For those who don’t know where I’m talking about, maybe this will help with the location:
We stayed in Chalet Fauner, which is run by Ski-Val, and owned by a family who run one of the ski shops in town. The town of St Anton is picturesque, but that’s not the main reason we went.
It’s a pretty big ski area with plenty of off-piste opportunities.
Snow conditions were pretty good, even down in Stuben. (in the background you can see the main road twisting up the mountain to Zurs and Lech)
…which is where I’ll give you my first tip… Go to the Berhaus Stuben for lunch. It’s best to book ahead. The food is excellent, good value for money, and they have a reasonable selection of wines too. The gents restrooms also feature soccer goals, with soccer balls which help with your aim.
The lifts at Stuben are slow 2-man ones which are exposed and can get very cold. Thankfully they have blankets at the the bottom of each one which you can take to keep you warm – just remember to leave them at the top, unless you want to be superman for a run or two. At the top of Stuben is a back bowl which vaguely reminded me of Mineral basin – one lift out, a couple of pisted runs, but after that it’s up to you where you go. The conditions were great.
…and now for my second tip… at the top of the lift out of the bowl, ski down about 100 yards then take the pisted route to the right – carry as much speed as you can, as it’s a bit up and down. It’s only a short distance, but you’ll see a building in front of you. Head up the stairs to a cosy bar which is perched on the edge – the views are worth the effort. (skiing back from it is along the same route, so it involves poling.)
In the shadow of the mountain in Zurs, which you can’t ski to directly from St Anton/St Christophe/Stuben, it is a short (free) bus ride away.
Once you get there, you start to see how the other half live.
The pistes are nicely groomed, and not too busy. The 4- and 6-packs all have covers on them, and the seats are heated. Nothing nicer than having a warm backside on a cold day – well, apart from a well-stuffed beaver…
(yes, I know it’s a marmot, but surely I’m allowed a bit of puerile humour!)
From Zurs we skied over to Zug, which involves going down an itinerary, which on the map looks very short but in reality is one of the longest runs you’ll do. I don’t know why it’s marked as an itinerary, apart from a short uphill section; it all goes the right way. Zug looks like a proper alpine village that has never been developed for big tourism. Taking the lift from there and you end up at the champagne bar (I can’t remember its real name, but you can’t miss it).
The view from there is stunning
(click for the full-sized original)
After playing around in that, it’s a short run down to Oberlech, where you can relax in a deckchair on the slopes
And take in the view.
Another place worth stopping for lunch is the Hospiz Alms in St Christoph. As in most ski resorts, the toilets are downstairs. Unlike the champagne bar in Zug, this place doesn’t have an elevator to them, but it does have a slide which goes down beside the stairs. (I’ve just realised this could read like a toilet report, but no, it’s actually a ski report.)
Apart from the food, this place also has a very impressive wine cellar.
Unfortunately someone must have tipped them off about me turning up, cause all the bottles were behind bars (I couldn’t get near the expensive bottles, they were in a big section to the left of the photo).
We were on the trip with some friends who had their 7 year old daughter, so we all had to write letters to Santa and place them round the tree. He must have read them, cause the next morning the carrot had been eaten by Rudolph, and Santa had enjoyed a few chocolates.
Of course, Christmas Day wouldn’t be the same without some fizz on the slopes, so around 11am we stopped for a sip
Most of the days finished with a drink too. The Heustdal was our favourite – it wasn’t as busy as the Moosewirt or Krazy Kangaroo, and had live music some evenings too.
Of course, that means skiing back down at dusk, which can be fun.
All in all, a great trip. I’d like to go back and spend a bit more time skiing St Anton. I’d also like to take more photos, so I could show you Rendl Beach, etc.
It was a very Happy Christmas.
We stayed in Chalet Fauner, which is run by Ski-Val, and owned by a family who run one of the ski shops in town. The town of St Anton is picturesque, but that’s not the main reason we went.
It’s a pretty big ski area with plenty of off-piste opportunities.
Snow conditions were pretty good, even down in Stuben. (in the background you can see the main road twisting up the mountain to Zurs and Lech)
…which is where I’ll give you my first tip… Go to the Berhaus Stuben for lunch. It’s best to book ahead. The food is excellent, good value for money, and they have a reasonable selection of wines too. The gents restrooms also feature soccer goals, with soccer balls which help with your aim.
The lifts at Stuben are slow 2-man ones which are exposed and can get very cold. Thankfully they have blankets at the the bottom of each one which you can take to keep you warm – just remember to leave them at the top, unless you want to be superman for a run or two. At the top of Stuben is a back bowl which vaguely reminded me of Mineral basin – one lift out, a couple of pisted runs, but after that it’s up to you where you go. The conditions were great.
…and now for my second tip… at the top of the lift out of the bowl, ski down about 100 yards then take the pisted route to the right – carry as much speed as you can, as it’s a bit up and down. It’s only a short distance, but you’ll see a building in front of you. Head up the stairs to a cosy bar which is perched on the edge – the views are worth the effort. (skiing back from it is along the same route, so it involves poling.)
In the shadow of the mountain in Zurs, which you can’t ski to directly from St Anton/St Christophe/Stuben, it is a short (free) bus ride away.
Once you get there, you start to see how the other half live.
The pistes are nicely groomed, and not too busy. The 4- and 6-packs all have covers on them, and the seats are heated. Nothing nicer than having a warm backside on a cold day – well, apart from a well-stuffed beaver…
(yes, I know it’s a marmot, but surely I’m allowed a bit of puerile humour!)
From Zurs we skied over to Zug, which involves going down an itinerary, which on the map looks very short but in reality is one of the longest runs you’ll do. I don’t know why it’s marked as an itinerary, apart from a short uphill section; it all goes the right way. Zug looks like a proper alpine village that has never been developed for big tourism. Taking the lift from there and you end up at the champagne bar (I can’t remember its real name, but you can’t miss it).
The view from there is stunning
(click for the full-sized original)
After playing around in that, it’s a short run down to Oberlech, where you can relax in a deckchair on the slopes
And take in the view.
Another place worth stopping for lunch is the Hospiz Alms in St Christoph. As in most ski resorts, the toilets are downstairs. Unlike the champagne bar in Zug, this place doesn’t have an elevator to them, but it does have a slide which goes down beside the stairs. (I’ve just realised this could read like a toilet report, but no, it’s actually a ski report.)
Apart from the food, this place also has a very impressive wine cellar.
Unfortunately someone must have tipped them off about me turning up, cause all the bottles were behind bars (I couldn’t get near the expensive bottles, they were in a big section to the left of the photo).
We were on the trip with some friends who had their 7 year old daughter, so we all had to write letters to Santa and place them round the tree. He must have read them, cause the next morning the carrot had been eaten by Rudolph, and Santa had enjoyed a few chocolates.
Of course, Christmas Day wouldn’t be the same without some fizz on the slopes, so around 11am we stopped for a sip
Most of the days finished with a drink too. The Heustdal was our favourite – it wasn’t as busy as the Moosewirt or Krazy Kangaroo, and had live music some evenings too.
Of course, that means skiing back down at dusk, which can be fun.
All in all, a great trip. I’d like to go back and spend a bit more time skiing St Anton. I’d also like to take more photos, so I could show you Rendl Beach, etc.
It was a very Happy Christmas.
