just over an hour. There are also four buses an hour between the train station and the airport that take around 20 minutes.
We were welcomed by Mooserkreuz Hotel at St Anton train station who whisked us up to the accommodation. I don’t think I have ever stayed anywhere so welcoming! The family run hotel was full of smiles, they genuinely seemed interested in your day and were happy to produce vegan dishes for my buddy.
It is not the newest, flashest or poshest hotel in St Anton. But if you want to stay somewhere with a good vibe, great food, happy staff and a nice crowd of other skiers and snowboarders it is hard to beat. It is less than a 10 min walk from the slopes? But they also put on a shuttle buses.
The rooms were warm and comfortable with plenty of space to swing a cat, or fiddle with your snowboard bindings. That said the ski locker room is also a good place to get your kit ready. Although the lack of boot warmers meant my damp snowboarding boots struggled to dry out.
The highlight for me was the social element to the Mooserkreuz. Although different groups sat at their tables there was chat and banter between them and the staff were happy to join in. One evening the bar was quite busy after dinner and it had a great vibe.
The food is excellent. There are no pretentions, just good hearty food that is full of flavour and fills you up after a day on the slopes. The three courses, salad buffet and even the breakfast were adapted for my vegan buddy. Vegan dishes were added to the menu and happily eaten by many of the guests.
Finally the wellness centre will help lessen more persistent aches and pains. It is not particularly posh, but the sauna is hot and the pool big enough to swim around. It does the job while also feeling welcoming.
I had been snowboarding in the Arlberg ski area before while staying in Lech. I was there the season when they opened the new Flexenbahn gondola, to ski Lech to St Anton, without getting a bus.
We had predominantly sunny days with a bit of cloud from time to time. It had been five days since the last snow so the off piste wasn’t really happening. In the mornings the pistes were immaculate but icy with some places staying hard all day. In the afternoons the slopes softened up in the sun and were getting slushy at lower altitudes.
There are 300km of slopes plus another 200 of unpisted routes. We pretty much explored the entire Tirol side of the Arlberg Ski area, and also spent a day over in Lech and Zurs in the Vorarlberg region.
The Mooserkreuz hotel is a little out of town. But walking distance to the infamous Krazy Kanguruh and Mooserwirt apres bars on the #1 ski slope. This leads directly into town from which you can get the Galzig lift up to the central part of the St Anton ski area.
From Galzig you can head up to the Valluga, down into St Christophe or back into St Anton. You need to pass through this area to get to Stuben and Lech and it is the busiest part of the St Anton slopes. The blue #4 was closed during our visit which made the black #2 incredibly busy and a rather treacherous way down for many.
During this review of St Anton snowboarding holidays in Arlberg ski area we found the slopes into St Christophe strangely quiet. The crowds seemed to head in other directions, so if you are in the Galzig area check out runs #8 and #11 as they are fun cruisy blues with far less people on them.
The high point in St Anton is Valluga at 2,811 metres. It is a scenic journey up and and there are excellent long runs down. We particularly liked the red #14 that leads onto the blue #17 all the way down to the Alpe Rouz interchange. From here you can take the Flexenbahn over to Lech and Zurs or access the Stuben area.
This is a tiny area in comparison to the overall Arlberg, however it is well worth a visit. The mainly red slopes are very quiet compared to Galzig and Valluga and reach up to 2,400 metres.
We found loads of fun sidehits on the S4 and S5 slopes which we had mainly to ourselves. We ended up lapping the slopes in the afternoon sun for a few hours. To get back you head to the Alpe Rouz interchange via the S1.
This is a huge ski area in it’s own right. To properly get around it you need to get a wriggle on early in the day and can reach all the way to Warth and Shroken. But you need to keep an eye on the time to get back to St Anton before the lifts close.
On this trip we stayed on the Zurs slopes. But have a read of this review of snowboarding in Lech to find out more about this side of the Arlberg.
The slopes in Zurs rise up beyond 2,400 metres in a few spots. We explored the slopes running down from Maloch-joch on one side of the valley and Trittkopf on the other. Near the top we found some powder to play in, the only time on this trip to Arlberg.
This is the part of the St Anton slopes that is straight above the town. We really enjoyed the area in the late afternoon sun as the snow had softened up. At this point many skiers had gone elsewhere leaving the softer stuff for us snowboarders to play in. But earlier in the day it tended to be busy.
Reaching up to 2,330 metres at Kapall we loved black slopes #22, #25 and #35. The latter two of these link up for a long and fast top to bottom blast.
Red #21 and #37 proved to be full of fun sidehits. Although these and the many blues were fairly busy at times, but not quite as crowded as the Galzig area.
An the opposite side of the valley you can also access the Rendl slopes that have an impressive high point of 2,645 metres. We spent our last half a day in the area and had intended to visit the exceptional St Anton snow park, which is known as on of the best in Europe.
But it was the only time in St Anton that we encountered poor visibility. It was not a complete white out, but the early morning light was very flat and the pistes were incredibly icy. As the morning wore on the cloud lifted and while the slopes stayed bullet hard it made life a bit easier.
After nine days snowboarding we were both tired with various aches and pains. So we decided the snowpark was not a good idea in the conditions.
Instead we took the R1 slope down expecting to explore elsewhere. But it turned out to be an excellent run! We did it four times and then had a mad rush to get back to the hotel and packed up before heading home.
We had two intentions when heading to the Krazy Kanguruh in the late afternoon. The first was not to get hammered, and the second was to leave after a couple of drinks to check out the Moosewirt. We failed on both…
When we arrived at around three there was already a great atmosphere and we partied way too hard until about six thirty. The music was great, the crowd were awesome and really going for it. Plus we had the perfect spot at the end of the bar where we could dance but easily get served!
On the way home we just had to cross the piste and exit it about 100 metres further down. We took the stupid decision of putting our boards on to ride down. Somehow in the short distance we lost each other and I ended up having an adventure getting back to the hotel.
Looking back it was quite dangerous as I was snowboarding off-piste, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere. I remember having to climb fences and was in amongst trees. Eventually I found my way to the hotel in time for dinner, but I was at least half an hour behind my friend. He took the more sensible option of walking home along the road!
If you want to go on an Austria snowboarding holiday then St Anton is tough to beat. The ski area is vast with way more options than we fully explored. In good conditions it is renowned for its off-piste with plenty of open space, unpisted ski routes and some seriously steep and challenging off piste.
To conclude this review of St Anton snowboarding holidays in Arlberg ski area I will say the Mooserkreuz Hotel is the icing on the cake. It certainly suits those with tighter budgets, but I would rather stay there ahead of more salubrious hotels I have visited. I love how friendly and welcoming it is, that the food is very good but not pretentious and that it had a fun vibe.
St Anton certainly suits more advanced snowboarders and those who love freestyle or freeride snowboarding. While it is a bit steeper than some ski areas there are plenty of beginner slopes and cruisy blues, although they can get busy. St Anton suits all levels of snowboarder, but to make the most of it you need to be at least an upper intermediate.
St Anton is renowned for its apres ski. Which makes it fantastic for big groups and party goers. Just don’t be an idiot (like me) and try to snowboard home off-piste in the dark while drunk.
I hope you found this review of St Anton snowboarding holidays in Arlberg ski area useful. For more information visit: www.stantonamarlberg.com and you can book your stay at the Mooserkreuz here: www.mooserkreuz.com