A snow filled holiday at the St Anton Ski Resort Austria

St Anton Ski Resort is a perfect winter holiday destination in the Tyrol village of Western Austria. The place is a very prominent ski resort and is located at a height of 1,304 meters above the sea level in the world-famous Tyrolean Alps. The area is well known for it boasts of so many Aerial tramways and chairlifts, which reach up to a staggering 2,811 meters in height.

The resort is part of the Landeck district in the Tyrol state of Austria. Spread over an area of 165.81 sq. kilometers, the areas in and around the resort house approximately 2,848 residents.

St Anton burst into the limelight in 2001, when it hosted the Alpine World Ski championships and as a result the visitors just kept pouring in as a result the place is today a very popular winter and summer sports resort.

Skiing is not new to the area and it’s not that skiing started here some 15-30 years back either. In fact, even before the First World War, skiing activities had commenced here. The first skiing teachers were employed much before the war.

It is fair to say the world owes a lot to St Anton as the main reason for the popularity of skiing over the past so many decades. It was in the 30s’ when some of the instructors from the region migrated to the North American continent and as a result the sport was popularized in that continent and the outcomes are in front of everyone to see, today Europe and the Americas are the best skiing regions of the world.

St Anton offers the best expert skiing opportunities along with some scenic views of the beautiful Rosanna River. Besides the connectivity of the resort with another popular skiing country, Switzerland is very good as the resort lies on the east-west railway line between the two countries.

The resort is all about fun on the snow and boasts of 82 plus ski lifts and cable cars along with 260 kms of pistes besides 184 kms of snow runs. The resort has the capabilities to carry 123,600 people per hour.

The expert terrain routes include the Mattun and Schindlerkar ski routes. Besides, there are a large number of off-piste routes, which allow the use of an expert guide.

It’s not that the St. Anton Ski resort is exclusively meant for experts only; there are opportunities for others also. The Rendl area on the other side of the town is ideal for the intermediates. Rendl also houses one of the most, if not the most popular destinations of the area, the Rendl Beach, which is actually a bar along with a sun terrace. The place is full of life and the daily tea dances are the hallmark of the place and region.

The other famous ski areas of the place include St. Christoph, Stuben and Lech. St Chirstoph boasts of some of the best cruising trails of the entire region. There is an 820 meters slope that reaches you from Ulmer Hutte to Stuben.

St Anton has also made its mark in Hollywood flicks. It was one of the four featured European World cup venues in the 1969 film, Downhill Racer. The movie starred Gene Hackman and Robert Redford and went on to become a huge hit.

The resort’s main attraction is definitely the skiing action. However, St Anton is not just about skiing alone, there’s much more to the resort and many other places and attractions to be part of. The area has cycle tracks, whirlpools and one can even go cross-country on the segways of the area.

The entire area has some 18 mountain restaurants, along with 8 ice bars, 15 cafes, 8 bars and 3 discos. With so many facilities and landmarks present, I can guarantee you will never have a dull moment in the place.

The summers are full of hiking and cross country activities.

Let’s go through some of the questions which may be on your mind.

How do I reach St Anton?

The closest airport to the St Anton Ski and resort area is the Innsbruck International airport. This airport hosts a series of daily flights from around the world. You can enter Austria by aligning at this airport. St. Anton is at a distance of some 103 kms from here and the entire journey is around 1.5 hours by train.

If you are in the neighboring nation of Germany, you can travel to Innsbruck via train and take a transfer along with the Arlberg Express to reach the resort area.

Where do I stay during my St Anton holiday?

St Anton boasts of wonderful accommodation facilities. The accommodation facilities also come in a variety of budgets suiting you needs and preferences. Some of the more popular landmarks of the place are Hotel Gletscherblick, Hotel Arlberghoehe, Hotel Manfred, Hotel Garni Fallesin, Haus Patteriol, Hotel Almjur, Haus Buchhammer, Haus Lydia, Haus Zauser, Haus Kohlereck, Apartment Fliana, Haus Sailer, Haus am Eggli, Hotel Alpina, Haus Dorfschmied, Hotel Valluga, Hotel Alpenhof, Hotel Tirolerhof, Haus am Arlen, Hotel Garni Parseierblick, Haus Allgeu, Haus Patteriol Apartments, Apartment La Vita, Gästehaus Alpina, Hotel Ehrenreich, Haus Tschol Martin, Haus Tschol Alfred, Sporthotel St. Christoph, Hotel Maiensee, Hotel Schwarzer Adler, Hotel Kertess, Hotel Grieshof and Hotel St. Antoner Hof.

When is the best time of the year to visit St Anton?

The St Anton resort is an all season year-round holiday destination. However, the skiing activities actually define the town and hence the best time to visit the place is the month of August as the snow conditions are supposed to be at their best. However, you need to keep in mind, the month of August also coincides with the peak tourist season of the area and the place is full with visitors and winter sports enthusiasts. Therefore, it can become very difficult to move around the slopes as the place becomes very congested.

Therefore, keeping this fact in mind, I would recommend you visit the resort in the month of November. The crowd is very less during this time and the slopes are also expected to less crowded and the quality of snow may not be as that of the month of August. Nevertheless the snow quality is good enough to have some fun on the slopes. Lastly, on account of a low number of visitors you may also receive some form of discounts such as concessions in bookings etc.

In conclusion, the St Anton ski area and resort is full of opportunities to have fun. The place has so many activities for its visitors be it in winter or summer, I can assure you there will never be a dull moment here. Every thing about the ski area is majestic; the views are spectacular and the facilities world class. You may not find such facilities anywhere else in the world. The hotels are also wonderful and clean in the area besides the staff is also well mannered and well trained in their respective disciplines. So, what are you waiting for, just go ahead and plan that all important trip to the St Anton ski area and resort in the wonderful Austria.