Badly cooked sausages, Euro Pop, lederhosen and dodgy dancing. Until early January this year, that was about the extent of my knowledge of Austria. I joined a few friends to hit the outstanding resort of St Anton, and my eyes were opened! Verbier last season was the first time I’d ever ridden outside France and I came back with mixed feelings on the place…St Anton is a different story.

The Arlberg ski area is outstanding, with enough terrain to cater for any level of skier or boarder. The slopes around St Anton are superb, with 3 major lifts leaving resort centre in various directions. Heading out into the valleys you can ski through resorts like Lech, Zurs and Sonnenkopf, which, without exception, offer an excellent selection of pistes. Never before have I seen such an impressive selection of off-piste potential as well, and there are chairlifts in the Arlberg ski area where you can sit and look 360 degrees and see powder fields on every side. Unfortunately we had no fresh snow on our week so we were more piste-oriented, but I did manage to put a few fresh tracks down some off piste on the slightly quieter Rendl side.

Apres Ski in St Anton - Andy, Alex and I at the legendary Mooserwirt!

I was very impressed with the ski area, but there are 2 drawbacks. The first is that unlike ski areas such as the 3 Valleys you have to catch a bus to get from the St Anton sector through to the really juicy stuff around Lech and Zurs. It doesn’t take long, but it does mean getting around the ski area is a touch more time consuming. The second is that for a boarder there are simply too many flat sections. A few flat walks carrying your board are a price worth paying for the insane amount of off-piste, but they do get a little tiresome.

As for the resort itself, St Anton is one of the liveliest in Europe…Lech and Zurs offer superb runs but if you want a mix of great pistes and nightlife, you need to be in St Anton. For après-ski the Mooserwirt has to be seen to be believed, frankly. On any single day of the season at all, what starts as a warming mug of hot wine at 3pm can all too easily turn into a frantic Euro party. DJ Gerhaard spins the Austro classics from his lofty balcony inside the bar, whilst down below skiers and boarders of all ages and nationalities rip up the dance floor like no-one’s watching. The Mooserwirt kicks even Val d’Isere’s Folie Douce and Meribel’s beloved Rondpoint into touch…there really is no place quite like it anywhere else!

We stayed in the 39-bed Chalet Pia, and were very impressed. The chalet is on the basic side for sure, but the price and location are superb and we were well looked after. There’s a good selection of en suite rooms, and the size of the chalet means you’ll always make new friends on the holiday. Probably a good idea to swing by the Spar shop for your wine though. The chalet plonk was a touch harsh on the palate. If you’re after something a little more luxurious then swing by our St Anton Hotels website and check out the selection there.

So in a nutshell, if you want a beautiful resort with a range of chalets for any budget, big nightlife, superb ski area, make St Anton your next trip!