Lech is the perfect resort for the true luxury ski holiday connoisseur. There’s the unrivalled winter sports history that oozes from every corner of the resort; the exceptional dining and luxury ski chalet options; an exceptional snow record and its location in Austria’s largest ski areas, making it an altogether truly unbeatable combination.
Austria is famous for its strict building regulations which have prevented the ugly concrete constructions that blight many of the great resorts of the Alps. In Lech, however, they’ve taken it up several notches and filled those traditional Tyrolean Alpine chalet-style buildings with great restaurants, designer boutiques, stylish hotels and of course superb designer chalets.
Lech and the Arlberg region were where downhill skiing really took off in the early years of the twentieth century. Although people had been enjoying the first winter mountain holidays in a few Swiss resorts like Davos, Grindelwald and St Moritz since the 1860s, they weren’t skiing downhill there, at least not in the modern sense. The Arlberg changed all that and drew wealthy British, Swiss and German sportsmen and women wanting to try the new sport in wonderful surroundings. The finest luxury chalets and hotels, gourmet restaurants and stylish boutiques sprung up to serve them, and over a century later, this winning concept remains unchanged.
If you’d like to know more about skiing in Austria visit the Austria Tourist board here.
Sitting at 1450 metres Lech is a wonderful snow-sure and an intermediates paradise with plenty of wide groomed cruisy pistes. It has always been one of Europe’s best with an unrivaled reputation for powder – the average snowfall totals here are double what they are at most ski areas in the French Alps for example.
The ski area has grown and grown, most recently with a 50 million euro connection, the Flexenbahn, between the formerly separate halves of the Arlberg region on the Lech/Zurs sides and on the St Anton/St Christoph side. The Arlberg can now claim to be the biggest ski area in Austria, with 305km of groomed runs, and another 200km of marked freeriding trails.
Although the Arlberg region as a whole has a justified reputation for some of the most challenging terrain on earth, Lech is a little less hardcore than St Anton for skiers and there are plenty of beautifully groomed, easy runs to enjoy. What’s more, the resort has invested in plenty of fast, comfortable lifts to get around the mountain between descents, adding to the pleasure. As an added bonus Lech ensures the number of skiers on the slopes each day is strictly limited, so they don’t get too crowded and there’s even a recommended route around the ski area to maximise your exposure to sunshine known as the White Ring. It’s all about enjoying yourself.
For first-timers and children, the car-free hamlet of Oberlech above the main village is where there are perfect nursery slopes and a wonderful children’s play area. The various ski schools offer first lessons from age 3½ to 4½ years.
