Skiing for the
intermediate skier in St.Anton
I
hope that you find this information useful, maybe you can print off
some of the directions and bring them with you to compliment your ski
area maps - these maps are available free all over the village.
Please
remember to make a small
donation to help us keep the site up and running....Thank you
If you are an intermediate skier then
there are many, many runs that you can use. As I have already
said St.Anton has three main ski areas - Galzig, Gampen/Kapall
and Rendl, let’s explore each of these areas.
Rendl
The
Rendl area is generally the quieter of the three ski areas. Rendl is in the shadow in the mornings it tends to be quite hard and icy
up there early on. So maybe if the other slopes are quite busy you
could head over to Rendl in the afternoon. The advantages of skiing on
Rendl are that, as already mentioned, it is quieter over there, it is
also very easy to find your way around and the restaurant is very good with
a nice sun terrace. The
runs are classified red & blue with just one, short, black run so it
is a good area for the intermediate skier. All of the runs bring you
back down to the area by the restaurant except for the long red (red 1)
that takes you all the way down to St.Anton. This is a nice run but
there are a couple of areas where it gets a little steep so you do need
to take care if you are not too confident, or are a little tired after the
days skiing! As
you come to the bottom of this red there is a nice little restaurant /
bar on your right called the Bifang Alm. You can click on the map and
save it to your pc. Piste maps are available free of charge all around
St.Anton.
Gampen & Kapall
The Gampen / Kapall ski area
can be reached from both ends of the village, either by the Nasserein
Gondola (Nasserein end) or the Gampen Chairlift (Galzig end). This is
quite a large ski area with many varied runs but it is used a lot by
the ski schools so it can get a little busy in peak periods. Having
reached the Gampen area where the main restaurant is you can then take
the chairlift up to Kapall where you then have a choice of three runs
back down to Gampen - Blue (36), Red (37) & Black (35). From Gampen there are several runs that will
take you back down to the village, again a mix of Blue, Red &
Black. If you want to stop for a little rest and a drink there is a
small bar / restaurant at the top of Kapall and adjacent to the main
restaurant on Gampen you will find the "Yellow Igloo" which is also a
good meeting place if you get separated. You
can also go from Gampen over to the Galzig ski area - to do this you
take Blue 20, which will bring you onto Blue 4, and this will then
bring you to the Zammermoos chairlift, which takes you to the top of
Galzig. So to sum up I would say that the Gampen offers the best
variety of runs in St.Anton but has the worst restaurant of the three
areas - my advice - ski there but don't eat there!!
Galzig
The Galzig area can be reached by the new
Galzig gondola or via Blue 20 from Gampen if you are staying at the
Nasserein end of St.Anton. On Galzig you will find one of the best runs
for practicing your turns - Blue Ostang (Blue 5). Of course the ski
schools are also aware of this so it is used a lot by them - my advice
here is to get up there on the early lifts and you will get a pretty
clear, nicely groomed piste that is perfect for practice for about an
hour and a half (see pic below). Another great run here is Red
7,
which goes from the top of Galzig down to the Tanzboden draglift.
This does not get too busy so it stays nice to ski on, the bonus being
that there is rarely any queue at the drag. A great run for the
intermediate skier to practice some quicker turns. Now for some advice that you really should
take in.... From the Galzig you can ski to the little village of
St.Christoph via Blue 8 that starts behind the gondola station /
restaurant. This is a nice easy little run and St.Christoph is the BEST
place to go for lunch. There are many restaurants and hotels here, with
the best being in my opinion the Arlberghohe (see pic
below) so for more info click the lunch
& apres ski
link. However, don't just go to St.Christoph for lunch, it is also a
great coffee / hot chocolate / beer break place...There is also a very nice coffee bar in the Galzig Gondola station. You can
ski all the way back down to the village from the Galzig and there are
a couple of choices here. If you are a good intermediate skier then
Kandahar (black
2) is a great but challenging run down to the Zammermoos chairlift
where you then carry on down Blue 1 to St.Anton. For
the 
less confident intermediate skier I would suggest that you start
from the top of Galzig, not the lift station /
restaurant (as this is too low). Initially you follow the signs and
take blue no.9, which is basically a path that cuts across the side of
the ski area, take care because at one point you have to cut across the
Tanzboden draglift. At the end of blue 9 you should go to the right
following signs for blue no.4 - after about 250 metres you again have
to turn to the right - this is where you will reach a steeper section,
this is also quite busy at the end of the day. Having made your way
down this little section you are on a long gentle run down the "Happy
Valley" (blue 4). Follow this and everybody else and you will come out
at the Zammermoos chairlift, from here carry on down (blue 1) and you
will end up back at the top of St.Anton village via the
après ski bars.
The Albona Area
Ok, so I have told you about the three main
areas, but, they can at times become quite busy so I would say
if you
are a reasonable intermediate skier and would like a great days skiing
away from the crowds then you should go to the Albona area above
Stuben. Stuben is the prettiest village in the Arlberg area and very
often they have much more snow in the village than in St.Anton - all
this gives it a real winter feeling. To reach Stuben see the
instructions in where to ski - Novice Skiers.
On Albona you will find some great runs, all of which are classified as red.
It is rarely busy over there and the piste is normally in great shape. There
is a little restaurant right at the top of Albona that has a fantastic
view down the valley to Zurs (see pic on right) and some very good
soups! There are also many very good places to go for lunch in
Stuben see lunch
& apres ski so
whatever else you do in St.Anton make sure you do this trip as it is a
great days skiing and you will be able to escape from most of the
crowds. The only time I would maybe avoid going t here is late morning
in the school holidays as the bottom Albona chairlift can get extremely
busy.
Lech
& Zurs
Another
day out that is not beyond the confident intermediate skier is to take
a trip over to Lech &
Zurs, the most expensive place that you
can stay in the Arlberg - the slopes are not too crowded over there as
most of the women are sitting on the sun terraces in full make up
showing of their jewellery and expensive ski gear !! You can get to
Zurs on the ski bus
(the price is included in your lift pass) and it
leaves from the bus park at the Galzig end of the village (just past
the Jennewein Sports shop). The lift system is also included in your
lift pass. There is an ice bar - fully equipped with furniture made
from solid ice and champagne bottles frozen into the walls - which is
well worth a visit.