For those who followed Austria’s first skier, Viktor Sohm and his famous student Hannes Schneider, St. Anton was the cradle for these founding fathers of modern skiing. Today it is still a small town filled with skiers in the winter months, speaking many languages, mixing the old with the new. At a mountain café in late afternoon, a ‘tea dance’ at the Post or one of the many clubs going until the wee hours, you, too, can meet the greats, near-greats and the wannabes in this true skiers’ resort.
Hannes Schneider started the ski school in 1912 before coming to the States. Today its 250 instructors still teach his world-famous Arlberg method, now adapted to our technologically modified skis. Try it on any of the more than 215 miles of trails or 125 miles of off-piste powder. To enjoy the full extent of the Arlberg, take the new amazing interconnecting Flexenbahn from just above Alpe Rauz and zip over the peaks to Zürs for a quick lunch on Oberlech’s sunny plateau. There are more than 87 lifts encircling nine resorts: Zürs, Lech, Zug, Stuben, Warth, Schröcken, St. Christoph, and Klösterle with St. Anton. The Gampen/Kapall area in St. Anton is great for novice skiers and Grand-Kreuz/Gampen for intermediates. Last year a new 10 passenger Schindlergrat gondola was installed, another of the resort’s ongoing upgrades and St. Anton accepts the Epic pass for three days.
