| Reviews: 15 |
| North Yorkshire |
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  5 of 5, "I loved the place" 10/04/2009 @ 21:09 |
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| 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Revision #5 (Last edited: 10/04/2009 @ 22:59) |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Mark Warner |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
First off, I really really respect Wildebeest's word... but on this occasion I disagree with him. Not about St Anton being rather plumby - it is. But that's no reason to launch class war against a place that should be close to the top of any intermediate and advanced boarder's holiday plans. More so (probably) than the oversold (but never underrated) Chamonix.
So, I've insulted one of the most respected reviewers on GoneBoarding and dissed one of Europe's snowboarding meccas - I'd better justify myself quickly. And here it comes. The St Anton and Arlberg region is fantastic because it combines a slick and efficient lift system, challenging, varied and interesting runs and real value for money, albeit generally quite pricey.
The lift system is by far and away the most well managed set-up I've ever come across. Arriving the week before Easter, we experienced no queues and it was clear that there had been heavy investment in fast chairs, bubbles and cabins. I would never remember which runs were great before I go on a holiday and I'm not going back to my map to explain which are good now - if you're good enough to ride St Anton then you should be able to get round the whole area in three to four days and then decide for yourself which ones you'd like to ride again. There's nothing not worth checking out.
In St Anton itself the runs tend to be fairly steep. They've got itinerary runs listed on the mountain too - these are essentially marked off-piste slopes that are usually above the main pistes and which occasionally get pisted but are not recommended without the services of a guide and avalanche equipment . Confused yet? So you should be. It makes even less sense when you get there. The only suggestion I can make is approach them with caution and stay off in a white-out. After that it's down to you how you choose to ride them.
The main pisted slopes in the region vary depending on where you go. The St Anton runs tend to be fairly steep and sometimes narrow. The ones in Zurs / Lech much less so. Pretty much whatever you want is there for the taking apart from off-piste tree runs. These really do fall in to the guide only category, not least because you risk a €5000 fine if you skid on the wrong sapling.
Off piste, St Anton and it's associated areas scream opportunity. Guided or unguided (but never without training or equipment) it's obvious from the lifts where there's chances to be had. Steep, clear runs, challenging or flattering gradients, it's all here. If you want it then the chances are that with some of the historically best snow conditions in Europe (ignore the altitude - it's the geography that helps out here) the Arlberg area will have it.
Now for the most contentious part of the review - value for money. St Anton is not cheap. Not cheap as in if you were to order the most expensive bottle of wine at the priciest place in St Christoph then you will be out of pocket to the tune of €9000. And you could quite easily run up a £30 bill on a main course and a drink at most of the restaurants on the slope. BUT for that you'd receive a generous meal that's been well made, served in spotless conditions by a professional, courteous member of staff. It's not cheap, but would you walk away feeling ripped off the same way you would if you'd been wallet-raped at a cafeteria in the 3 Valleys? I doubt it. You may just shove a few more items from the breakfast buffet in your pack the next morning or settle on a simple (generous) portion of chips the next day though. Anyway, lifts are for lunches aren't they? If the restaurant's charging a fair few quid you can guarantee it'll be a clean place to go to the lou. As far as bars are concerned, a €5 pint is about the norm. And if we remember back to a time before the UK currency was slammed by the rest of the world that's about £3. Not any more sadly but can't really blame the Austrians for that.
Recommendations:
Try to get to Klosterle for on day 3-4. Really lovely alpine resort to cruise around on tired leg day with a beast of an itnerary run accessed by blatting along a precipitous ridge for when you want to start playing again.
Don't ride the park til the afternoon (good enough kickers in St Anton, better in Lech)
Don't be put off by the flats. If you're good enough to be there then when they do sometimes occur you'll be working no harder than the polling skiers if you have to skate for a while.
Don't go to learn. You'll appreciate it better with a few weeks under your belt.
Don't take learners to learn if you don't want to be held back on the amount of terrain you can cover.
If you can set the cash aside for a guide before you go and have a day off piste it'll be money well spent.
Don't treat Stuben as just a bus stop - the S2 run is utterly nuts and great fun if you like twisty, fast cat tracks with totally unpredictable cambers. |
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| Strengths |
| Fantastic on and off piste, well maintained, great lift system, terrific quality restaurants, really friendly people, few out of control borders crashing off the lifts, ditto an absence of ski school snakes. No French kids screaming to one another between the chairs or their grandmothers smacking your board in lift queues. |
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| Hot Spots |
| Moosewirt. Possibly the best aprés bar in the world with a devil may care attitude of several hundred aprés folk dancing on the tables to Germanic disco pop an absolute certainty come 5pm. |
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| Weaknesses |
A couple of lifts to finish the whole area off and do away with the buses would be nice, but even the buses weren't that bad compared to say Chamonix.
Moosewirt. By day 3 it's like groundhog day. The playlist is the same every night. As is the dancing on the tables. And the Scandinavian beefcakes trying to cop off with your girlfriend... |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| It's got something for everyone. Should appeal to any piste muncher, park bunny, off-pister or free rider. So most places really in some way or another. |
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 4 of 5, "St (M)Anton" 01/04/2008 @ 18:14 |
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| 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Revision #1 (Last edited: 01/04/2008 @ 18:17) |
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| Price Paid |
| £450 |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Ski Solutions (Ski World) |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
Awesome off-piste. So, so, sooo good!
If you get the snow this place is awesome for any experienced off-piste.
Get yourself on the first cable car up to Valluga and ride it all the way down to the valley, then hit the Kapall Lift for some more pow.
Stuben was my favourite place, untracked powder all day and really interesting runs. Try "Star Wars" if you can find it! Usually quite quiet too.
Nightlife is significantly male dominated, so don't go expecting Club 18-30 type experience, but every one is still up for a laugh and getting pretty trashed, even on the slopes.....Krazy Kangaruh! |
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| Strengths |
| Awesome Powder and off piste! Good variety of runs. |
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| Hot Spots |
| Stuben/Kappal for pow. Krazy Kangaruh for cheap beer on the slopes. Little Cafe on R1 for lunch! |
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| Weaknesses |
Male Dominated.......
Moguls.....snowboarders worst nightmare and they're everywhere! Off piste gets tracked within minutes unless you go to the quieter places.
A fair few flat sections aren't very snowboarder friendly.
Some old and slow lifts. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Verbier. |
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| Reviews: 2 |
| North Yorkshire |
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| 4 of 5, "St Anton Jan 2008" 12/01/2008 @ 23:32 |
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| 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| £800 v. expensive but gd quality |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Went with school |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
Went there with school on a 6th form trip. Annoying thing was we had to be with an instructor all morning and with a guide all afternoon for insurance purposes. Although this was very restricting it did mean that we got to see alot of places and go on the best off piste routes St. Anton had to offer.
The Off piste boarding to be done is amazing. There are so many places to go and so many untouched areas and best of all none of them require any long walks.
The board park was pretty good too although the one at Lech nearby is much better.
The pistes were a bit overcrowded in some places and the ratings (blue, red etc.) weren't very accurate but they were still fun. Especially if you could find a nie clear one.
I didn't really experience much of the night life there but I did go to a few bars and they are very lively and fun. From a distance the nightlife looked as though it could be really really good
Would reccommend to boarders who like off piste and untouched pow. But if your a thin piste, kickers and park guy like me Avoriaz is better.
All in all it was a good resort but only 3.5 out of 5 as apart from the off piste it wasnt anything special really.
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| Strengths |
| Amazing off piste! |
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| Weaknesses |
| Pistes were a bit overcrowded and busy |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| None |
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| Reviews: 2 |
| UK - Northern Ireland |
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| 5 of 5, "St. Anton is the nuts" 03/01/2007 @ 17:28 |
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| 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| 300 |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| did it myself (alot cheaper) |
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| Times Visited |
| 2-5 Times |
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| Review Detail |
This resort is the best resort i have been to or at least joint with verbier. It has great on piste the runs are all different enough to not get bored. There is a good park in rendl but as others have said the park in lech is just mile better, it has a nice pipe, great rails jumps but didnt seem to have a wall, :( anyhoo the off piste is where its at in st anton, so if theres powder this is the best resort around.
I stayed in Haus Rosweta (i think) which is a great bed and breakfast and i loved it. the family running it were very friendly and made a monster breakfast. There were plenty of places to eat but the place me and my cousins hit teh most was Amalis the pizzaria about 50 metres from where we were stayin, some damn good pizzas in there amoungst other dishes. Great night life in teh form of the mooserwirt or kangaroo bar(somethin like that) which are bothe up the slopes. Also there is a great swimming pool inside and outside at the wellness centre and a week pass costs bugger all and you can rest your tired ass in the jaccuzzi all night long right next to teh slopes. |
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| Strengths |
Power/ off piste
nice varied runs, more for the intermediate/ advanced than beginner
great park at lech
huge area like 300km or more
wellness centre and great apres ski |
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| Hot Spots |
| mooserwirt mainly |
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| Weaknesses |
late in season the lower runs to resort suffered pretty badly pretty wet but was to be expected
also late in season they had let the pipe go badlly and the lip was pretty ragged |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| verbier is pretty similar but i definitely enjoyed st anton better |
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| 4 of 5 28/02/2005 @ 17:19 |
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| 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| £650 |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Skiworld |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
A resort with two different sides - if there is fresh snow the place rocks. There are loads of spaces where you can find powder days after the snowfalls and if you're not into backcountry hiking (like me) there are still lots of places to play.
Board park at Rendl (kickers & rails) isn't as good as Lech (big 1/2 pipe!) but a lot less further to travel. If you want a tan, the beach at Rendl is the place to be, seems to get the sun all day!
If there isn't much snow you're going to struggle - lots of the lower blues require plenty of walking. Haven't been to a resort where i had to walk along pistes so far. Not too good but the powder made up for it! |
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| Strengths |
Big powder bowls, lack of boarders means you can find powder for days without looking too hard
Not as expensive for beer as some of the French resorts |
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| Hot Spots |
KK's
Underground
Picadilly |
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| Weaknesses |
Flat bits!
T bars...
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Val D'Isere, Alpe D'Huez, Morzine, Killington, Sauze D'oux |
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