 Poster: A snowHead
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I found St Anton to not be very good for a mixed group this year and it knocked a few people's confidence. Blues were busy and got in quite poor condition. Home runs super busy. Agree that Rendl, Lech and Zurs are nice but as Tom W (and others) say Rendle is small and Lech and Zurs require busses so you miss out on the apres.
Sonnekopt is a fun day out and very quite, but I dissagree that it is all gentle. Some very steep blues and reds.
I didn't see the point of being in St Anton and hanging out on the blues when that is not the resorts primarry selling point.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If someone wants to tootle about on blues/ easy reds all day then I suggest that St Anton isnt their ideal choice, however if you are keen to progress as a skier, test yourself on the terrain, and access off piste there's nowhere better.
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I couldn't agree more. In fact, I had a low-intermediate friend in my group in St. Anton and thought her progress over that week was remarkable (although she REALLY struggled the first 4 days out of 7). However, the OP mentioned that his wife had 4 weeks of experience and is only skiing on easy blues now. That does not necessarily describe a fast-progressing skier to me. In fact, it sounds just like another low-intermediate friend of mine whom I would NEVER take to St. Anton after spending a week with her in Cervinia and seeing her very slow progress confidence-wise despite Cervinia's wide, well-groomed pistes.
None of the blues in St. Anton are particularly easy. And it's intimidating dealing with all those bumps on a crowded slope if you are a beginner skier. So I just can't see OP's wife enjoying this experience, and as Ulmerhutte rightly notes, it is hardly in OP's best interests to have her loose her confidence and get frustrated with skiing.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I think (having spent a season teaching there) St Anton is ok (not great) for beginners, it's the intermediates moving onto reds and blacks who will notice the lack of 'progressing' runs. I disagree with the comment about general low standard of ability - IME there is an unusual amount of extremely good skiers, lots of poo-poo-hot Dutch/Germans/Skandis about, many driving over most weekends. Crowded pistes... The immediate St Anton area can for sure be crowded at busy times (though I've never found it that bad, and the longest I've ever had to wait at the very worst lift bottlenecks was under 15 mins), but as soon as you head out towards Rendl/Stuben/St Christoph/Lech/etc things quieten down quickly. More dangerous pistes/other skiers/not safe for kids..? No. Lol. Not at all. Poor grooming/lots of moguls... Some may consider that a plus point 
I do think there are many better places for pure piste skiers to go, it's the offpiste that makes the Arlberg stand out. Sure the apres is great, but it's also great in places like Saalbach and Ischgl, which IMO have better (and harder) piste skiing than St Anton.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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As matter of interest and stirring it up: can any of St Anton apologists name one resort MORE dangerously crowded and / or more likely for an early intermediate to be crashed into?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Portes du Soleil. Pistes there were actually scary at times, both times I have been. Especially at Ardent where people are criss-crossing in all directions to get to whatever lift.
Home run at Ischgl can get a bit carnageous at the end of the day in peak weeks.
How many times have you been to St Anton btw, and when? Other than Happy Valley and the home run past the Mooser at the end of the day, I just don't find it that crowded, certainly not dangerously so. Where have you skied that was 'safer?'
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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As much as I loved St. Anton, I did think it was very crowded. I have a somewhat limited experience with European resorts, having only skied in Zermatt, Cervinia, Chamonix and Deux Alpes in addition to St. Anton. Out of all of those resorts, as well as the US ones that I've been to (Vail, Beaver Creek, Squa Valley plus a bunch of places in Vermont), St Anton was undoubtedly the most crowded one- by far. I am not complaining about the lift lines- those were very short due to great quality and speed of the lifts,- I am talking about the number of people on the slopes, surrounding you at all times, but especially in the late afternoon when everyone is heading back for apres-ski. But perhaps I visited at a particularly busy time? I was there the first week of March this year... In any case the crowds didn't bother me, I very much enjoyed skiing there and would love to go back, but I think it's pointless to deny that the place is extremely popular, crowded and therefore can be intimidating for low intermediates. Perhaps people who argue otherwise are all really amazing skiers and only ski off piste  , and therefore are not aware of what is going on on the slopes .
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peanuthead, it's very dependent on conditions. I've had an appalling time coming down a very crorwded Creux in Courchevel in tricky conditions. Awkward moguls putting people off causing them to randomly stop to gather strength and consider options mixed with more confident (rightly or wrongly) skiers threading their way through at speed.
It can get crowded in St Anton at certain places. This can happen in many resorts. I think Clarky999 has summed it up pretty well. I would probably aim to go somewhere else with someone lacking confidence if it were me doing the planning. But dangerous? No.
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Just one point regards queues in St A, main pinch points are Zammermoosbahn and Schindlerbahn on busy mornings when everyone is heading out mid morning, and even at New Year the worst I've ever queued at these is 10-15 mins, likeclarky999, says above. These can easily be avoided by planning your route and getting out early and therefore being ahead of the crowd, if you come back to these pinch points at say 11.30-12 noon they are usually pretty quiet. Hit them at 10-10.30am and you're asking for a delay.
Regards routes back to town, theres plenty of options, easiest IMO is the track down Fang and traverse across to Galzigbahn, yes Happy Valley can be a rat-run but there's plenty of alternatives, eg the track and bottom half of Kandahar. If people are moaning about lack of entry level/ easy Intermediate runs they are probably in the wrong resort, motorways arent a feature of St Anton, personally I prefer not to see piste bashers and like an odd bump, but these days the lifts and an odd piste are a means of getting to the pow stashes, and theres plenty of that!
Lech holds plenty of blue/ red quality pistes, and again with Zurs a great day out via the ski bus and White Ring, pretty easy. Stuben/ Albona and Rendl, well they are just exceptional, and Kapall on a spring snow day cant be beaten, the back bowl run down to Shoengraben drag with 10cm of spring snow is just fantastic as a warm up.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| peanuthead wrote: |
| As matter of interest and stirring it up: can any of St Anton apologists name one resort MORE dangerously crowded and / or more likely for an early intermediate to be crashed into? |
The main area at Val Thorens. FAR worse than St Anton. I was wiped out by a snowboarder at VT when I was skiing safely in that busy area at the bottom of the main lifts.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Greavsie wrote: |
| Looking to plan next years ski trip already and I badly want to go to St Anton. I have heard that the skiing there can be tough for beginners and my Wife is convinced she won't like it. She has skied 4 weeks now and is happy on easy blues at the moment. We have just come back from a large group holiday in Alpe d'huez where we had 6 total beginners and they all want to go again next year to somewhere with a bit more easy to reach and more lively Apres Ski. I loved Ischgls bars but have been there twice and would like to try somewhere different. I know about the Mooser and the KK in St Anton so the only thing that would stop me booking it up is the lack of skiing for beginners. |
Take her to Saalbach, the best resort in the world is not so good when your other half is miffed the whole time. Push it and you might end skiing only snowdomes in the future. St Anton will still be there in a few years so take her back when her skiing has improved. Think of Saalbach as the foreplay for St Anton.
PS If funds permit then book a long weekend for yourself in St Anton this year too.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Greavsie,
Everybody forgets how it was when they were not so confident.
Wait till she is happy on reds. You don't want to put her off skiing.
Mike
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You know it makes sense.
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Markymark29, the places you mention get crowded; I am familiar with them, but Happy Valley is in another level, have you been there?
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