The review with the less than positive review about St Anton must have picked a particularly bad week to go. Queues at lifts during the week are a doddle (weekends, try Rendl and have the place to yourself). The snow has always been fairly good (even in the bad years). off-piste is massive, but you'll need to be up early to get it before it gets tracked out. Ok, the town isn't the prettiest in the Alps, but I don't go skiing to say 'ooooh.. isn't that pretty'.. I want somewhere to sleep, eat, shop, and have a few beers after a day on the slopes in a good atmosphere.. St Anton ticks all those boxes.. oh, and beginners.. don't listen to the scare mongering.. there is PLENTY of skiing out there for you.. and if you can learn and then ski some of the blues in St Anton (which you will, cos the teaching there is excellent), then you'll be able to ski reds in other resorts!! Go to St Anton.. I guarantee you'll want to go back.
I find it sort of amazing the amount of praise heaped on St. Anton. I basically found it to be a very bland and small town convincing itself it is something special, with some special prices. The mountain is average to above average but nothing outstanding. If you want exclusive, go to Zermatt or St.Moritz. If you really want to ride/ski go to Whistler or Vail or Jackson Hole. You want snow, go to Utah. The snow here is iffy especially in the lower half of the mountain. Considering it's reputation online, global warming must be killing this place. The runs are generally short with many narrow interconnecting paths. The lines at the lifts, even mid week, are fairly extensive. If you are coming here (and I haven't convinced you to go elsewhere already) don't stay anywhere special. You're likely to end up at a very average place with very extraordinary prices. The town is quite small and you're likely to run out of restaurants quickly in the standard 1 week booking. The town is more about a sort of low rent apres-ski with drunken Brits falling all over each other long into the morning. And who's to blame them when they've spent that much money for so little.
I went here with my mummy, it was cold but me and mummy had lots of fun in the snow. One day we went on a sleigh ride and my mummy loved it. Next year me and mummy will be back to see miss gampen
Went to St Anton in Feb 2005 for a short break. Easy transfers make this a real opportunity to get some full days skiing without having to spend hours on the journey. Stayed at the Hotel Montana, small but good quality rooms, sauna for post skiing muscle relaxing.
Nightlife was excellent, you can take it or leave it, nobody is under pressure in this resort. We had two nights on the lash and it was great, everyone was friendly and wanted to talk and drink until the early hours.
Not recommended for beginners though, unless you are taking ski school lessons because they appear really good!
Going back to St Anton later this month (Jan'08) and I can't wait!!
St Anton is a fantastic place to ski on all fronts.
It's very friendly
They understand the concept of queues
The runs are varied and challenging - yet there are runs that are suitable for beginners (although the run down from Rendel can be very challenging for a beginner as it can get very crowded, has certain steep parts and can be icy at the end of the day)
There are your usual collection of bars, some relaxing, some jazzy and lively and some absolutely mad (Krazy Kangaruh for example.)
You must try the herbal drinks company on the main street(we called it World of Booze), a massive selection of wildy coloured drinks for your hip-flask.
Just remember the limits on liquids in your hand baggage when flying otherwise you'll end up disappointed. The Tyrolean Fire Liquor is a must - 50% alcohol...and it tastes like Actifed ! If you mix it with Red Bull don't be surprised if 10 minutes later you can't feel your legs (or ski!).
For those of you that fly / like flying ...you'll like the approach into Innsbruck. Like an express elevator / ride from Alton Towers as the airport is surrounded by very high mountains!
The transfer from the airport is very quick - about an hour, so no long bus rides either !
I will definately go back !
Being a good skier and having skied all the top resorts, from my vast experience and good knowledge I would rate St Anton very high on my 1-10 scale. All things being considered including cost, ski area and other miscellaneous factors I use to rate a resort, St Anton gets a 8.824 rating, calculated using my own formula. It would have scored more using my methods if St Anton was approx 100m +/- 10 metres higher in altitude, then using my formula to rate resorts it would be 9.432. In summary a 10 ten resort in Europe.
little real snow,but plenty of skiing.
Christof Bergan was a great instructor, good looking too!!!!!!
Everyone very friendly and helpful especially Jasper at ski hire shop.
Chalent Murr lovely.
would go again 10/10