The Arlberg Snow Report 2022/2023 (Dec 2 - April 23)

A snowHead

@munich_irish, @kitenski, @Markymark29, two weeks ago @stanton predicted 10 cm of snow for the Arlberg, based on his local weatherman. In reality Warth and Lech got up to 40 cm.
Which is not that strange, since the Arlberg is such an important climatic barrier. For the largest part of the Arlberg it is much better to follow the Vorarlberg predictions, than the West-Tirol predictions. This is perfectly reflected in the often remarkable difference between the snow-depths of Rendl (West-Tirol or 'after-Arlberg' weather), and that of Galzig (Vorarlberg-weather).

A snowHead

@Langerzug, Agreed, I take little notice of forecasts but if I was to use one as a rough 2-3 day guide it would be a Vorarlberg one rather than Tirol, mountain weather is so unpredictable it's hardly worth the effort of trying to predict anything, other than it'll be better if we get fresh snow when we are there, that's about it imv. If it snows 10cm great, if it snows 40cm even better, if it snows 40cm and then the sun comes out even better still......it'll be what it'll be.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Langerzug, The Oberland guy does not do forecasts for Lech etc only in Tirol, @stanton is not a reliable source of information. I dont think there is much evidence one set of forecasts is any better than any other, they all use the same basic data. Perhaps it might be a useful research project to compare various forecast outcomes with the actual weather. Whilst I dont believe @stantons cows or Franzi's pet marmot are useful guides the serious weather forecasts are useful whether Henri @ We powder or the Oberland guy or whoever . The local variation in the Arlberg is well known, Rendl is often bathed in sunshine whilst Galzig is wreathed in cloud (and presumably snowing west of the watershed)

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Hi guys I'm thinking of St Anton/Lech for Xmas 2023. 2 adults, 2 kids (13, 11) 23 Dec - 30 Dec. Any advice on suitable accommodation - preferably hotel half board but can look at apartment S/C also. Cheers for any advice. Apologies if this is the wrong thread (entitled "snow report", but couldn't see another for Arlberg - please correct me if I'm wrong!) R

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@riman8, define "suitable" for you! There's plenty of choice from budget to millionaire and everything in between!

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Rookie question here, a lot of the forecasts are saying likely to be v cloudy next week - is it too early to predict? - Hoping for some sunny spring days!

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You and me alike. Also wondering whether to bring powder skis or my more ice-friendly ones. Looks like the latter I guess.

After all it is free

@Stanton1994, too early.

@PowderQueen, forecasts are showing it being reasonably warm so could be slushy lower down, frozen in the morning! I'm bringing my wider skis for touring/better in slush for smashing thru it!

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Ha ha! That is so true. tbh my skinny skis are not too skinny - kinda all mountain skis but more stable on the ice and crud than the powder ones. The weather is so unstable at the moment it is quite difficult to read. Was out at Christmas and threw in my spring skiing gear literally just before we drove off - thank goodness cos it was so warm I would have boiled in my Canada-proof insulated stuff.

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The forecast is for generally sunny mild & dry spring weather. Maybe some snow on Sunday. All could change tomorrow but powder heaven does not seem to be on the horizon!

@riman8, You need to give us a bit more guidance as to what you want and budget, wide range of places offering half board. Biggest issue is likely to be cost.!

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I drove up to Kuhtai during the December rains and found powder heaven there! We had all of it to ourselves. We couldn't see a whole lot cos it was a whiteout but it was thigh deep. I'll settle for anything that isn't rain mind you.

@riman8, try the Tourist Office and also Booking.com. Many accommodation houses have switched to that platform.

If you decide to start booking now, be aware that many places are reluctant to take bookings from first-timers until August/Sept to give their returning guests first dibs on their preferred dates. In picking Xmas/Sylvester, you have picked one of the busiest and expensive weeks of the season, and my preceding comment applies doubly so. Many places also shut up shop after the season to go sailing off Greece ( Very Happy

etc), and thus you may not get a response for a while.

If budget is tight, consider staying in St Jakob, or even further down the valley. Those villages are well-served by an excellent and free schibus service, and you can expect better prices than the Dorfstraße precinct.

So, if you provide an indication of your budget, and/or some places you are considering, someone here will be able to give you some insights. I am a StA regular, but we have stayed in the same place for the last 20 years, so not much help on individual establishments, except for comments on location.

You know it makes sense.

Sorry should have made things more clear. Ski in/out, leisure, half board budget say up to £5k - £6k as I’ve sorted out relatively cheap flights so more budget for accom……but equally anything that comes in below this that ticks the boxes will be considered! Ideally in Lech or St Anton but again open to any other suggestions in Arlberg as we’ve never been. Cheers R

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@riman8, take a look at this place in Stuben which we go back to annually. Stuben doesn’t have the night life of st anton but we and our kids have had great holidays there. I’m assuming with young teenagers you aren’t looking for huge apres ski?Good food, elevator directly onto the piste, pool and wellness area. Packages are the prices to work off.

https://www.hubertushof-arlberg.at/en/hotel-packages/

If you do think of booking let me know, they used to have a referral scheme, I’m there next week so will ask!

A snowHead

@riman8, Lech and St.Anton are both SkiArlberg, but still worlds apart.
You need to specify a bit further. Are you looking for (Austrian-style) apres-ski, then probably St.Anton is your place to go. If you're looking for a bit more sedate, you might say "Swiss" style, then Lech is better.
And the skiing too is very different. St.Anton: skiroutes and challenging reds; Lech lots of cruisy blues and reds
Lech has more ski-in/out. Oberlech is fully ski-in/out. Lech gets more snow than St.Anton.
But Lech can be difficult to get a room (or 2) for Christmas, huge numbers of returning guests.

A snowHead

@kitenski, Thanks….I’ll PM you. R

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@riman8, Ski in /out is not so easy. If you have the money then Oberlech would be ideal but I doubt your budget would be enough for 4, if you can even find availability. St Anton has a few ski in /out places around the apres spots just above the village and some piste side in Nasserein but otherwise few and far between. Most places in Lech & St Anton will be in the village not adjacent to the pistes. As mentioned the central places are going to be expensive, I suspect you are looking at least around €250 / person / night half board easily (a lot) more, Better value can be found in the more outlying spots. The brits seem to have a horror of ski buses, perhaps they are poor in France but in general in Austria they are very efficient, I would suggest having a look at Pettneu, it is as easy to get to the lifts as most of "St Anton" (many areas are too far to walk). The village has its own pool etc and has a good selection of restaurants. A personal recommendation- Pension Angelika, the bus stop is just outside, reasonable prices, decent food. Otherwise the Tourist office websites have excellent booking services or email them to ask for recommendations.

If all this sounds too expensive, there are a lot of apartments, almost certainly easier to find something central for a "reasonable" price. Again the tourist office websites would be a good place to start.

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@munich_irish, @riman8, Many accommodation in Lech-village is really ski-in/out, or at short walking distance. In fact this is one of the aspects that makes Lech so beloved.
5000-6000 euro is okayish for many 3 and 4 star hotels in Lech. But, as mentioned, Christmas is challenging.

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Cheers for all your replies. TBH not in the centre of any resort is required although ideally ski in/out and skiable to a lift that connects into the wider area. A bit of isolation (hotel wise) is OK as long as we can bus/taxi back after a wee bit of apres - the kids are 13/11 and we ain’t as young as we were so its less of a priority these days! However we like to have a couple and a few options. This is really for my wife as part of an Xmas markets/NY trip so in order: 1. Accommodation/facilities/HB/good food 2. Ski in/out or a short walk to/from lift 3. A few apres options but nothing too crazy needed. Cheers R

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@riman8, The Stuben idea is probably ticks most of your boxes, the downside being is that Stuben is rather small and is pretty isolated though taxis to either Lech or St Anton are easy if not particularly cheap. Lech has a more exclusive atmosphere and is more picturesque than St Anton. Lech has a reputation for being more expensive though not sure thats true , more that St Anton still has some less expensive options. Stuben is ideally placed to ski both areas. If the weather cooperates Stuben certainly would feel very "Christmasy" .

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Hotel on the Nasserein side of St Anton would fit the bill? Short walking distance to the lift that side and still easy access to walk around the main town if desired. Nasserein is/was known as the quieter ‘family’ side of town.

Wanting half board ideally does limit your options a fair bit, plenty of choice of accommodation available if you can forget the half board bit, e.g. Haus Pizti, an apartment in Nasserein. See the tourist information website for St Anton and do a search on accommodation, it comes up as an option in the list.

After all it is free

Why can't the forecast just stay the same! Evil or Very Mad

@riman8, Stuben would meet your criteria in deep winter, however be aware that it is quite low at 1400m compared with the majority of the Arlberg Ski area and early season Christmas could be a risky option regards snow conditions, particularly given its isolation. If you get it right perfect, if no or little snow it could be pretty isolated. We've only stayed there once and thankfully it was an epic snow year but in early season snow conditions it could be far from ideal. As a suggestion take a look at Hotel Maiensee in St Christoph 1800m, family owned quality hotel and I believe ideally meets your requirements, and easier to get back to after early apres with taxis, or Rosa Canina or Hotel Arlbergerin both just outside St Anton with good connections to Nassereinbahn and main St Anton lifts via hotel shuttles and/ or regular free ski buses. Not many places in St Anton/ Lech are genuine ski in/ out but the ski buses are very frequent and efficiant, but if your budget allows check out Hotel Cresta in Oberlech, fabulous place and restaurant/ wellness, genuine ski in/ out.

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@Markymark29, I'm pretty sure the run to Stuben always opens in Dec and always stays open until the lifts shut. Good point that St Christoph is closer for returning back from apres!

Various forecasts still in disagreement for the weekend. Bergfex showing some precipitation, others don't agree! End of March looks interesting to keep an eye on...

Has anyone used GEORG SCHERFLER at all for lessons/touring/off piste??

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@kitenski, Yes they'll make sure the runs in and out are open for sure. I've been a couple of times over Christmas when skiing on Albona hasn't been possible, many also when it has been perfect on north slopes but the back is a bit sketchy, so its great if it works, not so if it's a later snow season (which was the case this year) - If limited snow it's easy enough to get up to Raus and lifts over to Zurs and also up to Galzig but if it was me and I was looking at Christmas staying in Stuben i'd be waiting until very close to the date to ensure early snow had arrived in volume before booking, or have a cancellation option, but rebooking could be an issue at this busy time elsewhere. Best time for Stuben/ Albona area imv is in deep winter, normally mid January to end February when the north facing pistes and OP is in best condition, if it comes early then great and there's nowhere better but I'd want to know all is fully open including access into Maroi and Langen before I booked there (neither were skiable into Verwall or Langen Station last week without a long trek out).

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Where is @stanton - need a weather update Wink

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Stanton1994, changeable Smile

I put this together just for me to have one place to go, you can click local forecast and local forecast2 for berfex and yr.no

http://greghilton.co.uk/snow_forecast/gfsruns.php?select=stuben

A snowHead

A snowHead

spring snow is pretty damn good off piste if you time it right Smile

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Just looking on the interactive piste map, looks like Schafalplift is now open so I can get to Langerzug. But Tannegg to get to Schafalplift is shut? and then after skiing Langerzug where does it "finish"/How do I get out of that area?

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@kitenski, from what I remember the bottom of Langerzug is basically an easy track through the trees to a chairlift which is also the last part of Tanegg (never done that as reputably very difficult so a bit beyond me) so suspect it is just an oddity of the online map.

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@kitenski, ski/ walk out to Stubenbach and get the bus to Lech

After all it is free

@kitenski, both Tannegg and Langerzug start at Schafalplift, and end at the Schlosskopfbahn.
You first ski 181 from Rüfikopf to Schafalplift (this is indeed a bit unclear in the skimap)
From Schafalplift you ski Langerzug back to Schlosskopflift in Lech.
No other options.

When on 181 you need to pay attention to not miss the sign towards Schafalp/Langerzug. You easily pass it by.

I noticed Schafalplift being indicated ar 'orange', or 'in preparation'. This is typically something happening quite often, it then opens around noon.

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@stanton, your Oberland man said 10 cm in Lech. It was 40 cm. Period.

Help!!

The Arlberg Snow Report 2022/2023 (Dec 2 - April 23)

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