Final Day!
It's the final day in St Anton, and we've all had a really great time!
Today we thought we'd revisit the better routes of the week, so we started with a gondola up to Rendl again, where the Route 1 came down all the way to town.
Less cloud than yesterday, but still a chill in the air, we headed up the long gondola ride to the top. Tim and Colin did a few warm up blue runs, while Pete and I did a quick nip through the "fun park" catching some air in the jumps!
Tim felt mid morning that his skiing had gracefully come to its end, so bowed out to a tea stop in the cafe, while Pete, Colin and I headed up the mountain further to tackle some reds on the way down.
I zoomed off, and ended up overshooting an exit, so had to retrace my steps, while Pete and Colin practised a second round of reds.
Content with our morning activity, we headed to join Tim for a morning Coffee and review of the weather which was turning out to be another gloriously sunny day!
Tim took a gondola down, while Pete and I convinced Colin to do my favourite Red 1 run all the way back down. It's a nice mix of steep challenging bits, mixed with long scenic forest skiing to keep you interested. We stopped a few times for breath, and enjoyed the view down the valley!
The afternoon warming up to be the warmest of the week so far, it made pleasant weather for an lunchtime meal in the sun up at Griabli, and we enjoyed sitting outside in the (still cool but pleasant) 2 degree weather!
While Pete and I headed back up the very top of the mountain for a final run down, Colin and Tim liaised to drop off their skiing equipement back at the hire shop, and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon in the accommodation.
Back up another cold gondola ride, we again ended up at the very top, ready again for the views of the 4 nations, and then an icy ride back down to the mid-point.
Down back towards St Anton we joined "happy valley" again, the nice run down the valley floor into St Anton. It was here that I had a spot of "arrested momentum" when another skiier collided with me at a particularly mogully and narrow bit. Fortunately neither of us hurt, we carried on back down all the way home for the final time.
In a development at will not come as a surprise, it was mandatory for the 4 of us to enjoy a final drink at MooserWirt, and once again partied to our favourite apres classics including Mama Laudaa which I feel everyone should listen to the first 10 seconds of to truly appreciate the Austria Apres 2025 scene:
Such is the experience of MooserWirt, that it attracts people from all across the valley, including this couple who were in absolute shock for about 20 minutes at the spectacle in front of them! They didn't venture into the actual bar, looking a little scared, but instead took an obligatory selfie, and then headed home!
Heading back up for our final meal, we all decided we enjoyed Aquila so much it would be a shame to not go back to revisit. I once again enjoyed a chickpea and chicken curry, Tim had a fish dish, Colin the Lamb, and Pete the Venison Raguu again. Again impressed, we had a brief negotiation with a few surly taxi and bus drivers, before finding ourselves back in Haus Martin Tschol for our final night.
The flight back is at 11:40, with a bit of a drive, so a relatively early start, but after the week we've had this is a small price to pay. We've enjoyed it so much that we've provisionally booked into Apartment 1 again for the same week next year! Bring on MooserWirt for Apres-ski 2026!
Thanks for reading!
