St Anton in February half term

[MinnieMountain]

DH is considering taking DS who will be 10 then and skis blue runs to St Anton next February half term. It appeals as he prefers to get the train and he’s had enough of the big French resorts.

Can anyone tell me if it will be crazy busy or simply manageably busy there please?

He’s asked on Snowheads and got told it will be ridiculously busy then (even though only France and Germany will be on school holidays), so I’m asking here for balance.
And yes, I am aware that France and Germany are big countries 😁.

[Havanananana]

Anywhere in Austria is going to be busy at UK half-term, which coincides with half-term in Scandinavia and much of Germany, which is where many of the guests will be travelling from.

Snowheads is a great source of info - if people there say it is going to be crazy busy, then pay attention to what they are telling you! There is also usually a thread on Snowheads with a table showing winter/half-term holiday dates for each season for the whole of Europe, so you can see which weeks are busiest.

Another issue is that while St Anton is great for intermediate and expert skiers, in my opinion it is not be the best resort for people who are interested in lots of blue runs. There are far better resorts in Austria for cruisy blues that are also less expensive (St Anton is very pricey) and that are also easily accessible by train. Zell am See, Fieberbrunn, Leogang all have train stations and can be easily reached from Salzburg (which can be reached by NightJet from Paris or Amsterdam, or by ICE trains from Paris). Saalbach is 20 mins. by bus from Zell am See station and opens up the whole Ski Circus. Kitzbuhel also has rail connections, but is as pricey as St Anton.

[NoKnit]

I absolutely love St Anton, my favourite resort in Austria (well maybe joint with ischgl) but it's not for the faint hearted skiers. You need to be good and fit to enjoy it. My kids are almost 10 and 7 and whilst the oldest has skied plenty of black runs I still don't think I'd take him to St Anton. How good a skier is your husband? Has he skied in St Anton much? I don't think a 10 year old who only skies blues will get much out of it.

[AnotherCountryMummy]

St Anton is an incredible resort, but its really bloody hard. It doesn't have many blues and the reds are equivalent to hard blacks in France. It's also very expensive, so I wouldn't recommend for intermediate skiers.

[ErmentrudeTheCow]

Everywhere busy at Feb half term but it's all quite doable.
But I agree with others I wouldn't take a child who wants to ski blues to St Anton

[tilestoclean]

We went this year and loved it but I will agree it's tough going. I'd say the blues in St Anton were more like reds in somewhere like Morzine.
If they don't mind the cold and only want blue runs then they should consider Scandinavia. Will be much quieter.

[MinnieMountain]

Thank you for the replies.
DH completely trusts Snowheads but sometimes one needs a second opinion.
He’s concluded like PP that it would be too hard for DS. He happily skis black runs himself.

[Dindundundundeeer]

Love love St Anton, but I'd leave it a couple of years if DS is not yet skiing reds. It is such a varied resort and I love that they let it mogul in places. We've had a great holiday there.

I'd go for an Italian resort in the dolomites. Not sure about the train there though.

Also if you want your son to ski well, make sure he has lessons. Skiing well on a piste is not being a great skier, it's just the beginning

[PreplexJ]

Feb half term will be busy but St anton on cabel cars mostly so you don't end up queueing for the chair like in France.

[florenceandthemac]

Anyone that fancied St Anton but booked somewhere else, where did you go?

We have done Avoriaz, Madonna & Selva val Gardena and are trying to decide where to go next year. Ideally we would go back to Avoriaz again but can't seem to justify the cost of staying up in Avoriaz.
Madonna was fab, would love somewhere like that. Val Gardena just seemed a bit too disjointed for what we want.

Looking for lots of intermediate skiing, decent apres ski, not TOO busy in Feb half term (if this is possible)

[NoKnit]

I've not been there for few years since having children but Andermatt was one of our favourite yearly haunts along with St Anton. Of course being Switzerland not Austria the apres ski is not the same.

Or Chamonix, got to love Chamonix.

Or Ischgl if you want apres ski

[Fiftiesishard]

I would consider Cervinia

[abricotine]

Not chamonix if you don’t want disjointed!
Les Arcs, three valleys (La tania if you want a combo of value and accessibility?), tinges/val d’Isère?

[abricotine]

*Tignes

[rookiemere]

Pila in Italy has a good selection of Blues and easy Reds. I don't know how easy it would be to get to by train, but can fly to Turin or Milan.