Does this need an introduction? St Anton, the après ski capital of Austria, home to a bar which reputedly consumes more beer than any other establishment in the country, and the setting of many comedy drunken youtube videos. However to categorise St Anton as just another après ski destination would be doing it a gross disservice. St Anton is a real skiers resort with a wide range of pistes, and the average standard of skiing is high.
Image courtesy of www.mooserwirt.at
The resort is a bit modest with its grading of pistes – you’ll find that a red here is more like a black, and blacks are thigh burningly steep or bumpy. There are a decent number of un pisted ski routes for those taking early steps into the joys of off piste skiing. The resort is fairly snow-sure thanks to an accident of topography, despite the highest lift being to a relatively modest 2811m, and the lift system is largely very modern and efficient.
The town has retained some of its alpine charm despite the popularity of the resort, and there are lots of Austrian chalets to pick from. There are plenty of restaurants and bars, but the real après ski happens just off the piste at the famous Krazy Kangaruh and the even more famous Mooserwirt, where ski boot wearing Europeans clamber on to the tables to dance along to industrial quality cheesy euro pop belted out by the unstoppable geriatric DJ Gerhard.
St Anton is all things to all people, a family friendly, hard partying, snow sure, picturesque, skiing mecca. Go there.