Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Two big Arlberg days

5th March 2011, by Chris Gill

Last run of the day above Zürs

The last time I was in St Manton (whoops, I mean Anton ... ) the slopes were wallowing in a week’s worth of powder. Not once did I see the Valluga, nor little else of the pistes for that matter; just snow – tons of it. And brilliant it was too, although a few sunny days would have topped it off nicely. So, rolling into town last Wednesday was quite a contrast: there was the Valluga bathed in fabulous golden Alpine light and an obvious spring-like feel to the resort. It was good to be back, though. And we needn’t have worried; the snow was in fine shape – pretty damn good actually.

Thursday was spent skiing in Lech-Zürs. I had joined Editor Gill and his travel companion Ben for a tough but splendid day combining distance and vertical, plus a hearty lunch at the Rud-Alpe above Lech. We started at Zürs, following the White Ring route towards Zug and then Lech. The ski-route concept is a strange one here, and a pet hate of ours, but you need to follow routes 32 or 33 to continue the circuit – nothing more technical than a well-tracked red run. We then enjoyed the wonderful, fast cruising towards Lech under brightening skies – piste 34 lapped a few times. The snow was in excellent shape on most pistes and with some good powder available off-piste (albeit a little heavy and bumpy in parts).

We all approved of our lunch spot, tucking into hearty Tirolean grostl and pancake special dessert. This set us up for the afternoon’s plan: nine lifts covering terrain around each sector. Well, the guys were certainly putting me to work! It included a little adventure down another ski-route; this one steeper and with heavier snow in the full-on sunshine. It runs alongside a ravine and the main eight-pack serving Züger Hochlicht.

To continue our plan we’d need that lift again. But as our news item reveals, the lift broke down and hundreds of skiers were faced with a tricky trek out of the valley to Zug, including ourselves. The trek cost us time but we were able to catch the last cable car to Rüfikopf for exhilarating fast runs back towards Zürs, the pistes empty and the mountains catching the sunset. Marvellous. Zürs was quiet, so it was back to St Anton by bus for end of day beers.

Friday we kept the momentum fuelled with another terrific day; this time zipping around St Anton and non-stop to Stuben, where we throughly enjoyed the broad red pistes up there. The mountain has lots of good off-piste available too, as was evidenced by the number of tracks. The lifts are slow, but Stuben is a refreshing change from the busier Anton slopes. Next it was up the Schindler Spitze and down the itinerary (Schindler Kar) – also in good condition, and with soft bumps to play on too. Then back over to Gampen where we had started the morning, for lunch at the Rodel Alm.

The afternoon was spent skiing Rendl and racing back to Galzig for a pitch down the infamous home-run crowds – all in the name of research, of course. Oh, and my favourite hut, the Heustadl, along the way had grown somewhat since my last visit. Gone was the Tirolean music too, replaced by a live band on an outdoor stage. Fine, but with a bit of the Austrian spirit lost I thought. Ah, well ... the Mooserwirt was jumping as ever.

My five days had come to an end and it was back to Innsbruck for the night, although I plan to squeeze in a morning on Axamer Lizum before the flight home.

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