Is St Anton really that tough

[Wendles]

Hi,

We finally bought our first Motorhome (Winston) and we are considering going to St Anton as the site in Pettneu comes highly recommended. We are intermediate skiers and fairly confident on reds and some black but have heard some tales about the slopes in St Anton. These comments range from steep and narrow, to steep and icy to bumpy and ungroomed .

We appreciate there is always that "run" back to the village that's busy and churned up but is the rest of the resort a reasonable place?

All this of course is made worse by the fact I have just had a hip impingement operation in October and whilst able to go on a "maintain" ski holiday I'm not going to performing tricks in the mogul field!!!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Garfields]

Lot's of steep stuff
How difficult depends on the snow and light conditions and ability
I think it's fair to say it's a demanding ski resort overall
We are more into cruising reds and blues'now and are fairly selective about the blacks we tackle
Arabba this winter

 

[haganap]

went to St Anton this year and everything you say is correct. Great skiing and if you can ski you will be ok...

But to say it's challenging in some areas is an understatement. Done some diamond runs (off piste) and the snow was incredible. Snow boarder died after face planting and not being able to get free this year. On the plus side the campsites amazing, the busses are frequent and the town is incredible. Just take it easy, there is plenty of intermediate skiing but I would not want to do it as a beginner.

 

[Wendles]

Thanks for that info. That looks like camping Arlberg in Pettneu which is where we are going. Great to hear the buses are frequent- we were worried if we wanted to go out in the evening we would struggle to get back. I hear it's now quite easy to get to Lech and the other resorts which will give us some different stuff from St Anton itself and I hear a lift with heated seats!!

 

[Boarder]

The bus service to Lech / Zurs is great although I'm sure you will find runs to suit you in St Anton , just scope it out properly before you head out and again off the lifts on your way up . We preferred Rendle mountain (over the road) as the terrain is better suited to boards and there a great off piste route that winds round the back from the very top although they recommend a guide for it . Rendle only has a couple of lifts but it will certainly help you to keep your legs in . Yes Lech has heated seats , the only other place we have encountered them is in the US , Vail I think or Beaver Creek . It's very up market , the couple in our gondola accessing the mid mountain hotel had matching Ferrari suitcases and little dogs with jewel studded fur coats on , quite surreal .

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[nicholsong]

St Anton has some easy runs but the Lech side has more.

One thing to avoid is coming down the last few hundred metres at St Anton after the 'Crazy Kangeroo' bar closes, as the drunks will easily wipe you out, particularly the Swedes.
I skied in Class 2 at St Anton but they scared the sh1t out of me.

Excellent Ski School and instructors - miles above France and even better than Swiss, well worth the money.

 

[nicholsong]

Deleted

 

[haganap]

St Anton has some easy runs but the Lech side has more.

One thing to avoid is coming down the last few hundred metres at St Anton after the 'Crazy Kangeroo' bar closes, as the drunks will easily wipe you out, particularly the Swedes.
I skied in Class 2 at St Anton but they scared the sh1t out of me.

Excellent Ski School and instructors - miles above France and even better than Swiss, well worth the money.

Lightweight ...
Coming down from the crazy Kangaroo at closing is a sight to behold and only for the brave and stupid...
Hence why i love it..although I'm not brave

 

[nicholsong]

Lightweight ...
Coming down from the crazy Kangaroo at closing is a sight to behold and only for the brave and stupid...
Hence why i love it..although I'm not brave

I still stayed till closing time, but stayed high on the run down and only at last minute ducked under the lift, having taken a good look over my right shoulder.

Had some great skiing in Class 2 with Joshi our instructor - 1100 - 'Meet me at first chalet' - out he walked with tray, bottle of schnapps and 7 glasses. Class act.

 

[Wendles]

I shall be sure to find a good spot to watch this event Shame about the jewel studded fur coats, I was going to leave my dog with the jewel studded collar at home!!!! Really, never has it been more true than the saying money doesn't buy taste. It sounds like there is a lot to see all over the resort and connected areas. Thanks to everyone for their advice- always happy to be guided by others if is means I will have more fun.

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[Soozywoozy]

Its a great resort for skiiers. Apart from the dodgy end of day descent from the Krazy Kangaroom the run down to St christoph is also tougher than it looks and still my nemesis. Gets churned up and funny angles (even for a mountain). The otherside of the road Rendl is gentler if you need a break apart from the red run down to resort which is quite narrow in places and tendency to become icy - i tend to take the gondola and meet hubby at the bottom ( who regrets not taking the gondola every time) the campsite is great and thebuses run until quite late, albeit hourly. The evening snow spetacular show is worth an evening out!

 

[Wendles]

Just back from St Anton for the first ski trip in Winston the new Motorhome. Found the skiing to be pretty much what I have experienced elsewhere in Europe and no more challenging than Canada but perhaps we were just lucky with the weather. Thankfully the hip withstood the effort all be it the slushy moguls did push it to the limit. Agree the campsite is great- we did have problems with the electric as it kept tripping but we think that was the massive boiler in the bathhouse. The whole holiday has given us the confidence to perhaps go away next year without the bathhouse facilities so the options of where to go have got wider. Thanks again to everyone who responded with helpful info.

 

[Themselves]

When I risked my tender young life at the Kangaroo bar the highlight was a group of well-blessed German girls clad only in their scanties and ski boots dancing on the tables.

 

[Wendles]

I will admit the only apres ski we managed was a stop at Taps bar and I threw a ball for Jack the dog. Also one of the snow days we went into Moosewirt at lunchtime for the amazing ribs. Felt at my age the Kanderoo bar was probably a bit too excitement. I have heard so many stories about it though.

 

[haganap]

Just replying to this on the ferry home. Just had an amazing 17 nights away in the van starting at Livigno then off across to Bormio before arriving at Corvara for a few nights and enough time to board around the Selaronda.
Followed this with a trip to Mittenwald and a day's boarding in Seefeld...

Mixture of campsites and aires and some gorgeous stops on the way... opted to not go to St Anton this year..

Switched between boarding and skiing depending on how i felt and had plenty of apres ski in fact a little too much...

Looks like tomorrow i'm back to work to pay for it so until next season!!!!

Happy mountains

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[EuroTrotters]

Thanks for that info. That looks like camping Arlberg in Pettneu which is where we are going. Great to hear the buses are frequent- we were worried if we wanted to go out in the evening we would struggle to get back. I hear it's now quite easy to get to Lech and the other resorts which will give us some different stuff from St Anton itself and I hear a lift with heated seats!!

The bus service to Lech / Zurs is great although I'm sure you will find runs to suit you in St Anton , just scope it out properly before you head out and again off the lifts on your way up . We preferred Rendle mountain (over the road) as the terrain is better suited to boards and there a great off piste route that winds round the back from the very top although they recommend a guide for it . Rendle only has a couple of lifts but it will certainly help you to keep your legs in . Yes Lech has heated seats , the only other place we have encountered them is in the US , Vail I think or Beaver Creek . It's very up market , the couple in our gondola accessing the mid mountain hotel had matching Ferrari suitcases and little dogs with jewel studded fur coats on , quite surreal .

Just a Note:

You are not allowed to park your motorhome in Lech or Zurs

 

[Nasher]

When this post was first appeared, I resisted replying, but now you are back & had good time, I'll offer my opinion

I find that many Brit skiers are stuck in what I call the Sunday Times ski method

Basically it's articles talk about ski-ing for 20 odd years and still hiring an instructor, because the instructor knows that the east facing slopes get the early sun. Obviously if you're abroad and in the mountains, there is no way you could work that out for yourself, even with a ski map! I'm sure that once you cross the channel the sun rises in a diferent direction

Given that modern skis make ski-ing extremely easy, modern boots, clothing, gloves, goggles etc do their job so well these days, the issue people seem to have is what they get told by those who try to perpetrate the myth that ski-ing difficult!

Many ski schools make a meal out of teaching people to ski, because it's in their interest to prolong the learning. There are still many schools teaching methods that do not take into consideration the advantages of the modern equipment

There are ski hire places that hire unsuitable equipment, to be fair it has got better, but not all rent good equipment

All of this "ski-ing is difficult talk" is reaffirmed by the package tour companies who make additional money from the ski schools & equipment hire

What they try to avoid is giving people the confidence they need to ski. Ski-ing is about confidence as well as skill!

Then there is the colour coding for then runs. Until you are an absolute expert, you couldn't possibly go down a black run, it takes years & years to get that good - utter Poppycock! if they marked all the reds as blues and the blacks as reds, most 'intermediate' skiers would go down them without a care

I have regularly taken skiers & boarders who have had a few weeks experience and got them ski-ing/boarding down anything (including off piste) competently

My favourite was my then girlfriend who on her third week of snowboarding was in powder on double black diamonds through the trees in Canada - yes, on her third week of snowboarding - and that was in the days when boards were much heavier and much harder to turn than modern ones

Now, I know there are people who prefer their ski-ing to be gentle with lots of stops for hot chocolate etc and if that's what you enjoy, then good for you

Before people post that I am just a dare devil with no regard for my own safety (I'm not) I would caution against going off piste without proper equipment and knowledge. But much of that knowledge can be gained away from the slopes by research.
In a similar way, learning about how things may change, dependent on conditions - ice forming in exposed areas for example - can all be worked out and sometimes you can avoid icy slopes by planning your day. But, you will come across them and dealing with them is not difficult, especially with the aforementioned modern equipment

Probably one of the biggest problems these days is busy pistes, get up early & ski when no-one's about, have coffee just after 10 when the ski schools are getting their pupils on the lifts, have lunch early or late so that you ski when everybody else is having their lunch, make sure you're at the top station at the end of the day and ski down on the empty slopes.

And above all - enjoy!

And in answer to the original post "is St Anton really that tough?" NO

 

[Paddington]

I'm coming to this discussion a bit late...But fao anyone who is considering st Anton in the future...My experience....I consider myself an intermediate skier, but st Anton is the only place where I have skied black runs....I'm not sure where the "myth" that st Anton is hard comes from! I think some of the reds in Val thorens are harder.

 

[chaser]

Thought this was a strictly question

 

[Wendles]

I understood it’s considered hard because of the runs back to the town. Even with the moguls a slow and steady snow plough works when you are tired and if you get fed up of trying to look Like you know what you are doing

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[Chris Laing]

Obergurgl and solden for me. Gentle intermediate does the trick

 

[Paddington]

Obergurgl and solden for me. Gentle intermediate does the trick

if the restrictions ease I was thinking I might try solden this year. I've never skied there, although I went walking there years ago. And the snow card tirol covers solden, serfaus and soll.

 

[ChesterB]

We have stayed in Solden on a few occassions, the site there is rather pricey, but convenient & you can get the local bus up to Obergurgl quite easily too.
IMO these multiple resort passes are a bit of a con & don't save you much apart from queue time maybe.
Serfaus is good, with a nice site called Activ Camping at Prutz and ski bus laid on too. Further south on that road you have small resorts at both Nauders and Scuol as well.
CB.