Guide to St. Anton, Austrian Alps

Cosmopolitan St.Anton am Arlberg is a magnet for energetic freeriders and competent advanced skiers. Here are many steep and tough black runs in rugged terrain, experts find brilliant off-piste skiiing, snowboarders will have their work cut out on the endless natural obstacles. There are a few convenient nursery slopes, but most pistes are not very suitable for beginners or the timid. St. Anton gets heavy snowfalls and, backed up by plenty of snowmachines, this keep runs open well into April. An improved lift system has cut waiting times considerably. There's more to explore in nearby Lech and Zurs on the single Arlberg ski pass.
Families will find good childcare here with kindergartens and babysitting provided in all the areas, and expert tuition in the Arlberg & St.Anton Ski schools.

Mountain Information St. Anton

Resort Altitude	1300 m	Exclusive St.Christoph near St.Anton
Vertical Drop	1510 m
Top Lift	2810m
Lifts	83
Total Runs	270 km
Longest Run	10 km
Advanced Runs	70
Intermediate Runs	35
Beginner	34
Cross Country	37 km

Getting to St. Anton

The nearest airport is at Innsbruck (60 miles, 1.5 hrs travelling time by train). Alternatively you can fly to Zurich (120 miles) or Munich (165 miles).
Travel to St.Anton by train or bus is not difficult. There's an international Eurocity station right in the village. From Innsbruck, the Arlberg Express train runs to the centre of St.Anton. From Zurich, trains run to St.Anton via Langen. From Munich, take a train to Innsbruck, then on to St.Anton.
From Friedrichshafen airport, direct shuttle buses run to Zurs, Lech and St.Anton at weekends from December to April. From Zürich Airport, the Arlberg Express ski bus service runs to all the Vorarlberg ski resorts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the season.

Accommodation in St. Anton

The resort spreads out along the valley and is a mix of modern and traditional. Accommodation is in quality hotels, reasonably-priced self catering apartments, chalets and guesthouses. Hotels in the centre are excellent and convenient, but can suffer from late night street noise. The Nasserrein chalet area has convenient access to the slopes. Prices are not cheap in St.Anton, but many think the standards of skiing, food, accommodation and nightlife make it worthwhile.
St.Jakob just down the valley is quieter with good access and wonderful views, St.Christoph is higher up and more exclusive. The small village of Stuben is also quieter with more moderately priced hotels. Cheaper rates are usually offered at the beginning and end of the season, mid-January rates are also worth checking out.

Bars, restaurants and après ski nightlife

In the centre of St. Anton is a pedestrian village area surrounded by sports shops, boutiques, bars and cafes. Nightlife is fantastic and energetic, the resort is crowded with many discos, bars and gets its fair share of noisy drunks late at night. The notoriously wild Krazy Kanguruh and Mooserwirt quickly fill up by 4 pm. The Griabli has live bands, the Underground is loud and dark, Sennhütte, the Hazienda, Kandahar, Piccadilly are all very lively and popular. Stanton offers late night dancing, Scotty's Bar attracts Britons for its cheap beers and pizzas, Bar Vino has a pool table. St Antoner Hof, the Alte Post Hotel and Hotel Post are for the more quiet and sophisticated.
As for eating out, the choice is yours, from gourmet and traditional Austrian food to Japanese sushi, Chinese, Mexican, pizzas, hamburgers and take aways. There are plenty of family restaurants too. The Funky Chicken does good chicken and chips, Dixie's is reasonably priced, for good fondue try the Montjola. Many cafés and restaurants serve delicious pastries and cakes.

Activities

Expert snowboarders love this area with its endless choice of obstacles on open pistes. There is also a snowboard park with half pipe, quarter pipe and washboard on Rendl.
The large new sports centre in St.Anton has an ice rink, pool, health club and gourmet restaurant. The ice skating school teaches learners from 8 years old and up. St.Anton has 3 natural and 2 artificial ice rinks, ice hockey matches are on many weekends. There are over 15 major spas with swimming pools, saunas and workout gyms, most are found inside the different hotels and are open to everyone.
Other activities include indoor tennis and squash, 30 miles of all-year hiking trails, ski museum, cinema, floodlit toboggan run above Nasserrein, horse-drawn sleig rides in the forest, paragliding.
Music lovers can choose from traditional Tyrolean folk music and dancing, rock band performances or classical music concerts at the Arlberg Theatre, especially around Christmas.
There's a good selection of shops selling traditional Austrian folk dress and souvenirs, skiwear and sports equipment. St.Anton has excellent bus access to other resorts and the beautiful town of Innsbruck is easily reached by train.

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