There are so many reasons to fall in love with Lech, the uber-exclusive ski resort village in Austria’s Arlberg region. There’s the skiing, of course. It’s part of Austria’s largest interconnected resort, with 300km of groomed runs and 88 lifts connecting more than ten villages and spanning two states. There’s its exquisite natural beauty – a scattering of alpine chalets wedged in a valley between hulking mountain ranges, the River Lech flowing iceberg blue through the village on its way to joining the Danube, and the hulking presence of the Omeshorn, a 2557m ice-flecked pyramid that stands sentinel over the village like a giant healing crystal.
You could easily screw a place like this up, but Lech has retained a timeless quality that grips you as soon as you arrive. Five-star hotels masquerade as lantern-lit chalets. Horses haul sleighs along snow-covered streets, weaving between the Bavarian architecture, conveying the jet-set to hamlets yonder for fireside fondue. It has somehow handled its ascent to fame and fortune with restraint and unwavering respect for where it came from, which was essentially nowhere….Read the full story here
