The Arlberg – the best ski holiday region in the Alps?

mat — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 20:02:23 +0000

The ski holiday resorts of St Anton, St Christoph, Stuben, Zurs and Lech go to make up the Arlberg ski region. Individually the ski holiday resorts generally offer excellent quality and variety and access famous ski areas. Collectively the resorts of the Arlberg could be reasonably rated as producing one of the best ski regions in the world but how does it compare with The 3 Valleys or Les 4 Vallees? Having skied extensively across the Alps (and beyond) I rate the Arlberg as generally the best ski region in Europe.

Stuben powder – image © ineedsnow.com

Snow – let’s start with something that goes beyond the subjective, snow fall histories. Zurs am Arlberg is rated as having the second highest snow fall accumulation of any ski region in the Alps, only beaten by the Bregenzerwald ski area of Warth-Schrocken located just in the next valley. Statistics are banded around for Stuben claiming it has the 3rd highest snow accumulation of any resort in the Alps – for anyone visiting between December and April any year they are almost certain to see near unbelievable snow depths around the village. The same can be said for Lech and St Christoph whilst the Valluga peak above St Anton ensures that the ski area is often deep in snow.

Lech am Arlberg & Arlberg gets snow – image © ineedsnow.com

Resorts – St Anton is a true alpinists resort with hard core riders and hard core après skiers, St Christoph is stylish and upmarket, Stuben is really atmospheric, Zurs is ski-in, ski-out, whilst Lech has style, fine hotels and real refinement. Amongst the resorts there is almost something for everyone

Zurs am Arlberg ski-in, ski-out luxury - image © ineedsnow.com

Ski terrain – St Anton steeps, Lech – Zurs and St Christoph intermediate cruisers or Stuben off-piste. The variety of skiing in the Arlberg is absolutely superb and really covers the entire spectrum of abilities, not all comparably sized ski regions can boast that.

St Anton steeps – image © ineedsnow.com

OK, the downsides……

Costs – the Arlberg can be more expensive than many other Austrian ski regions. That said I skied in Courchevel 1850 last year and saw lunchtime menus in mountain huts that featured dishes at over €100 and bottles of wine for €9000. We had a client contact us recently saying they bought 2 glasses of orange juice (200ml and not freshly squeezed) in 1850 for €32 – nicht gut!

Crowds – popularity leads to crowds and whilst Meribel pistes (in The 3 Valleys) can seem like Liverpool Street at 17:30, the Arlberg does have some issues with crowded pistes just above St Anton and traffic on the Lech roads. To get away from either head to Stuben.

Glacier skiing – one thing that the Arlberg does not have is glacier skiing and whilst it is not for everyone it does extend the ski season hugely. That said there are Austrian resorts that are 750m higher than Stuben that don’t come close to their snow fall levels.

Generally though I think I have to say that I have yet to find a ski region offering more than the Arlberg. I will keep skiing and looking though – feel free to add your favourite region…..

Day 2 in Stuben – back on the piste and skiing huge distances

mat — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:28:41 +0000

After the great off-piste adventures of the previous day, yesterday was about skiing with the Rafferty’s and showing them some of the great piste skiing options out of Stuben. Basically Stuben is located at the heart of the Arlberg ski region with Lech – Zurs on ones side and St Anton and St Christoph to the other. St Anton and St Christoph are linked directly by lift and piste whilst Lech – Zurs are just a short bus ride down the Flexen Pass. For those wanting easy access into the heart of the St Anton ski area then Stuben probably offers the faster route to the Valluga region of the ski area. Yesterday though was the turn of the Lech – Zurs ski region and the conditions before lunch offered some of the best spring skiing you could imagine, the Muggengrat – Tali was just sensational.

After a few more runs it was down into Zug before a run around Lech am Arlberg and then back into Zurs am Arlberg. The warmer temperatures had made the snow a bit heavier and the off-piste was best tackled on fat skis or snowboards. The snow pack in the Arlberg region should ensure great skiing right through into the very late spring.

Next week I am back in Stuben for a spot of heli skiing

Ineedsnow ski holidays blog » lech

The Arlberg – the best ski holiday region in the Alps?

Day 2 in Stuben – back on the piste and skiing huge distances