St. Anton is now in full swing with Kapall, Gampen, Galzig and Schindler all open.  It has been  lean winter so far in The Alps terms of snow but we are lucky to be fairing better than many other resorts, some of which still have not opened.  We received 25-30cm of snow on opening day which made for excellent skiing.  Since then we have enjoyed a lot of blue skies and empty pistes.  There is a lot of terrain to choose from and the excitement of the new season is keeping spirits high as we wait for some classic St. Anton snow!

We are having technical difficulties uploading pictures but I will hope to be posting again as soon as possible.

We have some availabilities towards then end of March so please contact us to make your reservation today!

R&M

Dec 4th Powder skiing next to the new Tanzboden 6 person lift.

St. Anton season start 2013/14 is tomorrow, Dec 6th!  We have been ski touring up Galzig this week and have had a chance to ski the slopes pre-opening.  The coverage is looking great for this time of year and should provide many powder turns for riders excited to get the season rolling.  Nasserein, Gampen, Galzig, Zammermoos, Tanzboden, St. Christoph and Osthang bahn’s will all be open.

The chalet is looking as comfortable and cozy as ever.  We have been busy making minor improvements here and there, and the major improvement of building and covering new furniture in the stub.  We have also added a new tab to our website entitled “concierge” which describes some of the ways we can enhance our guests experience when visiting.  Check it out!

New three seater couch for cozy times!

We are looking forward to welcoming our first guests of the season tonight from Finland. Finnish independence days is tomorrow we look forward to the celebrating with them!

We have availabilities beginning mid-March and would welcome the opportunity to host you here in the winter wonderland of The Arlberg!

R&M

Here’s to December 2013 being another day closer!

Chalet Rafalt is closed after another fantastic winter in the Arlberg.  This season saw consistent snow throughout the winter and a snowpack that measured over 3.5 metres on closing weekend at mountain top.  We feel very fortunate to have hosted a wide variety of fun and interesting guests from all over the world and to have been able to help them feel comfortable at the Chalet and in St. Anton.  All season our guests were keen skiers who were up early to enjoy breakfast before heading out the door to take advantage of many stellar days on the mountain and afternoons at the apres skis.  We also can’t say how much we appreciate the many visits from family and friends over the season.

Thank you all for making it a successful winter with great memories to look back on.  We hope to host your again next winter!!!

Kind regards,

R&M

Fluffy powder is still falling!

Great time of year for relaxing on summits.

North facing powder skiing!

The temperatures have been warmer but it has been generally a cooler spring then normal in the Arlberg.  This has kept the skiing in fine shape as of late.  We have had pretty consistent snowfalls and some nice doses of sunshine and vitamin D to enjoy.  At the moment Larry Stanier is visiting the chalet and we are thrilled to be hosting a Canadian guide.  Larry has an incredible resume guiding all over the world but particularly in western Canada where I grew up.  He is off to the Silveretta next with his clients before doing the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt.  Thankfully St. Anton has delivered blue skies and dry north facing powder for him and his clients to make the most of!

The season end parties have started and this weekend will see Piccadilly and the Krazy Kanguruh close.  We do have availability this weekend so if you are within shooting distance please come on by and join the festivities!

Kind regards,

R&M

Benoit enjoying sunshine and powder!

Berger making us amateurs look somewhat professional.

Me feeling lucky to ski with Berger.

Another tasty dinner in the chalet.

Team Canada and friends.

Gamsk on Sulz spitze.

Eric Berger was back in St Anton last week with a great crew from Canada, Spain and England.  Eric is a professional photographer based out of Whistler.  He recently scored another cover of Powder Magazine with Dan Treadway and we were excited to have him back in the chalet.  Ben and myself had the opportunity to take a few pictures with him and were pretty blown away by the results.  Thanks Eric!

It was a stellar week with the bunch that included great days skiing around the white circle, touring up Augstenburg, racing down the rodel track and the odd beverage at the Krazy Kanguruh and Piccadilly.  Thanks for a great week – we look forward to many more like it!

We have a very nice group from Sweden right now and they have been enjoying the skiing in St. Anton and dinners at the chalet.

Snow is in the forecast and it is shaping up to be a great spring so please contact me if you’d like to come in April.

Kind regards,

R&M

(All photos above are property of and copy write by Eric Berger)

Ski touring up Wild Ebene with Kaltenburg framing the shot.

Janna making the way to Verwall from Maroital.

Brother’s MacKimmie 2013.

Nelly, Rudy and Maaike. Team Shred!

The Royal Norwegian Airforce Sqaud 331 working the white circle.

After multiple storm cycles at the beginning of February we saw steady small snowfalls which kept the resort soft for the remainder of the month.  In the last week we have been enjoying stable high pressure and perfect conditions for ski touring in the Arlberg.  There has been little to no wind, blue skies, stable snow and limitless options for those who like to walk.  We have hosted guests including my brother and his regular crew, the Royal Norwegian Airforce and now members of the original Team Canada.  Great weather, great company and fantastic times at Chalet Rafalt.  We are now fully booked until April 5th – so come on down after that for some spring skiing, live music and outdoor apres ski!

Kind regards,

R&M

Martin making the most of the DEEP.

Malcolm Sangster of Sherpa’s cinema checking out nearly two metre’s of snow in Stuben last week.

Malcolm storm skiing in Langen forest.

Blue skies and DEEP powder.

The northwest weather pattern determined our weather starting on Jan 30th through until now brining lots and lots of new snow to the Arlberg.  I’d estimate as much as two metres where the most snow fell in Stuben.  With a relatively quiet mountain it has been a powder skiing paradise.  Run after run of deep untracked powder has been the story of the last days.  We hosted Malcolm Sangster of Sherpa’s Cinema for a few days after he finished up promoting their new film “Into the Mind” at the ISPO ski show in Munich. (Link below)  He was certainly impressed by variety of runs and size of terrain here in the Arlberg.  That combined with conditions about as good as they get made for quite the trip!

We have the first two weeks available in April and the snow pack is shaping up nicely for some great spring skiing.  Please contact me for details if you’d like to come and stay at Chalet Rafalt!

Kind regards,

R&M

http://vimeo.com/54348266 (Into the Mind trailer – Can’t wait for this one!)

Jennewein Main Store

Rowland. This guy knows boots!

Jesper at the Nasserein Store. New DPS line and Stockli’s on the wall.

Peppi setting his personal best ski jump of 70m in 1939 – on pure wooden skis! (photo courtesy of Martin Jennewein)

Being the cradle of Alpine skiing St. Anton is rich with history.  Part of this history is the Jennewein family.  Benedict Jennewein originally came to St. Anton to help build the rail road in the 1890’s.  He was responsible for making wooden barrels to transport supplies.  This craft involved using steam to bend wood.  Coincidentally, skiing was also starting in The Arlberg at this time.  It only made sense for Benedict to use his skill at bending wood to make and supply skis for the first alpine skiers.  The Jennewein family continued to grow roots in ski history when Peppi Jennewein won the world championships at age 17 making him the youngest ever to hold the title.

Don Smith coming down from Zurs to Stuben.

Guests enjoying another classic Arlberg vista.

Looking way down to Alpe Raus.

Zurs.

Schindler chutes skiing great!

Cheese fondue night.

It has been a fantastic run of skiing over the last couple of weeks.  Surprise snow has kept us mostly off piste and has provided some epic days for our guests from Banff.  We had 50cm’s on the 12th and another sneaky 50cm’s a few days ago even though there was only a few cm’s at the chalet.  Runs down to Verwall and Langen from Stuben have been as good as they get and we even skied a new run for me from Zurs to Stuben which was also memorable.  The Banff crew has been thrilled by the variety of terrain and the quality of snow and have stamped their approval enthusiastically.  Their spirit has certainly showed this during apres ski!

Maaike has made some great meals in such as cheese fondue and Spaghetti Bolognese.  It has been quiet and cozy and comfortable after some the storm of apres!

Easter week is still available so please inquire if you’d like to come experience the Arlberg.!

Kind regards,

R&M

Breakfast table set for Christmas morning.

Gail, Jack and Maaike ready to ski powder down to Verwall from the top of Maroi.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Chalet Rafalt!  It has been a great holiday season in St. Anton with friends and families celebrating from all around the world.  Christmas day was a warm and beautiful day and gave the chance to thaw out after a very cold few weeks to start December.  The slopes were filled with skiers dressed as Santa Claus and wearing elf hats which added to the spirit.

December 28th brought a late Christmas gift of 39cm’s overnight which put skiers back into deep powder off piste.

There were all sorts of parties for the new year and new year’s day.  We were in Petteneu with our guests on the 31st and had a fantastic night filled with a great fondue, music and dancing.  It was a different perspective to watch the midnight fireworks as we looked back up the valley towards St Anton at the thousands of colourful explosions lighting up the night.  On New Year’s day we joined our guests at the Hospiz for a truly rocking party with a very talented band from Vienna who has preformed there on the 1st for the last 15 years.  They had the crowed dancing on the benches and bottles of champagne and red wine littered the tables as people started their 2013 off with a bang!  It is quite the spectacle to see the Hospiz doing its best impression of Apres ski at the Krazy Kanguruh and made for a memorable afternoon!

All the best for 2013!  We hope for snow and happiness for all of you and hope to see you this season!

Kind regards,

R&M