Skiing Sankt Anton am Arlberg
Tuesday and Wednesday of two weeks ago, I spent skiing at Sankt Anton am Arlberg, Tyrol, Austria. I landed in Munich Monday late afternoon, took a train to Munich East, then to Kufstein, Austria, then a two-hour ride up into the Alps and a mile walk to my hotel.
You know they are serious about skiing when renting equipment involves the question "Do you want skis for on-piste or off-piste?" and do I want to rent avalanche equipment like a locator, shovel, or air-bag? Also, the trail map includes numbered "trails" with icons at the top indicating that they are only accessible by helicopter. You can also supplement your lift ticket with insurance for rescue by helicopter.
I need to learn how to ski deep powder.
Even without that skill perfected, it was still awesome. The first day was clear
The second day started out with socked-in fog. I did one run from the top (second-highest peak; the highest was closed both days) that was boring and slow because I was doing my best to see the snow in front of me:
It finally cleared, though, leaving spectacular clouds.
My ceremonial last run of the day was down a huge bowl that still had fresh powder at the end of the day:
It's a gorgeous place, with endless skiing. I barely got off of one of the mountains; there are like 85 lifts and a bus network in the entire mult-mountain complex. Wow.
(There are lots more pictures if you follow the Flickr links.)
You know they are serious about skiing when renting equipment involves the question "Do you want skis for on-piste or off-piste?" and do I want to rent avalanche equipment like a locator, shovel, or air-bag? Also, the trail map includes numbered "trails" with icons at the top indicating that they are only accessible by helicopter. You can also supplement your lift ticket with insurance for rescue by helicopter.
I need to learn how to ski deep powder.
Even without that skill perfected, it was still awesome. The first day was clear
The second day started out with socked-in fog. I did one run from the top (second-highest peak; the highest was closed both days) that was boring and slow because I was doing my best to see the snow in front of me:
It finally cleared, though, leaving spectacular clouds.
My ceremonial last run of the day was down a huge bowl that still had fresh powder at the end of the day:
It's a gorgeous place, with endless skiing. I barely got off of one of the mountains; there are like 85 lifts and a bus network in the entire mult-mountain complex. Wow.
(There are lots more pictures if you follow the Flickr links.)