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St.Anton Ski Schools & Learning to Ski

There are, in theory, two main ski schools in St.Anton, however in practice there is only really one. We have the Arlberg Ski School (blue uniform) and the St.Anton Ski School (red uniform) and until three seasons ago they were totally separate, now they are one and the same with very little between their prices.   There are also some smaller operations and independant guides that offer a more personal service tuned to individual needs and these I have detailed at the bottom of this page.

With regard to using the ski school and learning to ski there are a few things that you should get clear:

Firstly, you CAN NOT teach yourself to ski (correctly) If you want to ski well and always keep improving you should always have lessons. Even when you are a very competent skier it still pays to have lessons to avoid picking up bad habits. Secondly, people come skiing for two main reasons - mostly for a great holiday, great partying and a fun time. Some people come not to party all week, but to actually learn to ski very well. Nothing wrong with either category – you just have to decide which one you are - I started off as the former and then changed to the latter. The problem is if you fall into the latter category you cannot really do too much of the former !

So having got that off my chest I will give those who are in the latter category a few tips to use when booking up lessons. If you can afford it I would always have one to one lessons or a group lesson with just two or three people of the same standard. You will learn quicker and the cost will not be much more than group lessons in the long run.

Most people do not realise it but there are three different levels of ski instructor (see below in off piste skiing) with the majority being at the lower qualification level. So it is a good idea when booking your instructor, (whether it is for a group of you or for one to one tuition) to request an instructor with one of the higher two qualifications (they all cost the same!) Another important factor is also to make sure that they speak very good English.

Once you have your instructor and are out on the piste, make sure that they are actually taking the time to teach you and show you the techniques - I see so many long queues of guests snaking around the mountain way behind the instructor - this is not instruction, it is just following somebody..

  St.Anton Ski School 0043 5446 3563


Arlberg Ski School    0043 5446 3411

Skiing Ski Off Piste

If you are a good skier and want to be taken off piste or go touring - legally the only instructor allowed to do this is one who has qualified at the highest level and achieved the Austrian Ski Diploma. The three levels are:

Anwarter - 1st Level

Landeslehrer - 2nd Level

Staatlicher - 3rd Level and gives the holder the Austrian Ski Diploma qualification

You can therefore only legally be taken off piste by a Staatlicher who has qualified as a Schilehrer (instructor) / Schifuhrer (ski guide) / Bergfuhrer (mountain guide). This is important for reasons of safety and insurance.

In St.Anton you will also find four smaller companies that specialise in taking guests skiing:

St.Anton Classic Ski School is a new organisation and is made up of all local instructors who have attained the highest qualification - the "Staatlicher" level, they all speak very good English and I highly reccommend them. For their website click here.

Piste to Powder as you can gather from the name specialises in off piste skiing and will take guests of a good skiing standard off piste.  This is a company with a well deserved high reputation. You can as an individual join a group of a similar level.

Arlberg Guides is another company that does pretty much the same thing as Piste to Powder but will take you heliskiing around Lech if you so desire. You can again as an individual join a group.

Alpine Faszination is a Ski School based in Flirsch (very close to St.Anton) and they will arrange a meeting point or collect you from where you are staying. They offer both instruction on piste as well off piste guiding and touring.  

St.Anton Classic  0043 660 151 6043e

Piste to Powder  0043 664 1746 282

Arlberg Guides   0043 664 2335 010

 Alpine Faszination  0043 676 6302 136

There are also a number of independent ski guides / instructors in St.Anton, most of these hold the second or third level qualification so you can be assured of a good quality of instruction. Those with the  Staatlicher qualification can also take you off piste - previously this was not allowed but during the summer of 2010 the law has changed and there is now a very sensible law in place that allows this.  They will take individuals or groups and will cost less than the ski schools. My own personal recommendation when looking for an independent instructor is Georg Scherfler and he can be contacted here: georg-scherfler@st-anton.at   If you are looking to arrange tuition / guiding with Georg I would suggest that you contact him well in advance as he is in great demand! You may also like to view his website:

www.learn2ski.eu