St Anton questions

Heading to St Anton on 1 January (yippee!).

We are staying a little bit out of town (in Pettneu) and will probably use ski lockers in St Anton itself. The question is whether to base ourselves in the main village area or in Nasserein. Obviously the main village does give you access to more ski areas and is also a better base for sampling some of the amazing apres-ski. However, we will have a number of kids in the group and we have some concern that the resort runs in the main area can be very crowded, icy and difficult in the evening.

I haven't been down the home run into Nassarein and wonder whether somebody can tell me what it is like last thing in the afternoon?

Also, what are the morning queues like in Nassarein compared to the main village?

Finally, anybody know whether it is worth skiing the Pettneu area for a morning/day - from the piste map, it looks quite small but possibly challenging?

I've stayed in Nassarein a few times, it's a great part of St Anton to stay, close enough to the nightlife and a great up lift first thing in the morning. We've never queued for long.
All the runs tend to be busy last thing, often icy too. The Nassarein runs are not an exception I'm afraid.

St Anton is a brilliant place to ski. Nasserein is definitely quieter in the morning, but skiing off anywhere involves tough runs which are often busy, icy and moguled.
If you have any concerns about taking kids there, you'd be right. You can take the gondola back down if you want to.
I am not sure I would have taken my kids when they were younger to St Anton, its a pretty serious place if you know what I mean.

Tony_H wrote:St Anton is a brilliant place to ski. Nasserein is definitely quieter in the morning, but skiing off anywhere involves tough runs which are often busy, icy and moguled.
If you have any concerns about taking kids there, you'd be right. You can take the gondola back down if you want to.
I am not sure I would have taken my kids when they were younger to St Anton, its a pretty serious place if you know what I mean.

I guess I am just being a selfish b*****d bringing the kids there!

Seriously though, I did bring my then 5 year old there a few years ago and it worked out fine - I think he took the gondola down each day. Once up the mountain, there are a couple of nice areas for the more timid skiers, e.g. on Rendl and up around mid-station on Gampen IIRC. Lech is also a great place for novices with loads of long easy blues.

Hopefully, it will not be too busy or icy in the 1st week of January!

We've always been quite up front when we market a trip to St Anton, it not the resort for those that prefer 'cruisy blues'. Having said that we've had several beginners on those trips and they've got on just fine.
Resort runs anywhere can be a bit dodgy, so you just take your time and be careful. It's only 1% of your skiing, so no need to let it put you off.