St. Anton am Arlberg sign. Image: Brett Ploss.

Report from January 8, 2024

Ski Arlberg

Ski Arlberg is one of the largest ski areas in Austria. The most famous towns are St. Anton and Lech, where Princess Diana vacationed.

It encompasses five distinct areas with 304km of slopes offered on 88 lifts. To explore the whole area from one base, it would be necessary to ski backpack. You could do this by staying in different towns or in mountain huts around the area.

Lift tickets come in around $80 USD. Much more affordable than US skiing.

The area is also on the Epic Pass. But there is a catch: to get three days of skiing, pass holders must stay at resort properties. Which usually cost much more than the $ 80-day passes when compared to other lodging options.

The town offers nightlife and expensive lodging options compared to other resorts in the area.

Skiing

I took the OBB train to the St. Anton am Arlberg station from Mayrhofen in the morning. At the train station, there were lockers, which made it easy to store my luggage for about $5 USD. I quickly changed into my boots and headed to the lift.

From the train station, it was a five-minute walk to the Galzigbahn Gondola. It reminded me of the funitel at Palisades but was configured differently. Almost had a Ferris wheel aspect to the bottom lift station. Unique and interesting.

Galzigbahn Gondola, St. Anton am Arlberg. Image: Brett Ploss.

At the top, visibility was low. It reminded me of the last few days in Mayrhofen, although it was not snowing this time.

St. Anton am Arlberg low visibility. Image: Brett Ploss.

Since I had to stick low to the trees, I decided to cross the main town road and walk to the Rendlbahn gondola. Ski slopes do not connect this area to the main area in town, but it is an easy three-minute walk.

After taking the third lift, I finally started to break through the clouds. The views were incredible.

Breaking through the inversion clouds. Image: Brett Ploss.

Visibility finally changed from feet to miles under the bright sun. The Alps were showing off their best views on top of the inversion.

Inversion on top of St. Anton am Arlberg. Image: Brett Ploss.

The snow was light and deep, around two to three feet up top.

What made this area better is that most people avoid it to go to the larger Ski Arlberg area from town. Only every 10th lift or so had people on it. This left all the snow under the sun above the clouds to a lucky few.

Once it was getting late, I moved back to the St. Anton area of Ski Arlberg and finished the day at Krazy Kanguruh. A must for anyone skiing in St. Anton.

It was easy to ski down, walk to the station, change back to the lockers, and head off to Luzern for the night.

Conditions

Snow is soft and light. There are a lot of fresh patches to be found. As long as it stays cold, the upper mountain will stay soft. Down low is wetter and will become icy fast. Anything groomed will also likely turn to ice within the next two to three days.