Ski Arlberg (St. Anton): Pros & Cons, and Epic Pass

[@langezaal1]

Just a couple comments from a Canadian who has called St Anton home since ‘99. 1. Anything off a marked piste is at your own risk and can be uncontrolled avalanche areas. Beacons, appropriate gear and knowledge are a must if you want to ski off the piste. So your recommendations (particularly the section about Muggengrat)are dangerous. 2. Lech/Zürs may look more rustic but also host the majority of 4 and 5 star hotels so expect the most expensive accommodation and food/drinks. 3. Skiing back to St Anton from Zürs requires a download because the area below that particular gondola is a reserve for mountain goats and Ibex. Thanks for the vid!

[@tris421]

Pro - the skiing there is fucking amazing. I agree 144 might be my favorite run i've ever skied on. There was an avalanche on it last year though i think.

[@tomlivaccari1006]

We just got back from Arlberg last night and absolutely loved it. You make some great points, especially regarding the shitty trail map. That said, I can highly recommend Arlberg. We stayed in St Anton and had a blast. My wife and I are great skiers in our late 50s and my daughters are 21 and 25 and amazing skiers. I’ve skied all over Europe and think Arlberg is the best total experience. (Terrain, accommodations, apres, food and views.) All that said, we typically ski at Jackson, Whistler and Alta/Snowbird which are all much more difficult.

[@SkiBoyNY.]

Great choice to stay at St. Anton. It seems like the best place to stay overall. Totally agree that you can find more difficult terrain at Jackson/Alta/Snowbird. Arlberg is such a great experience - hope the snow was good when you were there!

[@valrozanoff]

thank you! one of the BEST video!! I appreciate how much time you put into it!

[@mdesign8675]

This is superb. Exactly the sort of information I was looking for. Thank you.

[@ajf0092]

Love all your resort reviews, filming and production quality is fantastic. And this one was timed nicely, before my trip from NY to St Anton in February!

[@SkiBoyNY.]

Thanks so much! And great choice for a trip, haha! I'm sure you'll have an incredible time there - both in the town and on the mountain.

[@boeling3046]

Love your vids!!!!!!!

[@JuliusHiiden]

very interesting review, I am just planning my trip to St. Anton

[@chill.adventures]

excellent video! i'm headed to st anton soon and this video will likely help me a ton.

[@SkiBoyNY.]

Thanks so much! St. Anton is a great choice as the base for a trip to Arlberg. The most happening spot and pretty good access to the entirety of slopes. It's so spread out. If I go back, I'll stay at St. Anton again.

[@alexalfred5545]

Just been there, totally agree 👍

[@MarcoFD]

i think its a troubling thing in general, that these ski resorts get taken over by these massive american companies, since generally you spend a arm and a leg to be able to ski in american resorts compared to european ones.

[@lawyh1506]

I am glad that you mentioned that the piste map of Ski Arlberg is hard to read! I have skied all over Europe but the Ski Arlberg piste map is definitely my least favourite. The "classical" design with piste overlapping / running parallel yet they are actually going to different directions at different altitudes makes it super hard to read, especially at the top of St Anton and Lech. They should just straighten out the lines like the tube map!

[@SkiBoyNY.]

Glad I'm not the only one, haha!

[@FaithandActiondotnet]

Wow, really great video! I've mapped all that out on Google but it looks a fair bit more complicated than I thought. What a superlative blessing to be able to experience those places. You should say what time of year you were there so we can assess the snow/timeframe. Thanks a lot, that place is really amazing!!

[@SkiBoyNY.]

Thanks! I was there at the end of February. It's always hard to guess when snow conditions will be the best, but without any fresh snow that week, it was still very good that time of year.

[@hopeenquiries3638]

its on my list for sure

[@mice1269]

Any recommendations on best way to fly into St. anton and transit from airport to lodging?

[@lieferiksen]

Great video! Having done both, what would you pick, Arlberg vs Verbier?

[@SkiBoyNY.]

Thanks! Great and very tough question. I'd return to either in a heartbeat, but if I could only return to one once, I might choose Verbier. It's larger but seems less spread out, so you spend less time "commuting" across the resort. As a result, there are less bases, and they tend to be larger. But St. Anton definitely had more of an apres-ski scene than what I experienced at Verbier, and the spread out layout may actually make it feel larger than Verbier since you spend time getting to different areas of the resort. That itself can be a reason to return - you feel like you're at an incredibly large resort.

[@lieferiksen]

@@SkiBoyNY. Thanks for the response - Verbier was the direction we were leaning. FYI as a Colorado skier looking to dip toes into Epic Pass in Europe, your videos have been very helpful. Keep it up 👌

[@goodridevibes]

The places you have been riding man… 🤩 when you coming home?!

[@SkiBoyNY.]

Totally insane what you can find in Europe, right? I'll be back in Colorado in January, so looking forward to that!

[@cravetheplanet]

Thank you thank you thank you your channel is amazing!! do you have anything like this for Hiking?

[@JamesHart]

Would you say Zermatt or Arlberg were better experiences for skiing and village?

[@kevinl8440]

Zermatt has better village, St Anton has better skiing for experts, advanced, and beginners but Zermatt better for intermediates

[@SkiBoyNY.]

I'd say St. Anton has a livelier apres-ski party scene, but Zermatt has a nicer town with more restaurant and shop options. For skiing, Zermatt is a lot easier to navigate overall, with Sunnegga having the most advanced terrain but otherwise pretty intermediate. Ski Arlberg is also good for intermediates, but does have more expert terrain scattered throughout.

[@1Flyingfist]

I'm just over a third of the way through. Wouldn't it have made more sense to get the ski bus to each resort? That's what i did.

[@SkiBoyNY.]

I think the ski bus definitely would have made the transfer to some areas quicker, but I guess I just didn't want to time and wait for a bus. But with my way, I had less time at those other areas.

[@1Flyingfist]

@SkiBoyNY. Ah, I see. The lift connections didn't exist yet when I was there and the Arlberg was experiencing the heaviest snowfall for either 50 or 100 years. 😮 Can't remember which.

[@SkiBoyNY.]

@@1Flyingfist I'd take that snowfall issue any day!

[@1Flyingfist]

@@SkiBoyNY. Yo, we couldn't get out of the airport at first... Then they put us on a transfer bus to a random small hotel somewhere along the route, where we had to stay overnight. Them the next morning a freaking air raid siren went off in the early hours... 😨 Imagine, you jump out of your sleep and your blood turns cold out of fear. Then I realised that they use it as a regular alarm or something and that it wasn't some kind of Danger Close ish! But yeah, the snow was great once we got there.

[@davez2586]

It’s a nice video, very informative. But you use the word “extreme” quite liberally. Just make turns, bro.