 Poster: A snowHead
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hi all,
my friends and i are torn between st anton and verbier for our big annual ski trip. we're from the US and we came out to val d'isere last year --- our first trip to the alps --- and absolutely loved it. we're looking for a bit of everything: great snow conditions, varied terrain, apres-ski, nightlife, etc. again, we loved val d'isere, and our favorite resort is whistler. so, with that in mind, if you can lend your thoughts on which resort we should choose, it would be greatly appreciated.
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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Your going to have a blast whichever you choose!
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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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St Anton wins in my opinion. Both are fantastic and offer exactly what you are looking for. St Anton is more expensive than other Austrian resorts but Verbier will make you feel as though you have been bent over and dealt with with a red hot poker every time you get the bar, food or any other bill. For me therefore St Anton wins hands down.
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famid, Verbier's (considerable) skiing attractions are mostly off-piste...
St Anton has both and the option to go round to ski Lech / Zurs too...
Night-life is more raucous in St Anton - or at least in Verbier there are non-raucous options.
They're both pretty 'kin good tbh - I suggest you flip a coin
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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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Personally I preferred Verbier,
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St Anton. My mate visits whistler and st Anton each year and he loves them both - ie his 2 fave resorts. Has been to verbier and as others have stated, felt he was getting ripped off for drinks etc (not that st Anton is cheap for Austria). I've been to st Anton/arlberg 9/10 times now and love it
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 22-10-12 20:34; edited 1 time in total
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| red 27 wrote: |
famid,
They're both pretty 'kin good tbh - I suggest you flip a coin |
+1, very similar resorts
But, from my point of view - St.Anton would be cheaper compare with Verbier
6 day ski pass in St.Anton - 228 eur.
6 day ski pass in Verbier - 280 eur (355 CHF)
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On the distasteful matter of expense, as the OP's party are coming over from the land of plenty I rather doubt a € here or there on the price of a foaming ale will be a major consideration...
Think Mrs Van Hopper in Rebeeca or perhaps the Griswalds in European Vacation
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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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Well famid,
I'd do both!
Flips a coin.
I've been to Stanton many times and it wont disappoint,
I've only been to Verbier a couple of times but I thought it was great.
Kitzbuehel is the other place to put on your list, not as high but its a great place to ski and apres ski.
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I don't agree about Kitzbuhel, it is pretty but it doesn't have anything like the challenges of the other two or anything like the huge areas of off piste. For me St Anton wins for price, and the huge and wonderful range of off piste is even slightly better, in my opinion than Verbier, which is itself fantastic. If you ski St Anton you also link up with a number of other villages such as Lech and Zurs. In both cases the experience will be hugely improved by booking a guide since you will ski places you otherwise wouldn't know about - sometimes ending up miles from town and often going into valleys which otherwise are unskied, and I don't know how confident you are about judging avalanche danger but personally I know, when it comes to steep slopes, I'd rather trust a professional. This is usually lift served off-piste skiing though skins would take you to even more places. If you don't want to hire your own guide I can recommend Piste to Powder who will put you in with a group of the same standard. And you will ski the back of the Valluga, the tiny access lift for which you can only go up with skis if you are with a guide.
As everyone has said, you will enjoy either.
Edit: Have you skied with Extremely Canadian at Whistler? I thought they were great! However Whistler doesn't have the possibility of finding fresh tracks, lift accessed, long after the last snow that you will find at St Anton - simply because the area you can ski is so much bigger.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| famid wrote: |
hi all,
my friends and i are torn between st anton and verbier for our big annual ski trip. we're from the US and we came out to val d'isere last year --- our first trip to the alps --- and absolutely loved it. we're looking for a bit of everything: great snow conditions, varied terrain, apres-ski, nightlife, etc. again, we loved val d'isere, and our favorite resort is whistler. so, with that in mind, if you can lend your thoughts on which resort we should choose, it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!!! |
St Anton gets more snowfall than Verbier.
But it is full of scutters.
Whistler gets more rain.
Kitzbuehel is 100% gash.
Too low, too small and too flat.
Verbier has better atmosphere, better visitors, better skiing and better scenery.
Go to Verbier.
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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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famid, almost always the right thing to do on this forum is read what Whitegold, says and then do exactly the opposite.
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Whitegold, For real? 
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You know it makes sense.
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Don't go to St Anton. It sucks. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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famid, from the posts above you will note that both Verbier and St. Anton have their fans. Both offer great off-piste and apres ski, both have alpine village atmosphere. St.Anton is definitely the cheaper resort, as has been said it is still pricey though.
Accommodation wise, Verbier is very much chalet (all inclusive) based with 4 star hotels, whilst St. Anton has a great many good quality b & b guesthouses and several 4 star hotels, as well as some chalets.
In both resorts be carefull not to pick rooms too far out of town.
So maybe you should check out what style of accommodation you want and choose between St. Anton and Verbier on that basis.
St. Anton in particular gets booked up early. This season it is hosting a women's downhill race, Jan 12-13th. 
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Poster: A snowHead
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ulmerhutte, Yeah, skiing is lousy, offpiste is all tracked out by 10am, no nightlife, food lousy, no atmosphere, miserable locals, overpriced beer, scutters everywhere, too low, poor snow record.......................  
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Both are great, my own bias would be to choose St Antonio early season and Verbier late if booking in advance or to go to whichever has the best snow if choosing last minute.
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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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| Markymark29 wrote: |
| Whitegold, For real? |
He's kinda right in that Kitz doesn't compare well at all to the Arlberg, in any regard (though the too low part is balls).
OP, St Anton is awesome, an incredible amount of brilliant offpiste terrain, and gets massive amounts of snow (from what I can work out it gets about the most snowfall in Europe). Stuben in particular should just be called Powderville - and is an absolute playground. St Anton has probably the best apres ski in the world too. Downside is that there is a lot of competition for fresh tracks on a powder day, and the easily accessible (and easily found) stuff tracks out quickly, though a guide can show you more off the beaten track stuff that will stay fresh longer (hiking opens up a lot more of this too). I don't find it too expensive, food is reasonable value and in even the most expensive bars I haven't paid more than €5 for a beer (plenty cheaper than that too).
I haven't ben to Verbier, so can't really speak for it, but it's reputed to have more in the way of very steep terrain (though the Arlberg has more than enough gnarl for most mortals too).
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clarky999, Was more thinking about the scutters!
Agreed, apart from the tracked out powder in St A, I've never struggled. Been to Arlberg 30-40 times, Verbier 5-6 times, going for 3 weeks to St Anton again this coming season, no plans re Verbier, too much of a rip off right now IMO, CHF vs £, and costs for accom/ lunches are crazy. Undoubtedly great skiing in Verbier but just too expensive (city *ankers all over it too talking loudly about Maserati Quattroportes and GT3 Porsches in lift queus, and pi$$ing it up on champers all day long............ howeverfamid, if that's yer thing, great stuff, you'll love it, it isnt mine!
clarky999, Taking a guide likely on 26th and 28th Dec if you fancy either day over in St A?
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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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Markymark29, Would love to tag along! I'll be home back in the UK for Christmas this year (first time since 2006!), but plan on getting back to Austria 26th/27th so 28th would be great! Need to book my flights in the next couple of days, I'll pm you when I get the dates fixed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Markymark29, only Whitegold could suggest that St Anton is a holiday destination for Jeremy Kyle rejects. I find it amusing that he's so tolerated on the forums.
I've never been to Verbier, but having been to St Anton twice, I know famid won't be disappointed if that's the choice he makes.
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I've been to Verbier a fair bit, but never St Anton.
Like everywhere, if costs are a concern then there are ways around it. I've just booked Verbier in January and got half price lift passes and a 150 euro credit behind the bar in a Chalet Hotel.
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Whitegold, I had to google 'scutters':
either:
- An Irish slang word meaning runny poo or diarrhoea.
- A name for a very ugly girl who has a face that looks like scrapes from the gutter.
- someone who doesn't wash, has no job but sits on their backside watching trisha/kilroy all morning. They usually sport an huge collection of gold jewellery - (purchased from Argos) and call their children babby as apposed to baby.
- Derived from the program Red Dwarf. A scutter is the hoover that comes out at night to clean the ship. This was then used to describe the people of portsmouth. scutters crawl the streets at night picking up crap of the kerb.
- A demeaning name given to a female, especially one who uses her sexuality to trap men for her own materialistic wants and financial stability. She will quite happily use more than one man at the same time even playing one off against the other.
Whatever the answer is, I'll think I'll go to Verbier this year.....although I reckon that there are plenty of the last definition there from previous experience
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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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Mosha Marc, That 150 €'s wont last long in CH-land, and they'll probably charge you to convert it to their own currency!
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Markymark29, doh!!
I meant swiss chuffs; I think they use them
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
- A name for a very ugly girl who has a face that looks like scrapes from the gutter.
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You get Nannies in every resort
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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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Having been on boys ski trips for the last 20 years we have gone to St Anton, Val D'Isere and Verbier (with a couple in Chamonix and the odd curveball thrown in) in equal measure. As suggested by the other posts, there are huge similarities between them all but on balance I would say St Anton is more like Val than Verbier. There are more apres bars and more nightlife (well, evening life - we tend to be in bed by midnight these days) in St Anton than Verbier and you've got to see the Mooserwirt at least once before you die (which is always a possibility on the run back down).
I've never noticed the cost of meals and drinks on the boys tour. We always pay collectively and the cost is always more than however many trips to the cashpoint you think you're going to make 
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Tiger2, +1........and the guy who keeps the kitty always appears in the local pub with an Audi R8 Spider 2 months after the trip 
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You know it makes sense.
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| Mosha Marc wrote: |
| a 150 euro credit behind the bar in a Chalet Hotel. |
Don't be surprised when they ask you for the balance after you order 2 beers, a coffee with brandy and a large gin and tonic.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Markymark29 wrote: |
| Tiger2, +1........and the guy who keeps the kitty always appears in the local pub with an Audi R8 Spider 2 months after the trip |
Yes we have a kitty man like that. Last thing before you leave the second last bar of the evening the kitty requires feeding. He always fails to appear in the last pub - producing some unlikely but difficult to disprove excuse. That night when he's ordering the first round 'right lads the kitty needs feeding' - what happened to the money we gave you last night? He always had to pay some spurious bar bill and or taxis.
That said nobody else wants to hold the kitty - it's the kitty tax I guess.
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Poster: A snowHead
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famid, From a skiing point of view
Very little difference, slightly more piste in St Anton and the option of Lech and Zurs, the options around Verbier are good but not as nice as Lech and Zurx
Yes Verbier will hit the wallet harder but if you are there for the week of the Free ride Tour it is worth the Premium.
Personal opinion either way you are going to have a great week.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Whitters, Yep Irish slang - "Jaysus I had an awful dose of the scutters" - something you hear on Monday morning after loads of pints and a dodgy curry on Saturday night.
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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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| Whitegold wrote: |
Verbier has better atmosphere, (better visitors) better skiing and better scenery.
Go to Verbier. |
Agree with most of that. Not sure about the quality of non-me visitors because I never really interact with them anyway but I got the impression that there were fewer Brits in Verbier than in St Anton. I'd also look forward to returning to Verbier some time but wouldn't think the same about St Anton.
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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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Agree both are great resorts, cant make a bad decision there.
Personally I'd do St Anton, I think Lech, Zurs areas give it an added + also if you've not seen the Galzig lift it's worth a look. Might sound a bit geeky but I think its one of the best looking/ingenious lifts in the alps. Oh and don't forget the heated sets on some chairlifts!
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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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downhillalltheway, coffee!! FFS.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I perhaps should have mentioned that Piste to Powder are unusually expensive by general Alpine standards.
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snowball, You mean 100€ a day per person?
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Yes, though it is a bit cheaper per person if you can get your own private group together. I would have thought more like €80 was normal in France. The (famous) French guide we regularly hire privately, charges €400 for 6 of us for the day (including use of his van), but you can't really join a group of strangers with an independent guide.
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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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| SnowMac wrote: |
| if you've not seen the Galzig lift it's worth a look. Might sound a bit geeky but I think its one of the best looking/ingenious lifts in the alps. Oh and don't forget the heated sets on some chairlifts! |
Not geeky at all, it's a very impressive piece of machinery!
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| Quote: |
That said nobody else wants to hold the kitty
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I love the way Fifespud said that whilst repying to Tiger2!
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FAQ
