Lech Zürs: the back story

About Lech Zürs: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Lech and Zürs sit high on the Vorarlberg side of the Arlberg, two mountain villages that became one of the most celebrated names in skiing. Their story runs from the first ski course in Zürs in 1905 to Austria’s largest linked ski area today.

Where skiing was taught

The Arlberg is one of the places where Alpine skiing grew up. In 1905, Ski Arlberg records, the first ski course was held in Zürs, led by Viktor Sohm; at first only locals joined, and by the early 1920s visitors were taking lessons too. Across the pass, the Arlberg Technique made skiing teachable, and its ideas spread to ski schools around the world.

Lifts that changed the sport

Zürs had Austria’s first drag lift in 1937, and Lech installed its first ski lift in 1940. In 2004, Lech and Schröcken introduced the world’s first heated chairlifts. The Auenfeldjet linked Lech Zürs with Warth-Schröcken in 2013, and in 2016 the Flexenbahn joined Zürs to Stuben and St. Anton, making Ski Arlberg Austria’s largest ski area: about 300 km of pistes and 85 lifts and cable cars.

Lech Zürs lies at 1,450 metres in the heart of the Arlberg, and the ski area it shares with St. Anton is Austria’s largest.

Der Weisse Ring

For more than 60 years, Der Weisse Ring has linked Lech, Zürs, Zug and Oberlech in one circuit beneath the Omeshorn: about 22 km and 5,500 vertical metres on easy to intermediate runs, a half-day for a confident skier. Every winter it becomes a race, from the Rüfikopf down to Lech, and the winners’ names go on the wall of honour at the Schlegelkopfbahn valley station.

A village that guards its character

Lech is known for keeping its scale. When Lech-Oberlech-Zürs or Warth-Schröcken reach capacity, Ski Arlberg limits passes sold on the St. Anton side to the lifts there, so the slopes never feel crowded. Oberlech, at 1,720 metres, is car-free in winter, and Lech is also the only place in Austria where heli-skiing is allowed, from landing sites on the Mehlsack and the Schneetäli.

Every budget

Lech’s reputation rests on its five-star family hotels, but about 150 small, family-run houses belong to the village’s Klein & Fein group, from B&Bs to apartments, and the ski bus is included with your lift pass. The same lifts and the same snow serve them all.

Our advice: ski Der Weisse Ring early in your week to learn the mountain, book lunch at a hut a day ahead, and choose Oberlech if you want to walk out of the door on to the snow.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Lech Zürs: the back story before you go.