Ischgl or St Anton: two loud weeks, one much steeper mountain
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Ischgl and St Anton are the two big Tyrolean names people weigh when they want a week of serious skiing and a loud evening after it. Of every resort we cover, our matching puts Ischgl closest to St Anton. The villages sit at nearly the same height, the tops nearly match, and we measure nearly the same amount of piste around each.
So on paper this looks like a coin toss. It is not, because the mountains are built for different skiers. One is a high, red run cruise. The other is one of the steepest resorts we cover, with more marked off piste than any of them. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Ischgl | St. Anton |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,377 m | 1,304 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,868 m | 2,799 m |
| Linked ski area | Silvretta Arena, linked by lift to Samnaun in Switzerland | The Arlberg, shared with Lech and Zürs |
| Piste we measure around the village | 152 km | 155 km |
| Blue and easier | 43 km, 28% of the piste | 66 km, 42% of the piste |
| Black | 27 km | 24 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 10.6 km | 70 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 34% | 43% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 30% | 24% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 90% | 71% |
| Season | Late November to May | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Innsbruck or Zurich | Innsbruck or Zurich |
Neither ski area total is classified in our data, so the piste row is our own measurement around each village, and on that they are level. Three rows decide it instead: the steep share, the itinerary and the share of piste above 1,800 metres.
Altitude: level at the door and the top, not in between
Ischgl's village is 73 metres higher than St Anton's, and its skiing tops out 69 metres higher, at 2,868 metres by our measure against 2,799. Look only at those two and you would call the altitude a draw.
The piste in between tells a different story. Half of Ischgl's piste sits above 2,363 metres. Half of St Anton's sits above 1,984, which is 379 metres lower. Above 2,200 metres, it is 67 percent of the piste at Ischgl and 20 percent at St Anton. Ischgl's skiing is spread across a high plateau. St Anton's runs further down towards the valley.
Both are snow sure on our measure. At Ischgl, 90 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,868 metres, the second biggest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. At St Anton it is 71 percent, up to 2,799. Nobody can promise snow, but Ischgl has more of its skiing well clear of the line, and a season that runs from late November to May against St Anton's December to April.
The skiing: St Anton is steeper, grade by grade
Both resorts grade the Austrian way, but measured steepness says more than the labels, and on it St Anton is the harder mountain. Forty three percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the joint second biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against 34 percent at Ischgl and 26 at a typical resort.
43 km blue and easier 28%83 km red 54%27 km black 18%
66 km blue and easier 42%65 km red 42%24 km black 15%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Ischgl 11 km, St. Anton 70 km.
The gradients say the same. They are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. St Anton's reds average 25.8 percent, the sixth steepest of the 55 we cover, against an Austrian average of 23.4. Ischgl's average 20.7, the second gentlest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, and they make up 54 percent of its piste. St Anton's blacks average 34.1 against 29.9, and its blues 17.5 against 15.8.
Ischgl does have a little more black, 27 kilometres against 24, both well above the 14.1 at a typical resort we cover. But kilometre for kilometre, St Anton's is the steeper.
Off piste: not a contest
St Anton has 70 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the most of the 55 resorts we cover. These are marked routes, not groomed, and on a powder day they are a large part of why people book St Anton. Ischgl has 10.6 kilometres, which is respectable, and a long way behind.
The Arlberg lifts also take you over to Lech and Zürs. Our figures for the three villages overlap, so we do not add them together, but a strong skier will not run out in a week.
If the off piste is why you are going, this is the whole answer, and it is St Anton.
Who each one actually suits
Ischgl suits groups of friends and couples who ski red with confidence and want big, easy mileage by day and a big night after. The village is compact, most beds within a short walk of the two main gondolas, and the après spills from the foot of the slopes into bars and clubs, with open air concerts to start and end the season. The cross border run to Samnaun, for lunch and duty free shopping, is a day out in itself. Beginners start in the gentle terrain around Idalp, where the ski school is.
St Anton suits strong skiers first, and groups where the strong skiers set the agenda. The steep reds, the blacks and the itinerary are the point, and the heritage is real: this is where Hannes Schneider taught the Arlberg technique. The evenings are as loud as Ischgl's, and famous for the bars on the piste above the village, with a ski home afterwards. The railway station is in the village, which makes the journey easy. Families should look at Nasserein or St Jakob, which are calmer, and the learning areas at Nasserein and Rendl.
The bit nobody tells you
St Anton's name is all steep and off piste, and Ischgl sells itself to every level. So it may surprise you that St Anton has more easy running: 66 kilometres of blue and easier against 43, a gap of 23, and 42 percent of its piste against 28.
The catch is that St Anton's blues are steeper, averaging 17.5 percent, against 15.8 at Ischgl and an Austrian average of 16.4. So an improver at St Anton has more blue to explore, and it feels more like work. An improver at Ischgl has less of it, but it is kinder, and the next step up is a red that averages gentler than at all but one of the Austrian resorts we cover. For most groups with a nervous skier in them, that makes Ischgl the easier week.
So, which one
your group skis blue and red rather than black, you want more of the skiing high up and a season that runs from late November into May, and you want the big nights and a day across the border in Switzerland.
your group is strong, the off piste is the reason for the trip, and you want steep reds and blacks every day, with Lech and Zürs on the same lifts and the bars on the piste at the end of it.
It keeps St Anton's size and evenings, puts more of the skiing above 1,800 metres, and asks less of the less confident. St Anton is the right answer for a strong group who want the off piste, and for them it is hard to beat.