Austria's Largest Linked Area · Two Characters, One Pass · Serious Snow and Serious Off-Piste
Austria's biggest connected ski area, spread across the Arlberg pass and split in personality: raw, steep, party-hard St. Anton on one side, and polished, moneyed Lech and Zürs on the other, all skiable on one ticket.
🎟 One pass: Ski Arlberg lift pass covers every lift across the area.
Terrain & aspect
Slopes mostly face E.
Aspect derived from run bearings · OpenSkiStats / © OpenStreetMap (ODbL).
Ski Arlberg strings together a run of villages either side of the Arlberg pass, on the Tyrol–Vorarlberg border. On the eastern, Tyrolean side sit St. Anton, tiny St. Christoph up on the pass, and Stuben below it; over on the Vorarlberg side lie Zürs, Lech and its satellite Oberlech, then Warth and Schröcken further north. For years the two halves were one pass but not one ski circuit — you rode a bus between them. The Flexenbahn, which opened in 2016, closed that gap and made the whole thing a single skiable area, marketed at around 305 km of piste and roughly 88 lifts, the largest linked area in Austria. It runs from village bases near 1300 m up to the Valluga at 2811 m. What holds it together on the map is one pass; what makes it worth the trip is the contrast between the two ends.
Snow and range. The Arlberg catches weather off the north-west and piles up some of the most reliable, and heaviest, snowfall in the Alps, which is why it has a reputation for powder that people plan whole seasons around. On top of that you get two genuinely different resorts on one ticket — St. Anton's steep, unruly, hard-charging side, and the smoother, higher, wealthier world of Lech and Zürs — plus enough lift-served off-piste to keep strong skiers busy for a week without repeating a line.
Two moods on one pass. The St. Anton side is high, open and unforgiving above the treeline, with wide steep faces off the Valluga and Kapall and famously little in the way of easy blues once you leave the nursery area — it rewards skiers who like being tested. Cross over to Zürs, Lech and Warth and the character softens: the pistes are broad and well-groomed, the tree-lined lower runs give shelter in bad weather, and the whole side feels calmer and more manicured even though the off-piste behind it is every bit as serious. Most of the skiing sits high, so it is an area that skis big and cold, with plenty of open bowl above the trees.
Best known for
The pass is the same everywhere — the village you base in shapes the holiday more than the valley you ski. 6 base villages, one lift pass.
Strong skiers who want steep terrain, off-piste and a real party
The big, buzzing hub of the Arlberg at around 1300 m, and one of the great names in Alpine skiing — steep terrain, legendary off-piste and some of the loudest après in Austria. It sits right on the main railway, so you can arrive by train, but the town gets busy and the skiing is not kind to beginners.
Explore the village →Polish, space and reliable snow over nightlife
The refined heart of the Vorarlberg side at around 1450 m, a smart, moneyed village with gentler, well-groomed pistes and quiet, expensive evenings. Snow-sure and spacious, with the ski-in ski-out satellite of Oberlech above it — the polished opposite of St. Anton.
Explore the village →A quiet, upscale, snow-sure base on the slopes
A small, high village at around 1720 m on the Flexen road above Lech, exclusive and calm, with skiing right from the door and some of the most dependable snow in the area. Little in the way of nightlife — it is a base for people who want quiet luxury and good snow.
Explore the village →Traditional calm and good snow away from the crowds
A tiny, traditional village below the pass at around 1400 m, a known snow pocket with its own quiet slopes and a link into the wider area. Low-key and old-fashioned, it suits skiers who want the Arlberg's terrain and snow without the crowds or the scene.
Explore the village →Deep snow, gentler slopes and value for families
The quiet, remarkably snowy far end of the area at around 1500 m, linked to Lech and recording some of the highest snowfall in the Austrian Alps. Further from St. Anton and lower-key, with gentler, family-friendly pistes and better value than the marquee villages.
Explore the village →Ski-from-the-door calm high on the pass
A cluster of hotels up on the Arlberg pass itself at around 1800 m, the highest base in the area and about as calm as it gets. Ski-from-the-door convenience at altitude, with next to no village life — a place for skiing and quiet, not evenings out.
Guide coming soonSt. Anton for lively nights, the biggest steep terrain and the easiest train access, accepting crowds and a busy town. Lech or Zürs for polish, space and reliable snow, at a price — Zürs is higher and smaller, Lech larger with more life. Oberlech is ski-in ski-out and largely car-free, good for families who want to be on the snow. Warth-Schröcken is the quiet, snowy, value end, further from St. Anton but well linked to Lech. Stuben and St. Christoph are small, traditional and calm, for people who want the skiing without the scene.
The honest answer is that this is not a natural beginners' area, and St. Anton least of all — its nursery slopes are fine but the step up onto the mountain is steep and daunting. If you are learning, base on the Lech, Zürs, Oberlech or Warth side, where the blues are gentler, wider and better linked, and treat St. Anton as somewhere to visit rather than learn.
Strong, but skewed towards the Vorarlberg side. Lech, Zürs, Oberlech and Warth-Schröcken have long, confidence-building reds and cruising blues and a satisfying tour between them; the famous Weisse Ring circuit around Lech and Zürs is a full day out. St. Anton's pisted terrain is shorter on easy cruising and quicker to bite, so a nervous intermediate will feel more at home over the pass.
This is the area's core audience. St. Anton's marked blacks off the Valluga, Schindler and Kapall are proper steep runs, and there are testing pitches all over the domain. A strong skier can link the whole area end to end in a day and still feel they have only scratched it.
One of the great off-piste destinations in the Alps. The lift-served backcountry around St. Anton — the Valluga north face, the runs off the Schindlergrat, the descents towards Stuben — is the stuff of legend, and the Lech and Zürs side hides just as much away from the crowds. It is committing, avalanche-exposed terrain: the classic Valluga descent is only sold to skiers with a guide, and everything here wants avalanche kit, judgement and the right conditions.
With the Flexenbahn joining the two halves, you can now ski the whole area on one continuous outing — from St. Anton up over the pass to Stuben and Zürs, on to Lech and Oberlech, and out to Warth-Schröcken at the far end. It is a long, committing day that takes in the character change from the Tyrolean side to the Vorarlberg one. Watch the last connecting lifts back so you do not strand yourself an hour from your bed.
The White Ring is a signposted circuit that loops the Lech-Zürs side by piste and lift, a full day of steady, scenic skiing that takes in most of that end of the area without needing to be an expert. It is the gentler, more meditative counterpart to St. Anton's steeps, and a good way to read the calmer half of the Arlberg in one go.
The Arlberg's off-piste reputation is built on the terrain off the Valluga above St. Anton — long, serious descents through big mountain faces towards Zürs and Stuben. The full Valluga north-side run is only accessed with a mountain guide, and rightly so: this is avalanche country where local knowledge, kit and timing matter as much as skill. Book a guide, ski it on a good day, and it is the highlight of an Arlberg week.
Among the best in the Alps. The Arlberg massif sits in the path of north-westerly systems and wrings a lot of snow out of them, so the area is snow-sure by any reasonable measure and often buried when other regions are thin. Warth-Schröcken in particular records some of the highest snowfall totals in the Austrian Alps. Almost everything is high — bases around 1300 to 1700 m, lifts to 2800 m — so cover holds well into spring on the upper mountain. The weak spots are the lowest runs home to St. Anton and Stuben in a warm spell, and the flip side of all that snow is that heavy storm cycles can shut the high lifts and avalanche-prone off-piste for days.
The area and its base villages on the live map — pan and zoom to explore. The official piste maps are one tap away beneath it.
Downhill / ski tour
Nordic
Legend after OpenSkiMap
Innsbruck (INN) is the closest, ~approx 1 to 1.5 hours to St. Anton by road. Zürich (ZRH) is often the more practical choice for flights and is ~approx 2 to 2.5 hours away; Munich (MUC) and Friedrichshafen (FDH) are further alternatives.
St. Anton am Arlberg is the standout for rail — it sits on the main line with fast trains from Innsbruck, Zürich and beyond stopping in the village, so you can arrive by train and walk to your hotel. The Vorarlberg-side villages have no station and are reached by road transfer from Langen am Arlberg or St. Anton.
The two halves connect on snow via the Flexenbahn during the day, but off the slopes they are on opposite sides of the pass, joined by the Flexen road up from Rauz to Zürs and Lech — a route that can close in heavy snow. Lech, Zürs and Warth are reached by road; Oberlech is largely car-free, served by lift and a tunnel from Lech. Ski buses link the villages on each side.
January and February for the coldest, deepest snow and the best chance of the powder days the Arlberg is known for, accepting that these are also the busiest and priciest weeks. March gives longer days with the high pistes still in good shape, though the lowest runs soften in the afternoon sun. If you are chasing fresh snow the mid-winter months are the safer bet; for space and value, aim for a non-holiday week either side of the February peak.
Other resorts within reach if you're combining trips or comparing.
Faces north-west Book an airport transfer up to the resort, or pick up a car at Innsbruck (INN) — search and compare without leaving the page.
Ski data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via OpenSkiMap & Skimap.org. Basemap © OpenFreeMap / OpenMapTiles. · Weather data © Open-Meteo.com (CC-BY 4.0), ERA5 reanalysis. Village grouping & editorial: mynext.holiday. Transfers via Kiwitaxi; car hire via Travelpayouts.