 Poster: A snowHead
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Skied yesterday from Fieberbrunn over to Hinterglemm and Saalbach and back (though we downloaded on the TirolS on the return journey). The weather wasn't the best, with light snowfall for most of the day and rather flat light. However, skiing was still good and the pistes in fine condition, except being a bit softer on the very lowest slopes. The pistes and lifts weren't busy.
One novelty was skiing for the first time down the track, piste F13, that leads from the bottom station of the Reckmoos Süd and the Fieberbrunn station of the TirolS gondolas to the TirolS middle station. It is mostly very flat and hardly worth the effort, though there may be more interesting shortcuts that could be taken - we didn't risk that. Here is a photo approaching the middle station of the TirolS...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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After last Sunday's dull weather I had another couple of days this week using the TirolS gondola link from Fieberbrunn to Hinterglemm. On Wednesday and Thursday the weather was much better, mostly real bluebird days. On Wednesday I skied over to Saalbach with a couple of friends and the snow was again very acceptable after a new fall on Tuesday. We lunched well at the Western Stadl. Here is a view looking over to the Reckmoos Süd piste on the Fieberbrunn side, taken as we downloaded in the TirolS gondola when returning to Fieberbrunn.
In the morning we had used the blue F12a track to avoid the steepest parts of the Reckmoos Süd and that had been very satisfactory.
On Thursday I was on my own and spent most of the day skiing the Vierstadlalm piste F14 at the TirolS gondola, trying various alternative routes. The photo below was taken from the Reckmoos Süd piste F12 and shows on the other side of the valley most of the Vierstadlalm piste and the gondola serving it (with the bottom stations of the Reckmoos Süd and TirolS gondolas).
This time the main piste seemed gentler than I have found it in the past. Probably that was due to good snow conditions. The moguls weren't bad; the worst were actually on the run down by the Reiter-Ost chairlift, piste 37, before turning down the route to Fieberbrunn.
For variety, I also skied for the first time the "bypass" tracks which let you avoid most of the steepest sections of the Vierstadlalm piste. The first entry to the track leads off to the left from the main F14 piste a few hundred metres down from its starting point. There is another entry a little further on. The track then zig-zags down the hill on the left of the main F14 piste till it rejoins it at the part shown in this photo.
The snow on that section was harder than elsewhere making the skiing a little more difficult. A little later, after turning down the final run towards the valley, you can turn left off the main piste again onto a track just beside the Vierstadlalm farm buildings. The photo shows the Vierstadlalm.
Thereafter the track was easy to ski, again zig-zagging, until it rejoined the main piste again below the steepest sections and with only a short steeper bit remaining before the middle station of the TirolS gondola. I think the track (presuming it has been prepared) should allow any confident intermediate skiers to ski the run down to the middle station of the lift if they don't fancy doing all the main piste.
Cutting the corners of this serpentine track is the ski route F36 'Heavens Cake'. On Thursday it was tracked out and the snow heavy and chunky, so I didn't try much on that. However, it looked like good skiing and many had been on it earlier (some also finding routes off through the trees).
I also checked out the two tracks leading to the Pulvermacher Scherm hut (where I enjoyed a good Kaiserschmarrn for lunch). Of those the easier is the upper one which leads off the F14 to the right at the bottom of its steepest section. The other way has a short, sharp shock and comes out anyhow below the hut, so that the first track seems the better bet.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@espri, Thanks for this informative post. It's good to know that there are ways of getting less confident intermediates down to the TirolS mid-station.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Regarding the easier tracks down Piste 14, I assume that their absence from the piste map means these aren't official / patrolled? It's a shame as I think that a blue 14a might encourage a few more people to venture over that way.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You could be right, PeteMan. Or maybe it was just too complex for the piste map, for the tracks do intertwine with the ski route. They certainly have been prepared at present and various groups (e.g. from ski schools) were using them.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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First day in saalbach for me today.
Rather grey but I explored the 'legoland' area but failed to find chicken man :-/
Piste 61 was the highlight - a long steepish red to the schoneleiten 6er. Sadly someone had a big injury at the bottom and was helivac-ed out
Snow is nice high up, nasty low down. (ie Spring conditions) Don't go below midstation level unless you have to would be my advice
Feiberbrumn (sp) tomorrow to soak up the sun 
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@red 27, The world famous (well Snowheads-famous) Chicken Man is next to the top station of the Steinbergbahn lift - opposite the top station of the Asitz lift in Leogang.
It used to be an old garden shed that looked to be in danger of blowing away in the wind. Last year, the Steinbergbahn arrived right on his pitch, so he got a new stone-built hut to roast his chicken and ribs in. This winter, either he's sold an unbelievable number of chickens or won the lottery, as the place has been expanded and is now one of the coolest bars anywhere in the Alps, with amazing views, a retractable roof, handcrafted wooden furniture and interior features, cool music vibes - and roast chicken. It also has a fancy new name, 'hendl fischerei' but is still universally known as the Chicken Man.
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either he's sold an unbelievable number of chickens or won the lottery
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@quinton, ...the subject of much speculation over the last couple of months! Would love to know the story behind it - perhaps his chickens have been laying golden eggs!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@red 27, We were over there too - overall we thought the pistes were excellent, the highlight of the day being piste 93 down to the bottom of the Steinbergbahn. Mushy at the very bottom, but only the last bit. The only other time we dropped below mid-station was the final run down the Kohlmais (pistes 66 and 52) after a very riotous happy hour at the Bergeralm; however that was after the piste bashers had been up at around 5.30pm so it was nicely groomed.
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Thanks guys - yes of course "hendl" should have given me a clue. I did spot that place
Sunny this morning so a big day out in prospect
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Super day out today over at feiberbrunn.
The new run down there F14 is an absolute belter - in my all time top 10 - and there are lots of other goodies over there too. f10 F1c and the slalom run right down in the village itself are all great and the snow was magic, grippy and flattering.
Back above hinterglemm 36a was in good shape, sheilded from the hot afternoon sun.
I surfed home underneath the bernkogelbahn to complete a big day out 
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