Best Of Winter 16/17 – St Anton
It’s been an absolutely amazing season here in St. Anton. We’ve had so much fun and would like to thank everyone who has joined us to ski, board or play! As the season wraps up and we reach our final weeks, we thought we’d look over some of the best moments of the Esprit St. Anton winter 2016/17 season.
Starting off in early December, we had the legendary Krampus festival, which really is a unique Austrian experience and one not to miss! Local residents transform themselves into super scary creatures with amazing costumes and prowl the streets before joining together for an evening parade through the streets. The parade is amazing, with lots of flames and sparkle and a fantastic atmosphere, as these creatures try their best to scare the crowds. It all ends up with a massive display outside the Wellness Centre, where the Krampus make their way to a big stage with music and dancing and a backdrop of fantastic pyrotechnics. If you haven’t experienced this before, we would highly recommend it!
Moving on from Krampus to Christmas, Christmas with Esprit really is a magical experience and this year was no different. We had happy, smiling faces all around and we absolutely loved getting into the Christmas spirit with all of our guests. This year we wrote letters to Santa, decorated the Christmas tree, made Christmassy treats and even had a few visits from the big man himself! On Christmas eve we made magical reindeer food and left a trail for Santa so that he could find us. We had a Christmas sing-a-long and read ‘Twas the night before Christmas, with hot chocolate to prepare us for an amazing white Christmas day! Guests opened presents, went skiing and had a delicious Christmas dinner. Christmas in the mountains really is incredible, and unlike any other Christmas experience. After all, what’s better than a traditional gluhwein or a hot chocolate at an Austrian mountain restaurant with amazing views of the Alps all around?! We’d love for you to join us next year to experience it all for yourselves. Check out our Christmas deals here!
Bringing us into 2017, St. Anton had a party in the streets, ending with an absolutely amazing fireworks display that lit up the mountains for what seemed like hours! 2017 so far has been a great year out here, and the season isn’t even over yet!
We’ve also had some really great additions to the ski area this year, and the new Flexenbahn lift is definitely up there with the best parts of the season. Linking the areas of Stuben and Zurs, this new gondola (and the three additional gondolas connected with it) mean that it is now possible to ski all the way from St. Anton over to Lech, Shrocken and Warth. These areas are really lovely, well groomed, have great snow and some fabulous restaurants and cafes for when you’re in need of a pit stop! The opening of the Flexenbahn also lead to creation of the Run of Fame, a 65km route that takes in all these areas and provides a really great challenge for a day of your holiday!
Back in St. Anton, we can’t discuss the best of the season without mentioning the weekly ski show. Complete with fireworks, freestyle displays, synchronised skiing and even a lesson on the history of skiing, this really is a great experience and has consistently provided guests with a fantastic evening of entertainment.
From the 8-10th of April, we hosted the ‘New Orleans Meets Snow’ jazz festival here in St. Anton. It brought a taste of the American south to our lovely alpine town! Musicians performed at various spots up in the mountains, as well as down in the town. A marching band performed through the streets – it was amazing, as the streets were lined with loads of people enjoying the music!
There was also New Orleans cuisine on offer, which was delicious. The highlight, however, was Saturday’s ‘blues night’ which had a great atmosphere.
We’ve had the most amazing season out here in St. Anton and we absolutely cannot wait to see what 2017/18 have to offer. We’re sure it will be just as incredible, so come and join us and experience it all for yourself!
