Warth-Schroecken Ski Resort

Warth-Schroecken

Warth and Schröcken are two pretty and famously snowy villages in Austria's Bregenzerwald, that form the Warth-Schröcken ski area. This is lift-linked to Lech, Zurs and St Anton and so is a part of the massive Arlberg ski area with over 300kms of marked runs and 200km of off-piste.

Situated 10km apart, Warth and Schroecken (Schröcken in German; in English the umlaut is usually replaced with an ‘e’ but you do sometimes see ‘Schrocken‘) are two snowy alpine villages that share a small local ski area that is also part of Austria’s largest lift-linked ski area, the vast Arlberg. And snow is what they are renowned for: in most years Warth gets more snow than any other ski resort in Western Europe, averaging 11 metres each winter.

Whilst Warth and Schroecken are on the edge of the Arlberg ski area, the huge Auenfeldjet lift makes it easy for their visitors to ski into Lech-Zurs. As Zurs is also lift-linked to St Anton, St Christoph and Stuben, fit confident skiers, have access to almost endless pistes, ski routes and freeride opportunities. Be warned, however: it’s a long way to St Anton’s slopes and it’s not a journey you will want to make every day.

Being on the edge of the Arlberg means the local slopes above Warth and Schroecken get fewer visitors than their more glamorous neighbours, and the runs are less crowded. They can be accessed by a lift from the centre of Warth or from two base stations along the road to Schroecken that have some hotels close by, and which are connected to the two villages by a free ski-bus. There are pistes and ski routes descending into both villages so confident skiers can ski back at the end of the day. The 60km of local slopes are not very high (Warth is at 1494m, and Schroecken is at 1269m, and almost all the local skiing is below 2000m), but they are mostly north-facing and, of course, famously snowy. Beginners, particularly children, benefit from excellent ski schools and instructors. But there are challenges for advanced skiers too. The gradient of black slope 253 (“Ochsenkopf”) is over 70% in places and there is more steep stuff around the Jageralp Express lift.

Apres ski is a low key affair. And Warth and Schrocken are small villages so there’s not a great deal to do during the day besides skiing and other wintersports, including winter walking, cross-country skiing, dog sledding, snow-shoeing and tobogganing. There is also the option of driving to other less frequented ski areas in Bregenzerwald such as Au-Schoppernau, which is just 15 minutes away from Schroecken.

Getting to Warth-Schroecken is easy. It takes between 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours 15 minutes from Friedrichshafen, Memmingen and Zurich airports. Accommodation is cheaper than in the other Arlberg resorts, with good value family-run hotels, guesthouses and self-catered apartments.

Ski Equipment Rental in Warth–Schroecken

Unsurprisingly, there is not as much choice as in larger resorts. Most of the equipment rental shops are near the centre of the villages or close to the lifts. ALPINRESORTS and SKISE T offer discounts if you pre-book online and both have partner outlets in Warth-Schroecken.