On my first night in St. Anton, I took a stroll through the village, my city shoes skidding on the snow-covered sidewalk. I passed an onion-domed church, and traditional, half-timbered hotels, then ...

My destination, the Arlberg Hospiz, was founded by a pig herder in 1386 as a refuge for travelers toiling over the snowbound, avalanche-prone pass. It saved seven lives that first winter and soon a ...