Arlberg (Lech Zürs)

The Arlberg is regarded as the cradle of alpine skiing; one of the first ski clubs was founded here in 1901. The exclusive resorts of Lech and Zürs are part of Ski Arlberg, the largest connected ski area in Austria. In summer, high-alpine trails such as the Lechweg and the Green Ring beckon.

Highlights

• Cradle of alpine skiing
• Part of Austria's largest connected ski area
• Fashionable resorts Lech and Zürs
• Summer: the Lechweg and high-alpine hikes

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Practical info

Background & History

The Arlberg is regarded as the cradle of alpine skiing, and the villages of Lech and Zürs at the foot of the pass stand as symbols of this history. As early as 1901 a ski club was founded here, and in the following decades Hannes Schneider, who came from nearby Stuben, developed a systematic skiing technique that, as the “Arlberg technique”, would shape ski instruction worldwide. From the snowy high valleys, which in winter were almost completely cut off from the outside world for generations, there thus grew one of the best-known and most snow-sure winter sports regions in the entire Alps.

The name Arlberg is thought to derive from the cotoneaster, the “Arlen” shrub that grows on the slopes of the pass. As early as the Middle Ages an important pack route ran over the crossing between Tyrol and Vorarlberg, and a brotherhood founded in the 14th century cared for travellers in danger of perishing in the violent snowstorms. Lech itself was long a farming village whose inhabitants, according to tradition, are said to have immigrated from the Valais and preserved their own dialect. From this harsh past, marked by avalanches and isolation, grew a place that today combines cosmopolitan elegance with deeply rooted mountain tradition.