Skiing in Warth-Schroecken
Warth-Schroecken ski area comprises 68km of mostly easy skiing on the Saloberkopf (2,050m) with runs to the villages of Warth (1,494m) and Schroecken (1,269m). The connection to Lech-Zurs provides access to the mighty Arlberg ski area, a further 300km of pistes and marked trails, and over 200 km of off-piste.
Warth-Schroecken Ski Area Overview
The Warth-Schroecken ski area is generally north-facing and overshadowed by the Warther Horn (2,275m), Karhorn (2,416m) and Auenfelderhorn (2,252m), which means good snow conditions are well preserved, especially later in the ski season. The exception to this rule is the area approaching the Auenfeldjet that links Warth-Schroecken to Lech and the rest of the Arlberg. This is a vital connection so the main red and blue runs are well protected by snow-cannons and vigorous piste-grooming, but the lack runs to the side can have large brown and green patches if the temperature heats up
All together there are about 30 pisted runs including 13 blue runs (30km) and10 red runs (17km). There are also 19 kms of pisted black runs and ungroomed ski routes for stronger intermediate and advanced skiers. the longest of which is the relatively easy ski route from Korbersee to Schroecken. Most of the steepest pistes and routes are clustered around the Jageralp Express near Warth,
The ski area extends 10km east to west from Warth to Schroecken and rises from three base stations at altitudes of between 1500-1700m to 2050m and vertical drop of approximately 550m and 800m from the Saloberkopf to Warth and Schroecken respectively.
There are a number of Extra zones including a speedcheck, Salobercross with moguls and jumps and special areas for children close to the base station lifts in Warth and at Hochtannbergpass as well as designated areas for absolute beginners.
Warth-Schroecken ski area is good for beginners and early intermediates and also offers challenging freeride skiing off-piste. Although the ski area is not particularly high, Warth-Schroecken receives an average of 11m snowfall each season and the mostly north facing slopes are snow sure well into April.
More experienced skiers will exhaust the on-piste opportunities within a day or two, and will want to use the two-way Auenfeldjet lift to ski over to Lech-Zurs and the rest of the Arlberg area, including St Anton. But for experienced off-piste skiers and boarders there are interesting opportunities for freeriding off-piste with a guide closer to home, including off-piste descents from Warth to Lech and from Lech to Schroecken via Mohnenfluh (2,542m). They can then move on to more extensive off-piste challenges beyond the Auenfeldjet in the rest of the Arlberg, particularly in Stuben and St Anton.
Warth has direct access to the ski slopes through the village centre lift. There is also a free bus service that connects the two villages of Warth and Schroecken and accesseshigh speed chairlifts rising from 3 base stations – the 4-person chairlift at Warth and 6-person Jägeralp-Express chairlift at Hochkrumbach and the 6-person Saloberjet chairlift at Hochtannberg. There are also more distant bus connections with two other nearby ski areas: Au-Schoppernau and Damuls..
The free bus service stops often at designated bus stops (look out for the yellow and green H sign) and outside most hotels, making it easy to move around between ski areas, and if you have your own car there is ample free car parking near the lift stations and especially at the top of Hochtannbergpass close to the Saloberjet chairlift.
Easiest access to the ski area is from hotels in Warth, especially the super stylish Steffisalp Hotel which claims to be just 7 seconds from the Steffisalp Express chairlift. If you stay in Schroecken you’ll need to take a short free bus ride to Hochtannberg and the Saloberjet ski lift or continue a couple of stops to Hochkrumbach to the Jägeralp-Express ski lift; both are fast 6-person chairlifts with bubble covers.
Beginner skiing in Warth Schroecken
Beginner skiers and boarders in Warth-Schroecken are recommended to start from the Saloberjet base station at Hochtannberg or Wannenkopf in Warth, where there are good slopes for first time beginners and instructors for skiing and boarding.
Facilities at Hochtannberg include ski school office, ski hire, beginner lifts, a special area designated for first time beginners and easy access via chairlift to the blue runs running down from the Saloberjet and Karhorn chairlifts. So no matter whether you are staying in Warth or Schroecken, if you are a beginner we suggest catching the ski bus to Hochtannbergpass.
Beginners can ride the short Kuchlbahn chairlift and warm up on blue 10 before they ski the long easy blue (31) to the Jägeralp-Express chairlift or ride the Saloberjet chair to Saloberkopf then ski blue (19) to the Karhorn chairlift which opens up a number of easy blues at higher altitude. There are long easy blue runs 30 and 29 dropping 449m vertical from the top of the Karhornbahn down to the Jägeralp-Express chairlift, then ski blue 20 and ride the Wartherhorn chairlift and work your way from left to right via Hochalpbahn to get back to Saloberkopf.
Practice skiing blue run 4 a few times, which drops a little more steeply down the fall line, and improve your turns as you gain experience skiing the same run. Keep your eyes open for skiers coming from other directions when you reach the lower section towards the bottom of the Saloberjet chairlift, which is usually very busy. If you’re up for another blue or some red run skiing try blue 8 or red 9 which run respectively to the bottom of the Sonnencruiser-Auenfeld and Sonnenjet-Auenfeld chairlifts.
Warth-Schroecken ski area is not the best for rustic mountain huts and restaurants high on the mountain. The Jägeralp Hotel and après ski bar complex at the bottom of the Jägeralp-Express is a handy pitstop and worth visiting for lunch.
Better still, and not to be missed, is the Berghotel Korbersee which overlooks a frozen lake and is a great place to go for lunch. It’s easily reached via Falken chairlift and blue run 5. Beginners can return to the main ski area via the Falken lift and blue 7.
Alternatively when snow conditions and visibility are good, more experienced ‘beginners’ skiing in mixed ability groups might like to try the easy “red” ski route from Korbersee down to Schroecken then catch a bus back to Hochtannbergpass to rejoin the lift system.
Ski Schools & Ski Lessons in Warth-Schroecken
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Intermediate Skiing in Warth-Schroecken
With 56km marked ski runs in Warth-Schroecken including about 10 red runs), 10 black runs and seven ungroomed but marked ski routes, opportunities for intermediate skiers are good but limited. Competent intermediates can cover the ski area on piste in a couple of days, and will then want to move on to Lech and the rest of the Arlberg.
Access to the Arlberg involves taking the Auenfeldjet and Weibermahd lifts to Lech-Zurs where there are plenty of blue runs, red runs and ungroomed ski routes. And if these ever get exhausted, there are even more nearby at Stuben and St Anton.
Although you can ski to both these resorts after using the Flexenbahn lift from Zurs, to maximise your time on snow, it’s worth taking the bus from Lech to Alpe Rauz (for Stuben) or St Anton, as that is still the fastest route.
Alternatively, if you have skied all the runs in Warth-Schroecken and don’t want to buy an Arlberg pass, there is challenging on piste skiing for intermediates including steeper runs nearby at Diedamskopf (Au Schoppernau), which is 15 from Schroecken and 25km from Warth; and much more extensive fast red-run skiing opportunities 11km further west at Damuls-Mellau.
Both ski areas are easily reached by car or using the free ski bus service. If you only have time to visit one, Damüls is the more interesting of the two.
Advanced & Expert Skiing in Warth-Schroecken
Warth-Schroecken only has about 17 km of black runs and ungroomed trails. Therefore, you might easily assume there’s not much challenging skiing for advanced skiers here, but you’d be wrong.
Warth-Schroecken has 11 black pistes – that is more than in the rest of the Arlberg ski area resorts put together. Not all of them are terrifyingly steep but there are challenges if you want them. The gradient of black slope 253 (“Ochsenkopf”) near the Saloberjet is over 70% in places so we recommend doing its less steep near neighbours 251 and 252 first before tackling this. Parts of run 283 near the Jageralp Express lift are also seriously steep.
There are plenty of freeride and ski touring possibilities locally. It’s not uncommon to see skiers booting up Saloberkopf (2050m) towards Auenfelderhorn (2292m), turning right well before the summit and skiing off-piste towards Lech via the lower slopes of Karhorn (2416m). Best known descents are to Karhorn, Bűrstegg or Salober. returning via the Auenfeldjet or the more challenging descent off the back of Mohenfluh (2544m) all the way to Schroecken.
There is more easily accessed powder between the Saloberjet and the Jageralp Express, but this is best explored with a guide because it can be avalanche prone.
Guided Hike & Ride Odff-Piste Tours are available with Warth and Schroecken ski schools including 5-day packages including avalanche and safety training.
Advanced skiers will want to head over to Lech, then onto Zurs, Stuben and St Anton. All these resorts have hardly any black runs but have huge amounts of off-piste and freeriding. To get the most out of it, and keep you safe, you should hire a guide. If you won’t do this then stick to the official ski routes, marked on the piste map. But remember these are not patrolled, and those that are classified as ‘Extreme’ usually deserve their grading, and only very good skiers should tackle these.
Warth-Schroecken Mountain Restaurants
Most of the restaurants serving the ski area are located close to base station lifts at 1500m with just four restaurants at higher up in the ski area, but bearing in mind it’s just 300-500m vertical it’s easy to ski down to the restaurants at the foot of the ski lifts.
Mountain restaurants higher up in the ski area include the popular Korbersee with sun terrace overlooking the lake, Berggasthof Auenfelder near the bottom of the Sonnencruiser-Auenfeld lift, and, over towards Warth, Punschhűtte , which is mid-mountain off run 20 and close to the Wartherhorn-Express chairlift and Skihűtte Hochalp off run 19 near the Hochalp chairlift. The Korbersee is especially recommended and it’s worth getting there early or phoning ahead to make a reservation. Get there by riding the 2-person Falken chairlift then ski beginner friendly blue (5) or red run (5) to the Korbersee.
Mountain restaurants at the foot of the ski lifts include the SB & S1 Salober restaurants near the Saloberjet chairlift at Hochtannberg, Berggasthof Adler, roadside half way between Hochtannbergpass and the Hotel Jägeralp (ski-in via the blue from Korbliftle and ski-out via red route 7) which is worth the little extra effort to get there, the Jäger Stube’n at Hochkrumbach and Skihűtte Steffisalp & Schirmbar at the bottom of the Steffisalp-Express chairlift in Warth.
Hotel Korbersee, Fam. Schlierenzauer. A-6888 Schroecken
Tel: +43 (0) 5519 265 Web: www.koerbersee.at
Berghotel Auenfelder Hütte, Andreas u. Martin Jochum. A-6888 Schroecken
Tel: +43 (0) 664 411 1251
Punschütte, Bickel Armin. A-6767 Warth
Tel: +43 (0) 5583 3557. Web: www.walserstube.at
Skihűtte Hochalp, Fam. Jäger. A-6767 Warth
Tel: +43 (0) 664 413 9108. Web: www.jaegeralpe.at
SB & S1 Salober Treff, Brigitte Wiethüchter. A-6767 Warth
Tel: +43 (0) 5583 4260
Berggasthof Adler, Markus Strolz. A-6767 Warth
Tel: +43 (0) 5583 4264. Web: www.hoteladler.at
Jäger Stube’n, Family Jäger. A-6767 Warth
Tel: +43 5583 4250. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.jaegeralpe.at
Skihütte Steffisalp & Schirmbar, Karl Wiener. A-6767 Warth.
Tel: +44 (0) 5583 3699. Web: www.steffisalp.at