St Anton is a medium sized ski resort near Innsbruck in Austria (The Arlberg area). Famous for inventing the downhill skiing event, the area is blessed with some very steep runs. Beginners should watch out as there are no green runs.
St Anton is part of the Arlberg ski area, with fantastic links to the nearby resorts of Lech, Zurs, St Christoph, Stuben and Rendl Beach. Free busses are usually available every 15-20 minutes to all of the resorts and an Arlberg access all areas ski pass is well worth the investment.
If any ski resort is going to chew you up and spit you out, it’s St. Anton am Arlberg. Well known all over the world for its technical skiing it’s fairly remarkable any skiing is done here at all given the manic nature of the apres ski.
There are several large and well stocked bars half way down the mountain on the home run into St Anton (Blue 1), which can make for some very interesting second halves whilst skiing drunk in the dark. Mandatory bars to visit are the Mooserwirt and Krazy Kangaruh, with huge crowds after about 3:30 in the afternoon.
For those people who have an aversion to snow, but still like to hang out in pretty mountain villages, St Anton is also open and beautiful in the summer. There are many walking trails and mountain biking is a popular activity. The village itself has a quaint traditionally Austrian feel to it and a wonderful health spa to while away the days in.
Also available are a tennis camp (beautiful mountain air - damn the lack of it in cities), fishing, paragliding, kayaking, golf (6 hole course) and horse riding.
A Little History
The importance of the Arlberg area as a pass through the Alps goes right back to the Roman times. In 15 BC Drusus led his Roman Army across the Arlberg into Switzerland. The Arlberg region itself belonged to Rhaetia, and the Bavarians who settled here in the course of the tribal movements mixed with the native population. The decisive factor in the Arlberg's economic development was its strategic location on one of the vital trading and military routes across the Alps in days gone by.