Lech (Vorarlberg)

The ski area Lech-Zürs has been the venue for numerous FIS Alpine World Ski Championship races in the past, including the following:[10]

• November 2021: parallel (men), winner: Hirschbuehl Christian (AUT)

parallel (women), winner: Slokar Andreja (SLO) and Stjernesund Thea Louise (NOR)

• November 2020: parallel (men), winner: Pinturault Alexis (FRA)

slalom (women), winner: Petra Vlhova (SVK)

• January 1988: super-G (women), winner: Zoe Haas (SUI)
• November 1991: 2 slalom races (women), winners: Vreni Schneider (SUI) and Bianca Fernández Ochoa (SPA)
• January 1993: slalom (men), winner: Thomas Fogdö (SWE)
• January 1993: combination (men), winner: Marc Girardelli (LUX)
• December 1993: super-G (men), winner: Hannes Trinkl (AUT)
• December 1994: 2 slalom races (men), winner: Alberto Tomba (IT)

In 2020, the Audi FIS Ski World Cup was postponed to 26 and 27 November due to a lack of snow and high temperatures on the original dates of November 14 and 15.[11] The next alpine ski races will be held again in Lech on 10 and 11 November 2023.[12]

The Ski Arlberg ski area on both sides of the Vorarlberg border currently (as of the 2014/15 season) comprises 350 km of groomed slopes and 200 km of designated touring slopes. About 63 per cent of the ski slopes can be covered with artificial snow. A total of 97 lifts and cable cars are in operation with a transport capacity of 123,600 people per hour. Lech and Oberlech (Arlberg West) account for 23 of these lifts and cable cars, as well as 17 ski runs and 18 ski routes.

Since the 2013/14 winter season, the Auenfeldjet gondola lift has connected the previously neighbouring but separate ski areas of Ski Arlberg West and Snowworld Warth-Schröcken.[13] In the 2016/17 winter season, the last gap in the area was closed with the construction of the Flexenbahn between Stuben and Zürs.[14] The resulting combined ski area is currently the largest in Austria, with a total of 88 lifts and 304 kilometres of pistes.[15] However, tickets can only be purchased for the Snowworld-Warth-Schröcken, Ski Arlberg Ost and Ski Arlberg West ski areas; the Ski Arlberg ski pass is required to use the entire ski area.[16]

The Langer Zug piste (piste number 215) from Rüfikopf (via piste 181) to Lech is one of the ten steepest groomed pistes in the world.

As part of the extreme snowfall in central Europe in January 2019, the Lange Zug was in the media as a German avalanche victim was searched for several days: A group of four experienced German skiers were killed by an avalanche on a slope that was closed at the time. Only three people were found during the initial search, and the fourth victim was not recovered until four days after the accident.[17]

Lech is the only place in Austria where heliskiing is still permitted. The landing sites are on the Mehlsack (2652 m) and on the Orgelscharte near the Göppinger Hütte (Göppinger Hut). There are no flights on weekends or on public holidays.[18] The ÖAV questioned the legality of the extension of the heliskiing permit in 2016.[19] In January 2022, the permit was again extended, despite sharp criticism from the Green Party in the Vorarlberg coalition government, a negative opinion from the Vorarlberg environmental department and a similarly negative opinion from the Bludenz district administration. Wucher, the helicopter company operating the heliskiing, had applied for a 5-year extension, as had been the case in the past. In the face of growing criticism of the activity, which causes massive environmental damage, the current permit is limited to 2.5 years, and it is doubtful that it will be renewed in 2024. Vorarlberg regional councillor Rauch and the ÖAV announced that they would review the permit or take legal action against it.[20][21] In each of the last two winter seasons, around 250 such flights took place, involving around 1000 participants.[22]

Lech is also a popular destination for mountain bikers in summer and autumn. The Heckmair and Joe Transalp routes pass through Lech.

Hikers can explore the Lech mountains on the Lechquellenrunde and Robert Bosch Trail. Many of the hiking trails in the Lech area can be reached using the facilities that are open in the summer as well as the so-called hiking buses. There are a number of Alpine Club huts, both with and without accommodation, that can be reached from Lech.

Church St Nicholas of Lech

Although not as well-frequented in the summer as it is in the winter, Lech nevertheless has sporting, cultural, culinary, and other activities. There are many premier hotels in Lech, as well as numerous top class restaurants.

One former well-known visitor was the writer Ludwig Bemelmans (author of the Madeline books), whose 1949 novel The Eye of God was set in a fictionalised Lech.[23]

Lech has a number of points of cultural interest, including:

• the church of St Nicholas, which was built in the Gothic style around 1390, and extensively renovated in 1987. Particular features are the Rococo interior dating from 1791 (although there are some earlier Romanesque frescoes); the 33-metre-high tower with its distinctive onion-shaped dome; and bronze bells, the oldest of which dates from the beginning of the sixteenth century,[24]
• the historic Huber House, now a museum, was built in 1590; it displays examples of the earlier way of life and work in the region, with a traditional kitchen and workshop,[25]
• "Horizon-Fields": life-sized human sculptures by the sculptor Antony Gormley, which were placed in the mountains surrounding Lech. Originally numbering 100, most were removed in April 2012,[26]
• The Green Ring: a three-day tour around Lech-Zürs in Vorarlberg, in which a person well-versed in local literature serves as a hiking guide. Along the trail there are 35 art installations dealing with local people, culture and stories. This was originally a LEADER-Project, carried out by the two artists Daniela Egger and Daniel Kocher. The art and literature project "The Green Ring" will be continuously and sustainably expanded and extended in the coming years,[27]
• The Skyspace Lech is an art installation by James Turrell. A skyspace is an enclosed space which is open to the sky through a large hole in the ceiling. Visitors gaze at the changing light colors on the walls, and at the sky during sunrise and sunset. It was opened in 2018.[28]

Sign for the White Ring circuit

• The White Ring (Der Weiße Ring) is the longest ski race in the world, according to Guinness Book of Records. 5,500 metres altitude, 22 kilometres of ski runs. Ski pioneer Sepp Bildstein was the initiator of the White Ring, the ski resort that has connected the villages of Lech, Zürs, Zug and Oberlech for over 50 years.[29] In 1940, the first ski lift was built on the White Ring, thus laying the foundations for a legendary skiing holiday resort. In addition to 22 kilometres of ski runs, the winter sports enthusiast have a unique mountain backdrop, also thanks to viewing platforms and art installations. The first race at the White Ring was held in 2006 for the 50th anniversary of the ski resort. The course record is 44:10:75 minutes and has been held since 2010 by Markus Weiskopf.[30]
• Philosophicum Lech: The Philosophicum Lech is a philosophical symposium on philosophical, cultural and social science reflection, discussion and encounter. The well-endowed Tractatus prize is awarded to the best scientific essay.[31]
• Medicinicum Lech: A public health event that deals with topics related to health and nutrition.[32]
• Arlberg Classic Car Rally: In 2017, for the eighth time, 120 classic cars from 1908 to 1973 went on tour between Arlberg and Zugspitze for three days, as a rolling museum. In memory of the great achievements of the former road builders, the beginning of the really leads from Lech down through the Flexenpassgalerie to Stuben and finally to Wald am Arlberg. The route between Lech and Zürs was opened in 1897 and is regarded as a technical masterpiece.[33]
• In July 2021, the literary festival Literaricum Lech will take place for the first time in Lech, dedicated to a masterpiece of world literature. For the 2021 premiere, the oldest bestseller in the German language, "Simplicius Simplicissimus" by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, was examined from different angles.[34]

• Gerhard Nenning (1940-1995), alpine ski racer

• Trudi Beiser, 1940s and 1950s Olympic skiing champion and world skiing champion
• Othmar Schneider, 1950s Olympic skiing champion
• Egon Zimmermann, 1960s Olympic skiing champion and world skiing champion
• Patrick Ortlieb, 1990s Olympic skiing champion and world skiing champion