International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Booking a trip for March 2022 to the Arlberg

[Lauren]

What percentage of Brits and Aussies are we talking in the St Anton area? There’s no shortage of drunken videos.

Re: Brits
A lot. According to the hostess at the hotel I stayed at you can spot them real easy (outside of the drunken videos you mention here)...

I noticed a lot of animal costumes...like the one-piece fleece, pajama style costumes. Giraffes, unicorns, cows --- you name it. I asked the hostess at our hotel one evening while chatting, "so...what's up with all of the animal costumes". She simply rolled her eyes, and shook her head..."F*&^in' Brits".

 

[Ulmerhutte]

What percentage of Brits and Aussies are we talking in the St Anton area? There’s no shortage of drunken videos.

…and the Scandis, Cloggies, and ??? They all love a drink and party. That said, we stay in a quiet part of Nasserein and don’t après, so they have almost zero effect on us (apart from the alcohol fumes in the gondola in the morning).

après will not be anything like what it used to be until the world gets over covid.

On a more serious note… in bad weather, there is no place I would rather ski than St Anton. If you are a good skier, there are many fantastic tree options, much more than Lech. Zürs is all above the trees. One of my favourite storm day lines:

 

[Sibhusky]

Our second choice was the Nassereinhof, so we came close to staying there.

 

[Fuller]

@Fuller Expect and insist that I do a lot of No Name and Heep Steep this winter. This snow looks better than Heep Steep, but it might have been a better than normal day when this was filled. If it's edgeable then I can do it. If it's hard pack, I'm in trouble. The problem is I'm committed.

Ok, I'll have you whipped into shape in no time! Lets start with some summer conditioning work!

 

[Rod9301]

Well, I'm already booked in Lech, so let's not get too adrift. We'll be staying at the Hotel Garni Edelweiss, which is close to the Schlosskopfbahn. Any tips about where to stow shoes or pack them around all day? Places to eat? Things not to miss doing?

If you drink, try an Austrian Pinot noir.
Excellent wines, not known outside Austria and unique taste.

 

[Jacob]

Re: Brits
A lot. According to the hostess at the hotel I stayed at you can spot them real easy (outside of the drunken videos you mention here)...

I noticed a lot of animal costumes...like the one-piece fleece, pajama style costumes. Giraffes, unicorns, cows --- you name it. I asked the hostess at our hotel one evening while chatting, "so...what's up with all of the animal costumes". She simply rolled her eyes, and shook her head..."F*&^in' Brits".

Brits love dressing up for stag/hen parties and birthday parties (up to a certain age). So if you ever see a group of people dressed up as animals, superheroes, etc., and it’s not Halloween, then they’re probably British.

 

[Ulmerhutte]

Brits love dressing up for stag/hen parties and birthday parties (up to a certain age). So if you ever see a group of people dressed up as animals, superheroes, etc., and it’s not Halloween, then they’re probably British.

Yup, a regular feature in St Anton. Some groups come back year after year, wearing the same costumes.

 

[Sibhusky]

If you drink, try an Austrian Pinot noir.
Excellent wines, not known outside Austria and unique taste.

I'll love to, but wine, especially red, gives me a migraine before I finish the glass.

I actually learned to ski in Austra 50 years ago and most of my drinking education is from when I Iived there in college.

 

[PowHog]

I actually learned to ski in Austra 50 years ago and most of my drinking education is from when I Iived there in college.

Just out of curiosity, why would you go to Austria when you can ski a better place like Montana?

 

[Sibhusky]

I must say I am surprised that the taxi is only EUR50. Are you sure that is not per person?

 

[Sibhusky]

I think this video does a decent job of showing the steepness (skip to 2:45)


The skiing on show isn’t great, but it gives you an idea how challenging it is.

After watching this 360° version of the run (top is around 7 minutes in), I'm not sure which is worse, the steep part or that endless run out.

 

[Ulmerhutte]

View attachment 135451

Good to know. I was however actually talking about a taxi from St Anton to Lech, in case you could not get a good train connection from INN to Langen, but that trip is only EUR10 more - at least in summer.

 

[Jacob]

After watching this 360° version of the run (top is around 7 minutes in), I'm not sure which is worse, the steep part or that endless run out.

Yeah, that’s the problem with covering so much vertical so quickly: it leaves a long distance to travel without much elevation to work with.

Some of the off-piste routes are like that as well.

 

[PowHog]

After watching this 360° version of the run (top is around 7 minutes in), I'm not sure which is worse, the steep part or that endless run out.

Actually it looks worse than it really is. The Langer Zug run is moderately steep at about 35°-40°. Any good intermediate can handle it confidently, especially when groomed like that. Last time we skied it was filled in with 1.5 ft of fresh, that was surely a blast.

During the runout the Tannegg slope which runs along the ridge line joins from the left. That run is never groomed or gets skied out. it is visible in the 360° vid around the 10 min mark.

 

[PowHog]

Good to know. I was however actually talking about a taxi from St Anton to Lech, in case you could not get a good train connection from INN to Langen, but that trip is only EUR10 more - at least in summer.

Bahnhof Transfer und Preise | Taxi Zürs - Top Service am Arlberg

www.taxizuers.com

Only the night rides are an additional 20% higher rated but they seem to charge the same summer or winter.

 

[Sibhusky]

Have any of you skied the area in mid-March? What can you tell me about weather and slope conditions?

 

[Ulmerhutte]

Have any of you skied the area in mid-March? What can you tell me about weather and slope conditions?

It varies hugely. Some years, when we have left in mid-March, there has been 4m of snow on the Galzig. In other years, the runs into the village have turned to goop or worse.

In the mythical “average” year, on an average day:

1. Freeze-thaw temperatures. Getting down to maybe -4 or -5 on the mountain during the night and into the positives during the day. On sunny days, it may get quite warm, eg close to 10C in the village.
2. Lech gets temperature inversions on clear nights. On the Trittkopf it might be -2C, but down in the village it might be -10C.
3. You should still get some fresh snow and possibly some epic powder days, but you should go in January to get the best chance of the latter. Alas, rain is also possible (as was the case in March 2020).
4. The trick here, as with any other mountain, is to follow the sun. Start on the east / south-east facing slopes.
5. In the morning, start on the groomers. Without fresh snow, the offpiste will be a coral reef. In Zürs, I would usually start on the Seekopf side. Since most of Warth faces north, you might get better snow there, if it gets too warm elsewher.
6. If you are lucky, you may get firn in the off piste. Wonderful stuff to ski. It however is more likely to be found a bit later.

 

[PowHog]

It varies hugely. Some years, when we have left in mid-March, there has been 4m of snow on the Galzig. In other years, the runs into the village have turned to goop or worse.

In the mythical “average” year, on an average day:

1. Freeze-thaw temperatures. Getting down to maybe -4 or -5 on the mountain during the night and into the positives during the day. On sunny days, it may get quite warm, eg close to 10C in the village.
2. Lech gets temperature inversions on clear nights. On the Trittkopf it might be -2C, but down in the village it might be -10C.
3. You should still get some fresh snow and possibly some epic powder days, but you should go in January to get the best chance of the latter. Alas, rain is also possible (as was the case in March 2020).
4. The trick here, as with any other mountain, is to follow the sun. Start on the east / south-east facing slopes.
5. In the morning, start on the groomers. Without fresh snow, the offpiste will be a coral reef. In Zürs, I would usually start on the Seekopf side. Since most of Warth faces north, you might get better snow there, if it gets too warm elsewher.
6. If you are lucky, you may get firn in the off piste. Wonderful stuff to ski. It however is more likely to be found a bit later.

I'll add.....

- When staying in Lech on sunny days the south facing slopes of Kriegerhorn and Mohnenfluh would be the first ones to hit in the morning, particularly if you intend to ski some off-piste. They can quickly turn slushy during warmer days in March and even become avy prone. The steep, north and north-east facing slopes of Kriegerhorn are usually icy in the morning and soften up during the course of the day. Runs from Rüfikopf like the Langer Zug usually are still good to go in the afternoon.
- On the Zürs side the Trittkopf or the Muggengrat from later in the morning to late noon (Ochsenboden, Flexenmulde), in the afternoon work your way back via the standard Mahdloch run back to Lech or detour via some of the awesome Stierloch variants to Zug, then back on top of Kriegerhorn and down to Lech.
- The north side of Albona above Stuben pretty much always holds good snow. So do the neighboring runs from Maroikopf (30-45 min hike) to Langen, the south side is only good to go in corn snow during a.m.
- March conditions can get pretty variable indeed. This can include some major dumps as well but when the sun comes out things usually soften up pretty quickly.

 

[Cheizz]

In other words: get a topographic map of the place, not just the piste map. You definitely want to know which side is north, south, etc.

 

[Sibhusky]

I've signed up with FATMAP and downloaded a map. Some nice overlays.