St. Anton am Arlberg

Tucked between the entrance to the Arlberg Tunnel and the railway, St. Anton swarms with visitors at the height of the season. The wealthy, the prominent, including, occasionally, the royal, appear regularly—some even to enjoy the winter sports. Their presence boosts prices into the very-expensive-to-outrageous category, but if you shop around you can find accommodations outside the center of the action at a bearable price. St. Anton is a particularly lovely town in summer—which has also become a fashionable season.

Thanks to an amazing system of cable cars, double chairlift, and interconnected T-bars, St. Anton can access skiers to the Arlberg's region's enormous 300-odd km (200-odd mi) of marked runs. If you decide to take to the slopes, remember that skiing remains serious business in St. Anton: many slopes are so steep you'll be sharing them with mountain climbers.

The Original Ski Instructor

Modern ski techniques were first developed in the Vorarlberg by local Hannes Schneider (1890-1955), who as a young man was supposed to follow in his father's footsteps as a cheese maker. Instead, he founded the first ski school in St. Anton in 1921. This "Arlberg School" method, developed by Schneider in the '20s and '30s, laid down the basic principles since followed by skiing courses the world over.