Life in the Arlberg in late summer is visceral
and invigorating. Deer heads aside, my week in the
Austrian Alps brims with thrilling scenery, decadent
dining, exhilarating hikes and mountain villages
that excel at lodging and good living.
The massif connects Austria’s western states of
Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Its glamorous villages of Lech,
St Anton am Arlberg, Zürs, Stuben, St Christoph
and Warth are best known as élite ski resorts favoured
by royalty, moguls and old-money Mitteleuropeans.
But when the season’s last après-ski debauch winds
up (usually at St Anton’s MooserWirt, the wildest
party in town), these hill stations retreat into seasonal
hibernation. The resort village of Zürs shuts down
completely in summer.
This is when outdoor and adventure enthusiasts
come to conquer the green mountains, and when
visitor numbers are a fraction of their winter highs.
So local entrepreneurs such as Axel Bach have conceived
events and attractions to make the Arlberg a more
compelling summer destination. The off-season
calendar now features golf challenges, trail-running
and triathlons, mountain biking, yoga, classical➤Clockwise
from top left:
a mountain biker
takes in the view
at St Anton am
Arlberg; pea and
mint tartlet (left),
and crawfish
salad with apple
and fennel at the
Schualhus; chef
Max Natmessnig
(right) and his
team at the
Schualhus’s
chef’s table;
downtown St
Anton; Hotel
Tannenhof owner
and Kulinarik
& Kunst founder
Axel Bach.
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village of Zug.