The ski hill has been open for a month now, and what a month it has been!  An estimated 1000cm’s of snowfall, a 5 metre plus base at mid mountain, incredible powder skiing and a perfect holiday season for many visitors from all over the world.  Here at the chalet we are doing our best to keep our guests ready to ski with a great breakfasts in the morning and cozy and warm at night as the snow piles up to the windows.  Our guests are loving the winter atmosphere and we have been lucky to get them in and out on time as the road opens and closes due to all the large snowfalls.

It is already apparent that the 2011/12 winter will be a memorable one as even locals are in amazement with the turn from summer to such a big winter in so few weeks.  St. Anton seems to be proving its reputation as an epic destination for skiing this winter and we still have some availability so please come join us and play in all this white stuff!!

What is left of the view out the windows in the back of the Chalet!

The streets have been so covered you can just ski down to the lift!

Snow removal has been a constant job

Maaike's typical tyrolien apres ski snack!

Happy new year!  St. Anton closed out 2011 with another large snowfall that has brought the base over three metres!  That in combination with the new year made quite the atmosphere for a great party on the 31st!  The traditional fireworks soared through the air and light up the night as the clock struck midnight.  January first is also a great day in St. Anton for a party and many revellers had a great afternoon celebrating the beginning of 2012.

The special season is carrying on with more than a metre forecast in the next four days.  Our wishes are certainly for this pattern to continue, and for everyone to have a prosperous 2012!

301 cm base and an estimated 500-600cm since Dec 5th. Wow!!

December 31st

It has been a great Christmas week in the chalet with families Gower, Ferguson and Adams. Very cozy times with a nicely decorated tree, lots of presents, great food and the continuation of fabulous skiing.  The sun has shown itself for a change and we have enjoyed taking in the scenery of the gorgeous and awfully white peaks that surround us.  Santa certainly has lots of happy children (like me!) in these parts after delivering steady snow since the 5th.  The base at Galzig reached 276cm and has now settled at 252cm after a couple of sunny days. More snow is forecast starting Thursday so it is looking like we will bring in 2012 with a bang!  All the best for a Merry Christmas and happy new year from us here at Chalet Rafalt!

Breakfast with Santa soft boiled eggs!

Galzig looking very filled in for the 26th of December!

This guy told me he had parked in Stuben on the 14th. Time to dig out!!

Since the last update the snow has continued on and off but mostly on.  The base at the top of Galzig was at 255cm when we came down today and the snow is piling up in the valley as well.  It has been a gorgeous week with St. Anton looking much like the inside of a snow globe.  There has been a lot of snow shovelling going on!  The skiing continues to be fantastic and our Christmas guests have been having some of the best powder skiing of their  lives.  Our fingers are crossed that this will be a theme for the season!!  All pistes and transport routes are in fine shape so the skiing is looking great for weeks and months ahead for skiers of all ability levels.

We have three weeks available in March so book your trip soon and get in on this incredible winter!!

Shovelling out the balcony which has been filled over the last 2 weeks.

The back garden of the Chalet. Hard to believe it was grass just over two weeks ago!

A car that has been parked for a few days in Stuben.

We are in the midst of a classic St. Anton snowfall.  As the locals explain it to me this is caused when a warm moist flow of air originating over Iceland gains moisture over Scotland and Ireland and then collides with a cool mass of air originating in Russia.  This creates a stable low pressure system in the Arlberg and massive amounts of dry power snow.  This is the weather pattern that makes St. Anton a major snow centre in the Alps.  Our fingers are crossed that it will determine our weather for the season like other big winters in the past!!

It is hard to say how much snow has fallen in the last 48 hrs but I can say the following:  The base has gone from 107cm to 196cm, I have measured 86cm in our car park, and bottomless is understating how deep the skiing is.  This storm is leaving a great base behind and we are grateful for this incredible turn around over the last 11 days.  Here are a few photos from the last couple of days.

12 hr count from 8-8 on the 17th of December in the car park!

Le dip

Still snowing!!

It is hard to believe that 10 short days ago the mountains were green and I was wondering if winter would come to the Alps this year.  It has been an incredible turn around over this period and safe to say St. Anton is certainly recovering from the warmest November on record.  There has been snow almost every night and powder to be skied every day since opening!  Today was fantastic skiing as mother nature added 15-20cm in the morning to a bit of snow overnight and provided a clearing at mid day for great visibility.  The base is currently at 125cm of settled snow at mid mountain and is drifting to 2m deep in some places.

It is looking like things are going to continue to improve with the snow picking back up in the late afternoon and lots forecast for the upcoming days!

We look forward to the winter ahead and to the guests that have their trip booked at the chalet.  We have the final three weeks in March available so please come and experience St. Anton!

December 4th, 2011

December 7th, 2011

December 10th, 2011

December 14, 2011

Maaike and I returned to St. Anton on November 24th.  We arrived to green grass and the warmest weather Austria had experienced in 50 years.  We made great use of our time painting the chalet, cleaning it from top to bottom and putting new linen on the beds.  It is looking great!  In our spare time we did a couple of walks up the Rodel Track and down past the Krazy Kanguruh through the meadows.

The good news is that it started snowing on Dec 5th and has not stopped.  Last night was particularly heavy with 70cm piling up in the alpine and 40 in the back yard.  Galzig weather plot has gone from a modest 15cm to 120cm since the beginning of the storm.  The meadows we walked down are a distant memory and the skiing will get started tomorrow!  The following is a series of photos shot by our Finnish friend Oula showing the transformation to the winter resort recreational skiers know and love.  There is one bonus pic of a couple turns had today.

With our first group from Denmark arriving on Friday the timing couldn’t be better!

We have availability from Dec 11-17 so if you are within the neighbourhood feel free to contact us as we would love to host you!

Coming down the Icefall part of the men's down hill.

St. Anton had its first major snowfall this weekend it it was a biggie.  Here is a great picture to get you excited for the upcoming winter!  The propensity for big snow falls in St. Anton never ceases to amaze  us.

Bookings for the winter are filling up and it is looking like a busy winter ahead!!  Please let us know if we can provide any assistance in organizing your trip.  We look forward to hosting you!

Kind Regards,

Ross and Maaike

Toasting you, our guests!!

Maaike and I wanted to say a heart felt thank you to all of our guests for helping make our first season at Chalet Rafalt a success.  All the groups we hosted were extremely kind that had different qualities that made them memorable to us.  We hope you enjoyed your stay as much as we enjoyed hosting you!

We are excited to announce that we will be returning next winter and would welcome the opportunity to host you again.  Please feel free to contact us if you have plans to visit St. Anton again next winter.

All the best for a nice summer and thank you again for your business.

Kind Regards,

Ross

The finish line

Racers collapsing after negotiating 1500m of vertical

The last weekend of skiing in St. Anton is always celebrated with a big race called the Wiesse Rausch.  This is a race unique to the area and involved over 550 competitors this year.  The men’s category had 383 alone.  The 9km race down 1500m of vertical begins at five o’clock pm sharp from the top of the mountain at Valluga.  The race is divided into two heats; first men less than 35 years of age, and second men older than 35, all women, telemarkers and snow boarders. 

It is quite the spectacle watching 383 people in the first heat start a race simultaneously onto a piste that has not been groomed which narrows quickly so there is not enough room for all the skiers.  There are big crashes every year with the lucky ones making it first to a 100m hike before dropping off the back of Schindler down more bumpy piste towards happy valley. 

The race continues down happy valley and leads the racers towards the final pitch where about 1000 spectators cheer on the madness.  To add insult to injury there is an obstacle course that the racers must pass through while carrying their skis to make it to the finish.  This years race was won yet again by Paul Scharwzacher in a time of 8:14.  It was his 7th title on skis.

Here is a link to some fottage of this year’s race.  If you can make it to watch it in person you’ll certainly gain a fuller appreciate of this awesome race. http://www.stantonamarlberg.com/de/winter/events/der-weisse-rausch-2011-das-video.html