austria-st_anton travel wintersports Virgin Media
Sankt Anton am Arlberg, to give the town its full name, is situated right in the heart of one of the world's finest ski areas - the magnificent Arlberg. This beautiful resort is both vibrant and traditional and is located in the Austrian Alps, where the rich and famous come to ski and be seen.
The ski area is simply vast; covering not only St Anton's own mountains, but also the neighbouring villages of St. Christoph, Zurs and Lech and offers some of Austria's most extensive and challenging skiing.
It should be noted that St Anton is not for those starting out their ski career. The level of runs is split with 75% falling into the category of advanced or expert, while just 25% would be considered safe for beginners.
The village sits at a height of 1304m, though the Valluga lift does go as high as 2811m. Sixty-four snow cannons provide ample coverage across the 440km of terrain.
Lech provides mostly advanced skiing on carefully manicured runs that are as long as three miles, with 3,000 feet vertical drops. Just next to Lech is Zurs, a smaller, quieter and even more exclusive resort. Zurs, at a height of more than 5,600 feet, gets plenty of snow all through the winter. The longest downhill run is 8.5 km with a vertical drop of 1,350m and leads from the Valluga mountain to St. Anton am Arlberg.
You can ski these areas, plus Stuben and St Anton, taking a total of 85 lifts, with a single ski pass. It takes approximately half an hour to cross over to the Lech and Zurs area on the bus. This trip is highly recommended as both areas have some great on and off piste runs.
Other winter activities include mountaineering, skiing, tobogganing, tennis, open air and heated indoor pools, cross-country skiing, hiking, billiards, paragliding, snowboarding, and carving. There are approximately 26 miles of cross-country skiing trails beginning near the ski resorts.
For the non-skier, St Anton is still a wonderful place to holiday. The beautiful old city of Innsbruck is only a train journey away and most definitely worth a visit.
St Anton's cosmopolitan atmosphere ensures plenty of activities off the piste for everyone with a multitude of lively bars and shopping opportunities. Nightlife is plentiful with a great choice of bars and restaurants.
Ski rental shops will provide equipment and guides if you need them. The Alberg and St Anton ski schools offer morning and afternoon lessons for children 4 to 12-years-old and an all day kindergarten ski school for 2 to 4-year-olds.
St Anton is one of the 11 classic mountain resorts in five alpine countries that participate in a joint promotion called "The Best of the Alps" and hosted the World Alpine Skiing Championships in 2001.
Getting to St Anton is pretty easy as trains travel from Paris via Zurich to Vienna.
St Anton a Marlberg tourism website
Address: Tourismusverband, A-6580 Sankt Anton am Arlberg, Tirol, Austria
Telephone: 0043 54462 2690
Fax: 0043 54462 2532
Email: info@stantonamarlberg.com
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