Lech
A Walser village on the White Ring, which deliberately limits how many skiers it lets in each day
Lech lies at 1,444 metres in Vorarlberg, on the northern side of the Arlberg, and was founded around 1300 by Walser settlers from the Valais. In winter the village works on two levels. Down below are the river, the old church and the hotels along the main street; above them are the sunny terraces of Oberlech, four minutes from the centre by cable car. A few kilometres on, Zürs sits at 1,717 metres on the Flexen Pass. Together they form the western half of Ski Arlberg, Austria's largest linked ski area.
For decades Lech has set itself a limit: once there are enough skiers on the mountain, no more day passes are sold. That restraint says a good deal about the place. The skiing is on wide, carefully kept pistes and on deep-snow slopes reached with a guide or by helicopter, and the day tends to end at the table rather than on the dance floor. The chalets are in Lech itself, in Oberlech and in Zug, looking out over the valley.
Our Lech residences
The Lech experience
Lech, Oberlech and Zürs in winter
The village follows the River Lech, with the church on its rise and, below it, hotels, shops and terraces along the water. From the centre, the cable car climbs to Oberlech, a hamlet of hotels and chalets on a sunny shelf above the valley, and from there a floodlit toboggan run of 1.2 kilometres leads back down to the village. Around 40 kilometres of groomed winter walking paths surround Lech, one of them leading to James Turrell's Skyspace near Oberlech, which stays open through the winter.
Zürs, up on the Flexen Pass, is smaller and higher, with a natural ice rink of its own. Beyond Lech lies Zug, at the mouth of a quiet side valley; a horse-drawn sleigh ride out to Zug is one of the classic outings here. Cross-country skiers have six trails totalling around 27 kilometres, along the river and up the Zugertal, and there is a covered ice rink in Lech itself.
The White Ring and the Flexenbahn
Circling the village is Der Weisse Ring, the White Ring: 22 kilometres by way of Zürs, the Madloch, Zug and Oberlech, and the classic day out here since the 1950s. In mid-January it becomes a race for 1,000 competitors, who leave the Rüfikopf at ten-second intervals; the course record of just over 44 minutes has stood since 2010. Beyond the circuit are runs such as the Lange Zug, one of the steepest pistes in the area, and the Zürser Täli.
Since the 2016/17 season the Flexenbahn has linked Zürs with Stuben, and so with St Anton, opening up the whole of Ski Arlberg on skis: around 300 kilometres of pistes, 85 lifts and more than 200 kilometres of off-piste descents. Lech Zürs is also the only place in Austria where heli-skiing is permitted. On weekdays a helicopter flies from the Kriegerhorn or the Flexen Pass to the Mehlsack or the Schneetäli, and a certified guide leads the descent of about an hour down to Zug.
Long lunches, quiet evenings
Lech and Zürs have nearly ninety restaurants between them, 22 of them recognised by Gault&Millau: a great many for a municipality of some 1,600 people. In Oberlech the Griggeler Stuba is one of the most acclaimed kitchens in the area, and in Zug and the village hotels there are tables that guests travel some distance for. On the mountain the cooking is simpler: Käsknöpfle with melted mountain cheese and fried onions, or a board of Vorarlberg Bergkäse with a glass of wine.
Après-ski here is more measured than on the other side of the pass. The Balmalp, by the top station of the Zugerbergbahn, is where many begin the afternoon; the Rud-Alpe, a farmhouse hut some 250 years old, often has live music on the terrace; and in the middle of the village the Schneggarei stands right on the piste, with wood-fired pizza and an open fire. Then it is back to the chalet, and dinner later in the evening.
A week in Lech
22 kilometres around Lech, Zürs and Zug, comfortably skied in a day.
On weekdays, with a guide, to the Mehlsack or the Schneetäli and down to Zug in about an hour.
From Oberlech, 1.2 kilometres on a floodlit run down to the village.
A winter walk from Oberlech to James Turrell's light space at Tannegg.
Six trails, around 27 kilometres in all, including one along the Lech to Zug.
On skis by way of Zürs and Stuben to St Anton, and back before the last lift.
Did you know
The limit for Lech Zürs is set at around 14,000 skiers a day. Once it is reached, St Anton and Stuben issue only passes valid on their own lifts.
In the early twentieth century the ski pioneer Viktor Sohm gave the first ski courses in Zürs, and by the late 1930s Austria's first ski tow was running there.
The Lech ski school was founded in 1925; the village's first lift followed in 1939, on the Schlegelkopf.
Only with the Flexen road, built between 1895 and 1900, did Lech gain a proper link to the outside world. At the time the village had 340 inhabitants.