Lech am Arlberg

Lech sits at about fifteen hundred metres in the Lechquellen mountains and was settled in the first half of the thirteenth century by Walser families from the Valais, who farmed ground that had been considered too high; the church of St Nicholas dates from around 1390. It stayed a poor farming village into the twentieth century and then skiing arrived, and Lech and neighbouring Zürs became among the most expensive resorts in the Alps, with a deliberate policy of limiting bed numbers and lift capacity to keep the slopes uncrowded, which sustains both the quality and the prices. The snowfall here is among the heaviest in the Alps and the avalanche history is serious - Zürs and the Flexen road have both been hit repeatedly. The Lechweg long-distance path starts above at the Formarinsee.

History

Walser migrants from the Valais settled and founded Lech in the first half of the 13th century, and until the 19th century it was known as Tannberg; the church of St. Nicholas, built around 1390, was the parish church of the Tannberg district, which had its court in Lech until 1806. The mountain farmers lived from dairy and cattle until 1885, when the Arlberg Railway brought the first tourists and skiing, the Flexen road, blasted into the rock over five years, at last gave a winter link to Stuben and Zürs, the first ski school opened in 1925 with two instructors, and the first lift in 1939 (Wikipedia, Lech - Vorarlberg).

Highlights

• A Walser settlement - founded in the thirteenth century on high ground.
• A capped resort - bed numbers and lift capacity deliberately limited.
• Heavy Arlberg snowfall - among the highest totals in the Alps.
• The Lechweg trailhead - the long-distance path starting above the village.

When to go

December to April for skiing; June to September for walking. A day.

Good to know

It is genuinely expensive in winter, in every category. The road over the Flexen pass closes in heavy snow and avalanche risk. Summer is much quieter and cheaper.

Nearby

Zürs is over the pass; Warth and the Bregenzerwald are north; St Anton is east.

Key facts