Ski Arlberg Guide: Villages, Pass and Season

By Best:in Editorial Team · Updated September 2026

As of September 2026, Ski Arlberg is Austria's largest linked ski area: 300 km of groomed piste, more than 200 km of marked deep-snow routes and 85 lifts, spanning Vorarlberg and Tyrol between 1,269 m and 2,811 m. The 2026/27 winter runs from 2 December 2026 to 18 April 2027. Bookings cluster around four bases, ranked below on terrain, altitude and access.

What exactly is Ski Arlberg, and which villages does it cover?

Ski Arlberg is one lift pass covering one ski area in the Arlberg massif, split across two federal states: Vorarlberg in the west and Tyrol in the east. The lift company counts 300 km of groomed piste, more than 200 km of marked deep-snow descents and 85 cable cars and lifts. Base elevation is 1,269 m, the top station on the Valluga reaches 2,811 m, giving a working vertical of roughly 1,540 m.

The Tyrolean side groups St. Anton am Arlberg, St. Christoph and Stuben. The Vorarlberg side covers Lech, Oberlech, Zug, Zürs, Warth and Schröcken. Lech, Oberlech, Zürs and Zug have been lift-linked into the wider area since the 2013/14 winter. Klösterle-Sonnenkopf sits on the same pass but is reached by road, not by ski lift.

How much does a Ski Arlberg pass cost and when does the 2026/27 season run?

Lifts turn from 2 December 2026 to 18 April 2027 in Lech, Zürs, St. Anton, St. Christoph and Stuben, with limited operation possible at both ends. Warth-Schröcken opens on 4 December 2026 and Klösterle-Sonnenkopf on 11 December 2026; both close on 11 April 2027, a week before the core area. Season tickets go on sale in the Ski Arlberg webshop on 27 November 2026, with an early-bird rate.

Tariff tables for 2026/27 were still marked provisional in August 2026, and the operator reserves the right to re-calculate before purchase, so check the official page rather than a cached figure. Two costs are already fixed: the chip card carries a EUR 5 deposit, and the optional Arlberg Safety Card, which covers helicopter recovery costs, is EUR 20 for stays up to eight days and EUR 35 for nine days or more.

How do you pick the right Arlberg base for your group?

  1. Start with the vertical you actually want

    St. Anton sits at 1,304 m with lifts to 2,811 m, a 1,507 m drop, and that gives the longest sustained descents on the pass. If your group tops out on long reds, the shorter, gentler pitches above Lech (village 1,450 m, Oberlech 1,750 m) or the 66 km of piste in Warth-Schröcken will feel better paced than the Valluga side.

  2. Check the calendar against the sector you booked

    Warth-Schröcken and Klösterle-Sonnenkopf close on 11 April 2027, while the core villages run to 18 April 2027. A late-season booking in Warth loses the last week of lift service in your own valley, even though the pass still works in St. Anton.

  3. Decide how much you rely on the links

    Stuben is the smallest base and leans on lift connections to St. Anton, St. Christoph and, since the 2016/17 winter, a gondola link towards Lech and Zürs. On a wind-hold day those links can shut, so a small base means a small day.

  4. Match the nursery terrain to your youngest skier

    Warth-Schröcken runs Pauli's Kinderland and the Salober Kinderländer practice areas with magic carpets and tow ropes, plus the Salober-Schröcken ski school. Beginner ground in Warth village is limited and low, so families skiing every day should check which nursery lifts are within walking distance of the accommodation.

  5. Work backwards from the travel leg

    St. Anton has its own railway station on the Arlberg line. Warth and Schröcken have no station: the usual route is rail to St. Anton, then bus or taxi, or road access on the B198 and B200. Lech and Zürs are reached from the west via Bregenz and the Klostertal, from the east via Innsbruck and the Stanzertal.

What is the Run of Fame and can you ski it in one day?

The Run of Fame is the signposted circuit that stitches the area together. It measures 85 km with 18,000 vertical metres of descent and crosses three passes: the Arlberg, the Flexen and the Hochtannberg. The route links St. Anton and Rendl, Stuben, Zürs, Lech, Schröcken and Warth, which means it touches every lift-linked base on the pass.

Doing the full out-and-back in one day is a long project on a season that opens at 08:30 to 09:00 depending on the lift. Most skiers take the one-way leg and return by bus, or split it across two days. Plan around the 11 April 2027 closing date in Warth-Schröcken: after that, the western end of the circuit is no longer served by lifts.

What do first-time Arlberg visitors get wrong?

Three errors repeat. First, treating the 200 km of deep-snow routes as piste: those descents are marked but not groomed and not patrolled like a piste, which is exactly why the Arlberg Safety Card exists at EUR 20 or EUR 35. Second, assuming the whole 300 km is always open. Ski Arlberg's own terms state that if Lech, Oberlech, Zürs or Warth-Schröcken are restricted, tickets are issued in St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben and at Sonnenkopf with limited validity.

Third, arriving without checking pass overlaps. Holders of the 3TälerPass and of a Warth-Schröcken season ticket get reductions on Ski Arlberg day passes, and multi-day 3-Valleys Pass holders qualify for switching day tickets. If you already hold one of those, buying a full-price day pass at the window is money wasted.

What are the alternatives if the Arlberg does not fit?

Two comparisons come up most often. Ski amadé in Salzburg and Styria sells more total piste kilometres but spreads them across five separate regions that are not fully lift-linked, so the 300 km here behave differently from a multi-region total. Ischgl, an hour east of St. Anton, offers a single high-altitude area with a similar advanced profile but a different base altitude.

Within the Arlberg itself, the cheapest way to sample the area is a short pass from a satellite base. Warth-Schröcken sells its own 1 to 2.5 day ticket, and the 3-Valley pass covering Bregenzerwald, Großes Walsertal and Lechtal runs from 2.5 to 21 days. Klösterle-Sonnenkopf, included on the main pass, is the quiet option for beginners in the 11 December 2026 to 11 April 2027 window.

Which options rank highest?

1.

St. Anton am Arlberg

The Tyrolean anchor of the pass and the base with the most vertical: village at 1,304 m, lifts to 2,811 m on the Valluga, a 1,507 m drop. Lifts here run 2 December 2026 to 18 April 2027, the longest window on the Arlberg, and the village has its own station on the Arlberg railway. Arlberger Bergbahnen AG operates the lifts and sells the Arlberg Safety Card at EUR 20 for up to eight days.

Best for: Advanced skiers and rail arrivals

Official website See full facts
2.

Lech Zürs am Arlberg

The Vorarlberg half of the linked area, with Lech at 1,450 m and Oberlech at 1,750 m, so the base altitude is roughly 150 to 450 m higher than St. Anton. Lech, Oberlech, Zürs and Zug have been lift-linked into the wider area since the 2013/14 winter. Guests first took ski lessons here in 1906. Season runs 2 December 2026 to 18 April 2027, and road access comes from Bregenz in the west or Innsbruck in the east.

Best for: Higher base altitude and intermediates

Official website See full facts
3.

Warth-Schröcken

The northern sector, with villages between 1,300 m and 1,500 m and 66 km of local piste inside the 300 km pass. North and east aspects hold snow late, but the lifts still stop on 11 April 2027, a week before the core villages. Family infrastructure is the strongest argument: Pauli's Kinderland, the Salober Kinderländer and the Salober-Schröcken ski school. There is no railway station, so plan on rail to St. Anton plus a bus.

Best for: Families and quieter slopes

Official website See full facts
4.

Stuben am Arlberg

The smallest base on the pass, sitting in the Klostertal below the Albona. It holds the same 2 December 2026 to 18 April 2027 season as St. Anton and feeds straight into the 300 km network, with lift links to St. Anton and St. Christoph and a gondola connection towards Lech and Zürs opened for the 2016/17 winter. Local skiing is north-facing and off-piste heavy, and the ski touring history here dates to a 1904 ascent of the Kaltenberg.

Best for: Freeriders and small-village stays

Official website See full facts

How is this ranking computed?

  • Terrain range and vertical: 30%
  • Altitude and snow reliability: 25%
  • Lift connectivity to the rest of the area: 20%
  • Beginner and family terrain: 15%
  • Travel access: 10%

Entity references

Full factual profiles for each entity on this page:

Official sources

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