St. Anton off-piste & powder guide

Tyrol, Austria · 1304m to 2811m · 4 documented zones

Finding powder at St. Anton

St Anton is the off-piste resort of the Arlberg, with ski routes that are marked on the map but neither groomed nor avalanche controlled, and serious unmarked terrain beyond them. The Valluga is the headline: the top cable car will only carry you with skis if you have a certified mountain guide with you, and everyone else rides up to the viewing platform without their equipment.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 2 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Schindlerkar (Ski Route 86)

Schindlergrat sector

Marked itinerary - not controlledAdvanced

A marked ski route rather than a piste: signed on the map, but never groomed or avalanche controlled. One of the busiest powder descents in the resort, with the neighbouring Mattunjoch route 90 off the same lift.

Signed or numbered on the piste map, but ungroomed and generally not avalanche controlled. The marking tells you where the route goes, not that it is safe today.

Lift access
Schindlergratbahn
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the Schindlergratbahn.
Getting back
Descends to rejoin the main groomed piste network.
Aspect
North-facing· Holds powder longest
Known hazards
  • Heavy moguls once tracked out
  • Steep entry chutes
  • Avalanche risk after heavy snowfall

Schonegraben

Kapall sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

Steep trees and open faces on the eastern side of the resort. The bowl must never be skied in its entirety: it grows increasingly convex and funnels into a narrow chute known as the plug hole, which has caused a number of avalanche deaths.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Kapall lift
Walk in
No hiking — Entered from the top of the Kapall lift.
Getting back
Take the high traverse to skier's right to reach the bottom of the drag lift for the top of the Kapall lift, which avoids the chute entirely.
Aspect
East-facing· Holds powder well
Known hazards
  • Severe avalanche terrain
  • A convex bowl funnelling into the narrow plug hole chute, which has claimed many lives

Worth the walk — hike-to zones

Every one of these needs time on foot, which is exactly why the snow lasts longer. Walk-in times below are as published by the resort guides.

Valluga North Face

Valluga sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

The most famous descent on the Arlberg. A short traverse across an exposed no-fall zone opens into a wide bowl running down towards the Pazieltal and Zurs. Pitches reach around 45 degrees, and the guiding requirement here is a lift rule rather than a suggestion.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Valluga II cable car
Walk in
Valluga II will only carry skis or a snowboard if you are with a certified mountain guide; without one you ride to the viewing platform and leave your equipment behind. Some variants also involve a secured down-climb over an exposed ridge into a narrow couloir.
Getting back
Runs out down the Pazieltal to Zurs, from where the ski bus or the Flexenbahn brings you back towards St Anton.
Aspect
North-facing· Holds powder longest
Known hazards
  • Pitches of up to 45 degrees
  • Very exposed no-fall zones
  • A secured down-climb over an exposed ridge on some variants

Hinter Rendl

Rendl sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

A long descent on the back of the Rendl, around 1,340m of vertical over roughly 4.9km, reached by crossing the ridge from the top of the lift.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Riffelbahn II
Walk in
Cross over the ridge from the top of the lift into the back face of the Rendl, then traverse right to keep clear of the cliffs.
Getting back
Joins red piste 1, the run from Rendl finishing at the Rendlbahn base; the Malfontal towards Pettneu is the other way out.
Aspect
North-facing· Holds powder longest
Known hazards
  • Cliffs early in the descent
  • Bumps up heavily because it is popular

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

St. Anton snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in Austria