Page 261 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

T Y ROL AND VOR ARLBERG  259

The resort is often heralded
as the “birthplace of skiing”; it
was here that Johann “Hannes”
Schneider conceived the
“Arlberg method”, a step-by-step
transition from the snowplough
to the Christie. Taught through a
series of films and books, the
method is still in use today.
Besides snowy slopes,
St Anton features a charming
village, complete with a 17th-
century onion-domed church, a
fascinating Alpine museum and
a plethora of traditional Alpine Lünersee, a reservoir lake at the foot of Schesaplana
houses. In addition, the village
has a number of luxurious spas, snow-covered – and therefore popular resort with excellent
while on the slopes is the closed – from November until skiing areas in its environs.
Arberg 1800 hotel resort, which late May, which connects the A 10th-century document
hosts art displays and concerts. Montafon valley and the Ill river survives in which Otto I gives the
with the Trisanna valley. The bishop of Chur a church “in loco
road drops by 1,000 m (3,280 ft) Plutenes”. During the reign of
f Arlberg over just 15 km (9 miles). Friedrich IV the Poor, the town
The area around the Silvretta- became an administrative centre
See pp260–61.
Stausee, a reservoir on the and power base for the region.
Bielerhöhe Pass at 2,036 m Despite several devastating
(6,680 ft), has been made a fires, Bludenz still has some
national park; the ski runs in the interesting historic sights. The
Silvretta massif start here. The oldest building is Oberes Tor
most beauti ful views are to be (Upper Gate), which houses the
had from Hohes Rad, at 2,934 m local history museum (open in
(9,626 ft). The high mountain summer). Inside St Lawrence
section of Silvrettastrasse ends church (1514) are two original
in Galtür, a lovely village on altars made from black marble
the Ballunspitze. and paintings (1510) showing
the Marriage of the Virgin Mary
and the Visitation. The seat of
h Lünersee the regional authorities is
Road map A4. @ Gayenhofen Castle, a medieval
building remodelled in Baroque
Lünersee lies at the foot of style in 1643.
Ischgl, one of Austria’s most attractive the Schesaplana peak (2,965 m/ Today, the town is permeated
skiing resorts 9,728 ft), at an altitude of 1,907 m by chocolate smells
(6,257 ft). Once, this was the from the Suchard
g Ischgl largest lake in the Eastern factory, producers
Alps, surrounded by rugged of the famous
Road map A5. * 1,550. £
n 050990-100. ∑ ischgl.at mountains criss-crossed with confectionery
ravines. The dam built here in and organizers
Ischgl, on the Trisanna river at 1958 raised the water level by of an annual
the eastern end of the Silvretta- 27 m (89 ft), creating an artificial chocolate
strasse, may retain the charm of reservoir that now powers the festival.
a small farming village, but it is Lünersee and Rodund
in fact the venue for a distinctly power stations.
young, affluent and sometimes
raucous clientele of skiers and
snowboarders. An international j Bludenz
ski centre, it provides access to Road map A4. * 14,000. £ @
200 km (120 miles) of ski runs n Werdenbergerstrasse 42, (05552)
and 40 lifts within the Silvretta 63621-970. _ Chocolate Festival
range on the Austrian–Swiss (early Jul). ∑ bludenz.at
border. The town is also an ideal
starting point for a drive along Beautifully situated at the
the Silvrettahochalpenstrasse, a confluence of five Alpine valleys, The octagonal tower of the
hairpin mountain road, often the town of Bludenz is now a Laurentiuskirche in Bludenz

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