Any tips for St Christoph/St Anton?

A snowHead

First time visitors having mostly been to big French resorts (Cham, Les A, 3V, La P) so we were going for something different

We are 16 people (4 families of 2+2) booked for NY at St Christoph near St Anton. 13 of us have no real intention of anything other than ski/bar/dinner and repeat for 6 days…..maybe a slightly reduced day on 1st Jan depending on the success/failure of the hotels NYE party.

We have 1 non-skier (my wife who had ACL/MCL/Meniscus operation in Feb) so I suspect she will be the only 1 needing to find something else to do. There are a couple of novices who might not make a full days skiing very day so a plan b for this group was to direct them to St Anton via taxi or ski bus (is there one?) if needed.

Mixed group of boarders and skiers hitting blues and reds (the odd black to tick a box for some of the braver/older boys) so any tips on best direction of travel? Some will need to get back to St Christoph to meet the novices after lunch. Others will want to put a few miles on the clock….we are aware that there’s nothing in St C to speak of.

Sending our non-skier to St Anton to meet for late lunch or for a wander round the town a good idea or are there other meeting points we should/could aim for to mix it up a bit?

All advice welcome and appreciated.

A snowHead

@RobJsy, Its a big subject! I suspect you are arriving 29/12 and leaving following Saturday, its going to be likely very busy so my advice is get out early. Easy blue down to St C from top but that run doesnt link with anywhere else (unless you are offpiste), good for a warm up though - my advice would probably be to head up local St C lift and over towards Gampen area and find your feet over there, avoiding Kandahar for first day (!), once you're on it then you'll find your way around easily, maybe cruisy blues up on Rendl after lunch after its warmed up a bit, dark am. Rendl is quite steep, as is most of St A in fairness. Galzig area great for early season legs, eg Osthang. Regular buses to St C from St A so no worries about enjoying the apres etc.

Compared to the places you've mentioned (except off piste in Cham) you'll likely find it quite a step up I suggest - French reds are more like St A blues, blacks like St A reds etc. You'll love it - i'm not going to list a load of bars/ apres stuff, you'll soon find them all i'm sure.

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St.Anton/St.Christoph is not a 'hitting blues and reds' destination!

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@Langerzug, +1

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Langerzug, @Markymark29, -1 Sorry but I don't agree with that. There are tons of blue and read runs in the area. Just because there is a lot more tough stuff around than most resorts doesn't mean you can't find plenty to do other than that. Frankly the hardest run in the area is the trip to the bar in the Mooserwirt !!

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@beeryletcher, 'hitting blues and reds' sounds like preferring long cruisy-carvy pistes. Nothing wrong with that. But many people come to 'famous' St.Anton and get very disappointed...

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@beeryletcher, Plenty obviously but I wouldnt say you'd "hit them" in the same way you would in say 3V etc.

After all it is free

@Markymark29, I get what you mean it is more of a hungover stagger ... Big Wink

St Christoph is a very small place so not really any where to see as a 'walk around' for your non skiers. Good local bus service to both St Anton and Zurs/Lech. Lech in particular is quite nice to walk around with lots of walking paths even up the mountain. I'm guessing you're staying at the Sport Hotel with Inghams? Nice enough. As Markymark says there are sufficient reds/blues to keep the bulk of the party entertained but be prepared to be challenged! With the new links in place now it's very easy to travel further afield, right over to Warth/Shrocken where you will find some really nice blues/reds and for fun, some timed slalom courses. Good luck & enjoy it. I'm sure you will.

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Not sure St Christoph is ideal for non skiers, it is a small place not much more than a few hotels. I am pretty sure there are no ski buses to St Christoph but there are the ordinary Post buses (you have to pay but it is only a couple of Euros for a ticket) which run fairly regularly to both Lech and St Anton.

In terms of skiing it is pretty well located to start in the mornings, there is only one lift (ignoring a couple of baby lifts) but that gets you to a good spot - Galzig, probably with less queues and less time than if you were in St Anton. From here you can go off in towards Zürs & Lech (which is probably best if you want "blues & reds") or in the other direction towards St Anton (there is an area, Rendl, separate from the main skiing which also has a number of "blues & reds"). The problem is getting back in the evenings, there is just one piste back and that goes from Galzig which means getting lifts up from St Anton or wherever. If you fancy a visit to the Mooserwirt or other apres ski in St Anton or Lech it means bus or taxi back.

To get the best from the area you do have to be prepared to try some of the seemingly more "difficult" runs. Assuming good conditions (reasonable snow and no ice) then it is worth skiing some of the ski routes, eg Madloch above Zürs (which you need to use if skiing over to Lech) and Schindlerkar in St Anton (the top of the chair lift gives some interesting views), though best give the black ski routes a miss unless you are feeling very confident. I think the Kandahar black run is not that difficult, by far the best way from Galzig to St Anton, it usually has good snow though it can get chopped up and mogully at the end of a busy day.

There is a long red / blue run from the top of the Schindler chair to Alp Rauz from where the Flexenbahn (link to Zürs) goes from, about 1200m of descent, this can be a great way to warm the legs up however when the resort is busy (as it will be at New Year) parts of it can get rather crowded and chopped up.

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@RobJsy, I’d recommend you book a large table for your group at the _Hospiz Alm_ in St C for New Year’s Day and write off the afternoon. You will not be disappointed.

Although I agree with the general sentiment that the runs are not easy - it’s a vast area and there are runs for all levels. Rendl is a good place to start or getting the ski bus/post bus directly to Zurs/Lech.

If you end up at the Moose until closing it’s easiest / quickest to get a taxi back to St C and not too expensive when compared to the drinks bill.

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No ski busses per se, but the Postbus between St A and St C is free. An afternoon chilling at the wellness centre after meeting you for lunch in St A may appeal to the non skier, and also worth getting the bus to Lech for a mooch around and spot of people-watching there.

I really can't imagine why someone with an ACL recon in Feb wouldn't be skiing again by Xmas except for doctor's orders.

Really easy for those novices on skis to get from St C to St A. Chairlift up ski down to top of Galzig and take mega gondy down. Wouldn't recommend the alternaive of skiing down.

You know it makes sense.

@Dave of the Marmottes,

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thanks all for the great advice

The 1 non skier is my OH who had the ACL operation...as skiing is much more my thing than hers she is quite happy to do a lot of nothing and not risking further injury (still very nervous of slipping on leaves never mind on snow!)....probably alternate days of meeting us for a late lunch / 'wellness' afternoons after a long lie-in.

Lech bus for non-skier too - thanks for that tip

Hospiz Alm - noted, will try and get a booking on that one

Galzig to St A gondola - thanks for that one, will be a useful way to get the 'improvers' on the mountain further from St C

Yes we are staying Sport Hotel with Inghams....having done chalets for a while we are very much expecting to ski - drink - eat - sleep so sems to fit the bill

We were aware of the increased difficulty levels - the core of the group can get around anywhere that we have been to date (for example 5 of the 8 kids have done the Suisse/Piste M blacks in Courcheval 1850 with no real problems so if we have to take a difficult run to get somewhere it might be a challenge but won't be completely avoided)

Thanks again all - I will now enjoy looking at the advice above and piste maps for the next 11 weeks!

A snowHead

dont eat they yellow, red or brown snow.

A snowHead

@RobJsy, Couple of lunch tips - have lunch at Maiensee Hotel in St C - the big table in the main hall, ski in and out from main slopes, next to the lift station......they'll know what that table is, very good party table and great traditional Austrian farmers food. Also Thaja on right, new casual place as you ski down to St C just above the village, great bar food. Not personally a big fan of Hospiz Alm, surly staff ime and overpriced but you've got to go to the downstairs toilets - I wont spoil the surprise for you.

Also thoroughly recommend you get over to Lech/ Zurs (easier skiing and Lech a great place), and up Albona (Stuben).....wrap up warm though, very cold up there, big powder stashes for those who are looking for it.

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@Ozboy,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

You should do a search on these forums on St Anton. Literally thousands of words have been written about the town, the skiing, apres, the wider Arlberg, etc - and deservedly so. The area is huge, varied, and magnificent.

I, and many others here, have spent a lot of time in StA. I will be back in January for another 8 weeks. So, a lot of collective knowledge available to answer more specific questions. Conversely, that makes it hard to answer a general “any advice” question. Where do you start...

After all it is free

Head to Lech.

@RobJsy, echo the tip for the Hospiz Alm for NYD, it is the most beautiful restaurant and there's a slide down to the toilets!

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@HoneyBunny, Ah well - The toilet slide that was the secret I alluded to above wink

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If you have timid intermediates then Rendl is a good option. It will be a lot less frenetic than the main St Anton ski area and has some easy confidence building blues.

I would STRONGLY advise any timid or early intermediates to download at the end of the day both from Rendl and the St Anton ski areas. At least until they can cope with reds.

You know it makes sense.

@Markymark29, oh, didn't see that bit - luckily he'd seen it anyway!! Embarassed

@Dave of the Marmottes, oh, is the (un)Happy Valley shut completely now? Worst home run ever (and that includes everything in Val d'Isere and the bottom of the run into Ischgl). Isn't Kandahar the icy black?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@HoneyBunny, it was closed last season, not necessarily this though. We’ll wait and see. It was an inconvenience but not a huge problem if you know the other routes down, including the main Galzigbahn for those not happy about Kandahar. It’s a difficult ski area compared with many others, not all those heading back to town recognise their own limits and like to blame the resort imo rather than taking the safer option.

A snowHead

@HoneyBunny, The Steissbachtal (happy valley) is planned to be open this year. No one can say if there will be a repeat of the snow conditions which lead to the closure last year, probably unlikely and the resort will make every effort to avoid that. In the longer term there are plans afoot to install additional avalanche barriers but that might take some time. Whilst I can see it is not a perfect piste it is nothing like the mess that the Ischgl home runs can turn into.

In my experience Kandahar has decent snow, I would have thought not likely to be icy. It usually has fair size mogul field on the final pitch above the lift. I would say more straight forward to ski than the steeper pitches of the black down to Nasserein, which is more likely to be icy (confusingly parts of this run are called Kandahar - Kapall!)

A snowHead

Agree skiing back to St Anton from the Galzig at the end of day can be carnage - sometimes ice scraped Kandahar or m25 happy valley. Although probably a non issue for OP as they are staying in St Christoph, unless they are heading to Apres in which case best to get down earlier.

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@munich_irish, +1

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[url=https://flic.kr/p/2bUAEjy]

Kandahar at the end of the day.

I do agree that run down to Nasserein is worse in terms of ice, but Kandahar gets more traffic.

Help!!

Any tips for St Christoph/St Anton?

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