Industry News
Flash floods and landslides have caused massive destruction in and around the Austrian ski resort St. Anton am Arlberg. Heavy rains coupled with snowmelt triggered giant mud avalanches in the night from Friday to Saturday, August 16-17, that swept away cars, destroyed buildings and infrastructure, flooded houses, and caused the collapse of important access roads. It is the third time in recent history that the resort has been struck by landslides and floods, previously in 1999 and 2005, but this year’s floods have been the worst.
“Heavy storms have done great damage in many parts of Austria,” Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer wrote on his Twitter/X account, “Thank you to all the emergency service crews who give everything they can to help their fellow human beings and to repair the damage.”
The landslide went down the famous Kandahar run, one of the steepest runs in St. Anton, with a gradient of around 65%. The creeks Steißbach and Jungbrunntobel were flooded and turned into raging torrents, the local community stated in a press release. The “cradle of alpine skiing” was completely buried by mud, floodwaters, and debris. In the small village of the popular ski resort, consisting of 2,000 inhabitants, 35 houses were damaged, and countless cars were swept into the rivers.
A video by Tim Thurnwalder went viral, showing two cars being swept away by the torrents. There have been several dramatic videos and pictures of cars overturned, buried, and swept away on the weekend; thankfully, none were carrying any passengers, and no one has come to harm.
One main access road to St. Anton, the Arlberg Pass, saw large sections destroyed by a separate landslide. The road is currently closed, and the village of St. Anton is currently only accessible via the Lech Valley. Please check the road status before traveling. If you have booked a holiday in St. Anton, please note that many hotels have also suffered damage and cannot accommodate guests at this point.
St. Anton am Arlberg is the largest connected ski resort in Austria and consists of the ski areas St. Anton, St. Christoph Lech, Zürs, Stuben, Schröcken, and Warth. St. Anton, particularly, has garnered international fame for its incredible après ski scene. The ski area offers 350km (220 miles) of groomed runs serviced by 87 lifts and gondolas. The Arlberg ski area sees around 2.5 million visitors each winter and is equally popular in summer for hiking and mountain biking.
Residents and aid crews have been busy clearing debris and assessing the damage. The ski resort announced that all lift services were suspended on Sunday, August 18. According to the Tyrolian District Fire Department, 24 fire trucks and 250 personnel were deployed to aid in St. Anton.
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It is currently unclear when access roads and lifts will be operational again. The floods and landslides are a stark reminder of the impact of highly unusual weather patterns across the globe and the unpredictable nature of climate change. Glaciers in the Austrian Alps have lost nearly a third of their mass in recent decades, leading to more frequent and intense flooding.
As the region struggles to recover, experts warn that such disasters will become more common. Climate change is expected to increase precipitation in many areas, causing flash floods and landslides in alpine areas. Climate change is likely to increase the frequency of flooding across Europe, and heavy rainstorms and flash floods like the one in St. Anton are projected to become more common and intense due to higher temperatures.
PHOTOS
Quite a bit of your reporting here is incorrect, sometimes literally the opposite of what you write. For example, St Anton is accessible just as normal on the Tirol side – one can just drive as usual along the motorway and valley road. One can NOT drive between St Anton and Lech – ie St Anton is inaccessible from the Lech/Vorarlberg side; that is exactly the section of the Arlberg Pass that is closed.
Apologies, yes access via Lech is closed, you have to go via the Lech Valley which is two separate routes. Thanks for pointing that out, I have amended it accordingly. Regards
Thanks for reporting it. What a shame something like this happened to such a beautiful place. We visited St Anton in 2016. We hope the repairs are done as soon as humanly possible. Good luck to all the people in the town, with best wishes from the UK 🙂
St. Anton is just incredible, isn’t it. Hoping the hotels can get repaired in time for the 24/25 ski season