The Arlberg is already a world-class ski region, but it’s going to get even bigger and better. Work has begun on 4 new lifts, due to be open by next winter, which will link up St Anton with Lech, creating Austria’s biggest interconnected ski area and one of the biggest in the world.
The New Lifts
€45m (£35m) are being invested in the project, which will see four new lifts:
- Flexenbahn, linking Stuben near St Anton with Zürs on the Lech side, will be a gondola with a 10-person cabin and a capacity of 2,400 people per hour. The 6-minute journey will offer breathtaking views of the Arlberg Pass through panoramic windows and the return route will be a 1.8km piste that descends 562m
- Trittkopfbahn I will lead from Zürs to an intermediate station, linking with the Flexenbahn
- Trittkopfbahn II will offer an alternative route further up to a new station
- Albonabahn II links with the Flexenbahn at Alpe Rauz, near Stuben
The Extended Area
The extended Arlberg ski area will have 350km of slopes and 87 lifts, with easy access to all parts of the region. Although it’s currently possible to ski from the St Anton side to the Lech side of the Arlberg, this is only open to expert skiers with a guide on challenging off-piste slopes. There’s also no easy return and so thankfully the number of daily bus trips between Zürs and Stuben/Alpe Rauz via the Flexengallery will be reduced by 120.
To celebrate, the Arlberg region has established a “Run of Fame” route from Warth, by way of Lech to St Anton, incorporating 65km of pistes with a total descent of 18,000m. A “Hunt of Fame” race has been announced, though there are few details available at the moment.
World Class
The Arlberg is a major ski region, but this new series of connections makes it one of the largest in the world, overtaking the French regions of Val d’Isère/Tignes Espace Killy and Grand Massif. The new Arlberg’s exact size ranking is a little uncertain, since some of the claims of the larger ski areas around the world are disputed.
Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that the Arlberg will now be in the top 10 if not top 5 ski areas world-wide. The exact opening dates of the new lifts has been uncertain, but recently it was suggested that they’ll be open to the public in November this year.
