Poster: A snowHead
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In a week I return to the Arlberg and I must say St. Anton stands out for more than its killer terrain. I've done most of my Alps skiing in mid-late March, and have had no issues with crowds anywhere except St.A. I ski over from Lech, and even being on the first tram, by the time I'm over there its too late. I don't know the area all that well; both times I've been there Steissbachtal was closed and I reckon that doesn't help matters. I'm thinking of driving over on my getaway day and getting first lift so I have a chance to rip a few before the hordes. Will that help? Any guidance such as which base to come up from, places to avoid etc would be appreciated.
Also: I'm going to try the Fernpass route from MUC to Lech instead of via Bregenz. Must I/should I take the Arlberg tunnel, or does that take me too far west? And is this dependent on road conditions? I'll have AWD (and I've heard the chains discussions). Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The driving bit first. The Fernpass should be OK though it does depend on when you drive over it. In high season (which is now over) it can get clogged up on Saturdays and Garmisch can be bad on Saturday and Sunday evenings with day skiers on their way back to Munich. During the week it can be slow if there are a lot of trucks. There is a fair amount of snow forecast for the next 10 days, though at a guess I would say unlikely to cause road problems. Whilst heavy falls of snow are not unknown in March the effect is usually short lived. There are signs on the approach to the St Anton turn off (just before the tunnel) which show the conditions on the Arlberg pass. Most of the time it will say "Winter Ausrustung erförderlich" ie make sure you are equipped for winter conditions just in case, a 4 wheel drive vehicle is fine. In that case come off at the St Anton and follow the signs for St Christoph / Lech. If the sign either says "Gespert" (closed) or mentions "Schneeketten" (snow chains) then head for the tunnel, take the Langen exit and turn back towards Lech.
I doubt you will have crowd problems at St Anton, high season is now over. I am on my way back from St Anton and have not spotted a queue all weekend, though the weather was not brilliant. The first bus from Lech gets you to St Anton shortly after 9. The biggest queues seem to be to get on the first lifts at 08:45 and have generally gone by 09:15. If you are going to drive and want an early start park at Alpe Rauz as the lifts there start before the St Anton ones. The Steissbachtal is open this year, it does mean less folk on Kandahar but otherwise cant see it has any effect. Not sure what sort of runs you are looking for and it also really does depend on conditions. For pistes Schindler is pretty much a must (I know its a ski route but it is in effect a piste), Stuben has some nice runs but its main attraction is the off piste, the St Anton blacks, both Kandahar runs and Platti are interesting without being super steep, I like the Mattun runs but it depends on conditions and they are not pistes, the Osthang ski route is worth doing if you like a challenging mogul run (you can look at it from the Galzig gondola if you want to check it out first). Others will be better able to advise on the off piste runs.
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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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@Scooter in Seattle, A couple of months ago, we were able to get buses very early. I think first buses run from 7.30am, so it would be easy to be in St A via 2 buses by first lift. If the snow is good and pistes nice, I also reccomend shelling out for the early start from Lech to be first down the Langerzug, before the rest of the areas are even open. We got back into Lech in time for the first "proper" cable car, and so got round to be first on it after it opened.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Scooter in Seattle,
Your skiing in the Sunshine High Season Tourist period..
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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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@Scooter in Seattle, Come back in April.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks all, especially @munich_irish, very helpful. Hoping for visibility...
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