On few fronts are these two resorts similar indeed they both have lifts and snow :0 (this week has been exceptionally warm for February and we have had no snow in the Arlberg region and next week it will be getting desperate) but I digress.The types of runs are also very different. Not being much of an off piste skier, I won't comment on this except to say in this regard there is enough of this in both resorts to keep anyone happy.
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The Height of Fashionable St Anton sits at 1300 m and Courchevel sits vertically between 3 resorts with a free bus linking them or they can be linked with ski or lift. If we look at Courchevel 1850 it sits, well surprisingly at 1850m and is the highest of the three Courchevels the others being 1550 and 1300.[val thorens sits the highest at 2300m and is the ugliest resort but stunning runs!]. Even being much lower at 1300 St Anton has a good snow record.
The types of run you can find in St Anton are varied and not particularly easy nor overly difficult unless you make them so. It is a great area for the intermediate skier and has some great trecks that arent monitored or bashed at all, these will challenge anyone. Plenty of mogul fields and some wider stretches of steeper bashed runs exist. There might be a lack of soft green learning pistes for beginers and the school was found to be lacking. In one particular case a beginner abandoned the course because of lack of progress. She was on the first 3 days walking up a very mild slope and waiting around and "skiing" down the slope if you could call it a slope...on day 3 pushing they actually got up the mountain a bit but on day one this was desirable and I suspect normal. I'm not sure about the text book but when I went to ski school it was a steep curve based actually skiing on the mountain and we progressed rapidly and as a group having a lot of fun and mild fear.
The skiing in "Korshe" is very forgiving having wide mild motorways and some more challenging runs like the black chanrossa for example , there is so much available in the 3 valleys that it has a great capacity and the lifts were never crowded. In St Anton am Arlberg Lech has maybe the most forgiving varied runs, particularly piste 34 , 35 just above uber Lech. In St Anton there are some narrow tree lined blues back to town but the valles are linked by a single run the number 20. The eastern valley is using the newer Galsig Bahn lift (designed by Tyrolean Georg Driendl )and this has a nice blue run which you can repeat all day, but then getting back to St Anton via a blue is a trek across number 9 which is not boarder friendly. If im skiing its the black number 2 for me called Kandahar. Unfortunately Zurs another grand pisted resort region and very beautiful and Lech are bus rides away (a mad scramble back due to there being just one per hour) so in this regard the skiable area doesnt compare to the 3 valleys, does anywhere else ? But if they linked more of the resorts and you could ski them all without bus it would be great, but Lech might like to keep the masses away.
So if St Anton looses on the skiing front for the less than intermediate (it still is good skiing for a week if you dont know it) then it picks up the global award for apres ski. The mighty Mooserwirt is a good place to start- bad German Techno fused with Eric Prydz and a few signature tunes which gets everyone dancing on the tables in ski boots ! I simply love this bar it rates as on of my top 10 bars worldwide.It IS everything a bar should be. If you want something different then you have it in St Anton the Krazy Kangaru at the base of red run 21 (a great fast beautiful tree lined piste) has a younger more "reppy" feel replete with shot holstered girls with colourful hair. Clubbing does go on until around 4 in the middle of town, sport can be seen on arge screens in the busy bar Cuba or settle for classy surroundings with normal prices at bar Testarossa. Prices on the whole are cheap for skiing a large beer and a smaller beer was 11 euros. The lift pass prices were high for both resorts at around 200 euros.
When your done skiing in Courchevel 1850 then you better entertain yourselves unless you like extortionate prices and a lack of choice, or catch the free bus down hill, the prices drop quicker than a reps salopettes and the bars get better with some live music too. The surroundings are pleasant in 1850 but it feels wrong and contrived, St Anton is very natural and down to earth, so there we have it.
In summary:
Choose St Anton if you can already ski a bit and have some desire to enjoy the music and outdoor bar areas on the slopes and like to enjoy life. Choose courchevel 1850 if you cant find anywhere else to stay in the 3 valleys and are happy to stay at home for the odd evening, there are NO bars on the slopes there ! I dont know what it is like to learn in Courchevel 1850 but somewhere there must be good ski schools. Come on guys we need to nurture the sport. Also a place to enjoy looking at life less so living it.
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