The Arlberg had its first snow today which means that the mountains are slowly making the change towards winter. With 8 weeks already booked at the chalet we are very excited for the upcoming season. Please contact us for availabilty and book your trip soon!
kapall
Here's to you!
Thank you for your business over the course of the 2011-12 winter. Maaike and I feel fortunate to have had very kind and interesting guests throughout the winter. We also appreciate all the visits from friends and family which also made it a special season at Chalet Rafalt. Mother nature could not have contributed more delivering lots of powder skiing to our guests (and us!) right through until the final day with close to 20 metres of snowfall over 20 weeks! We are already looking forward to next winter and hope to see you back in the chalet. For a compilation of some of this year’s photos please visit this link on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.344279368969294.83237.100109816719585&type=1
Coming down to Alpe Raus.
It has been a glorious spring in St. Anton. Consistent snowfalls and great weather has made for great skiing all over the Arlberg. The most recent snowfall brings our year to date close to 19 metres and has had late season skiers sporting big smiles! The great weather has also made for great outdoor apres skis with table dancing at the kanguruh, an outdoor band at S’Griabli and the usual madness that only Mosserwirt can provide. We have our final guests of the season in house and are thankful for the fantastic variety of friendly guests who have chosen to stay at Chalet Rafalt over the winter.
S'Griabli with a great live band making sweet music in the mountains.
This was April 10th - still skiing powder snow!
The Galzig mountain is the centre of the St. Anton lift system. The first cable car to the top was built in 1937 allowing skiers to access 360 degree’s of 600m runs down the mountain. Since then it has been rebuilt a few times, most recently in 2006 when the lift company invested 21 million euros to make a ferris wheel themed lift that carry’s twenty eight 24 person cabins. Three other chairs and one t bar bring skiers back up all sides to the summit. The amount of skiing that Galzig provides is really incredible as there is really no front and back side as most mountains but more of a dome shape. You can ski down the south side runs called “Maienwassen” “Maienplatt” and runs to St Christoph, off the north side which is know as “Bachside”, off the east side which has treed runs down “Black Osthang” and “Swissen” and finally down the west side towards the Arlenmaderbahn. Here are a few pics of Galzig I have taken in the last couple of season to show its credentials off!
Galzig as seen from Kapall. You can see Bachside, Kandahar and Swissen.
Galzig as seen from Rendl. You can see Maienplatt, Maienwassen and Jungbrunntobel from left to right.
More south side options coming down to St Christoph.
As seen from the Arlenmader lift.
As seen from Schindler kar.
Back in January we were lucky to host Sherpa’s Cinema producer and photographer Malcolm Sangster. Malcolm arrived with his beautiful bride to be, Jenny Kirkpatrick, and we had fun showing them the hot spots in St Anton. Malcolm is riding the wave of success that he, Eric Crosland, and Dave Mossop have created with their newest feature length film ALL. I .CAN. The accolades their had work has earned include best film at the Banff Mountain Flim Festival, Best Flim X-Dance Festival, Best Film the ISF Awards and most recently Best Film Powder Magazine Awards. Needless to say, after knowing these boys since the beginning we are very, very proud friends. Thank you Malcolm for sharing these shots!
Just the beginning of the future!
DJ Gerhardt making the dance floor go off!
St Jakob, very near our chalet.
This week has provided lots of great skiing all over the Arlberg. On Saturday we had our last day skiing with my father’s friends and we finished on a high note. Stuben to Langen was in great shape and the boys were loving it! The sun was out today and we started with a tour to Kreuzjoch and skied 1600m down to Petteneu. In the afternoon we summited Kanodel Kopf and Paichel Kopf which offered more soft powder turns. Here are a couple of pictures!
Bloom, Ruby, Smitty, Span, and Maaike coming down to Langen.
Kreuzjoch with Martin - Denmark's upcoming freerider.
Al Volk coming down the North Face of Paichel Kopf
We are in the midst of another classic week in St. Anton. 20cm on Tuesday and another 20 on Thursday has put us back into powder skiing mode. My dad is currently visiting with some friends and they are showing us how to enjoy life both night and day! We spent last night dancing on the bar at the Piccadilly to Andi Josesph’s incredible guitar work and got started early today on all the fresh snow. It was knee deep in Stuben under blue skies and the smiles were on our faces all day long. Unfortunately I did not bring my camera today but here are a few shots from yesterday’s trip around the white circle.
Bloom making his way around the white circle.
Montana's in Oberlech. This is Patrick Ortlieb's family hotel and restaurant. His 1992 gold downhill medal is on the lobby!
Just another average lunch in Oberlech.
With a 5 metre base a lot of chair lifts have needed to be dug out!
Lech's newest lift: A combined 8 person chair and 8 person gondola. Why? Why not?
The blue skies are back and there is still lots of snow from the most recent snow cycle. Today we worked our way around the lift system and did a couple of small hikes and found ourselves skiing down perfectly prepared pistes, on the top of 5 summits, and enjoying lots of untracked snow. The scenery here on a day like today is breathtaking for any mountain lover. Being able to use this massive lift system and accompany it with a bit of old fashioned hard work allows for endless possibilities and plenty of days to enjoy great snow. Our route today lead us from the top of Galizig down to Stuben where we made a small hike to the top of Kanodel Kopf. From there we traversed around the shoulder of Paiche Kopf and skied down past a group of Chamois to St. Christoph. From St Christoph we made our way back to Stuben and then did a small hike to the top of Maroi Kopf. Finally we made our last big run 1400m down to the Ferwall valley. A picture perfect day in the Arlberg!
Martin and Christian at the top of Kanodel Kopf.
A group of 30 chamois was in the same neck of the woods. (Too bad its out of focus!)
Maaike and Martin making their way across the traverse before skiing down to St. Christoph. You can see our second run down from the top of Maroi to Ferwall in the distance.
Enjoying the vista!
Maaike on the top 1/4 of our first off piste run.
Looking across the valley at the second 3/4 of our first off piste run.
Top of Maroi
Martin making his way down to Ferwall.
Looking back up to Maroi (lookers right) from the Ferwall valley. What a run! What a day! Come visit the chalet!!!
February 15 and 16th brought another big storm cycle to the Arlberg dropping 50cm’s on Galizg and 70cm in Stuben. It brought the base back up to a whopping 581cm at mid mountain and provided fabulous skiing for our guests. We enjoyed untracked snow down the south side of Galzig and the front and backsides of Rendl. Lots of big smiles and hooting and hollering filled our days! On the 17th we skied our guests down the north face of Stuben to lunch on the patio at the Post Hotel. The walk to the Post was incredible. I had been off skis for a month and to see how much snow is currently blanketing Stuben is mind boggling. There are 5-8 metre snow banks and some houses have 3 metres on the roofs!! We were sad to see great guests from Canada leave today but are looking back with great memories of good skiing and lots of laughs throughout the week. We have welcomed two families from Holland today who are from Apeldorn, close to where Maaike grew up, and look forward to getting to know them better.
We have weeks available in March and are offering great deals as the weeks are approaching. The snow is fantastic and quite incredible to witness firsthand so please get in touch to make a booking.
St Christoph in the evening as the latest storm cycle buried another parking lot.
Mien Vasser delivering yet another untracked bottomless day!
Desmond enjoying the new snow and some sun at Rendl.
All smiles coming out of Hinter Rendl after a long day of powder skiing.
Walking to lunch at the Post in Stuben and marvelling at the snowbanks!
It has been a sensational week in St. Anton with continued snowfall, incredible skiing, apres ski and trips to the Rodel Alm and Hospiz. We had the pleasure of hosting old friends from Canada as guests who thoroughly enjoyed the variety of options available for memorable days and nights in St Anton. Unfortunately I am hung up with a broken leg, but from what I understand the skiing has continued on the incredible run that started in early December. This kind of skiing makes for a great ambiance and energy in the village and leads to very fun nights at the Krazy Kanguruh and beyond.
Maybe the best night of this week was a trip to the Rodel Alm which is a fabulous restaurant located a few hundred metres above Nasserien. It is only accessible by walking or tobogganing and offers typical Austrian cuisine including the Shweine haxe which is pictured below. The atmosphere is provided by wood finishing, cozy fire places and live Tirolean music. After filling your belly with lots of food and a few schnapps the night finishes with a 2.5km Toboggan or “Rodel” race down a luge like track. Plunging down towards the valley with great company and constant laughter is a great experience.
We welcome our first guests from Portugal this afternoon and are looking forward to it. We still have availability in March for anyone who wants to make memories here in the Alrberg!!
Albona 1
Andrew making the most out of his Shweine haxe!
All smiles!
All safe after the Rodel down!
After another great run from Maroi to the Ferwall valley.