TirolS - the link between Fieberbrunn and Saalbach-Hinterglemm

A snowHead

@espri, Thanks for this - nice to see that all that lift pass money is being well spent! I can see that a trip up and over the Bernkogel (from Saalbach), hopefully in a little over 7 weeks time, is going to be fascinating. Smile

A snowHead

With the risk of sounding like a complete geek, I found these pictures enthralling even though I have no idea about these resorts having never been. Good work, @espri.

Any chance of can head over to the Kitzbuhel area to take pictures of the new Brunn lift 😜?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@espri, Thanks for the update cant wait to see it!!

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I visited the new TirolS lift again today, to see what it looked like with a bit of snow. On the way I called first at the base of the Fieberbrunn lifts, at Lindau. The signpost on the main road has been renewed and now shows the Ski Circus logo (but no longer displays whether the lifts are running or not). Hopefully it won't confuse car drivers into turning right there for Saalbach! A couple of new ticket windows have been added and the waiting area for the bus has been covered over...

I wouldn't recommend anyone to drive into the Hörndlinger Graben to reach the TirolS (middle station) and the skiing, for the road isn't suited to much traffic, especially in winter (it was slippery enough today). You should ski over from Fieberbrunn, Saalbach or Hinterglemm. The road into the Hörndlinger Graben does have a tunnel that you have to go through - here's a photo which the lift company made of the lift cable on its way: Delivering the TirolS lift cable. A bit further on from that tunnel there are two tunnel entrances at the side of the road (you just drive past them). In recent months there has been work going on here but I hadn't associated it with the building of the new lift. I had always imagined that this other tunnel was part of the mining in the Bürglkopf, the mountain they go into. But now I have realised that the tunnel is more likely a bypass for a stretch of the road threatened by avalanches. This tunnel had always looked abandoned to me, so I don't know whether it has been used in recent times. Maybe the road was just closed if avalanches threatened. But that would hardly do now if workers had to reach the new lift and the hut near it. So it seems that renovating the tunnel was also necessary as part of building the new Fieberbrunn-Saalbach/Hinterglemm link. No wonder these projects are expensive! Here's one tunnel entrance, the other is a few hundred metres further up the road, round the corner...

At the TirolS everything looked good. The lift was running tests and was moving fast, I thought, with the cabins going through at this middle station. On the Vierstadlalm piste coming down to the lift the snow cannons were blasting away and the piste looked in pretty good condition, though there wasn't really enough snow in the valley yet to ski there...

Here are some more photos at the middle station...

Entry for rides to Fieberbrunn (assuming the lift runs in the direction it was going today)

The lift track looking towards the Reiterkogl and Hinterglemm

The lift track on the Fieberbrunn side, connecting with the Reckmoos Süd gondola

My original idea had been to drive further up the road and then maybe walk up to the lift stations on the Fieberbrunn side, the Reckmoos Süd bottom station and the new station of the TirolS. However, the road was blocked by a digger and men were working there (maybe installing another snow cannon?) and on the bridge, so I abandoned that plan. Beyond the bridge, which is just beside the middle station of the lift, you can see what will be the ski track down to the lift (when it is possible to ski in the valley)...

But before I left for home, I admired the new Pulvermacher Scherm hut standing just alongside the middle station. Though workmen were still busy there, it will no doubt be finished for the season starting - at the lift office I had been told that 4th December was the earliest opening date for the lifts...

...lass es krachen -- Let's go for it!

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@espri, Excellent pictures, thanks for sharing.

Can't wait to sample this new area in March snowHead

After all it is free

@espri, Great pics. Are these likely to be up and running in the week we are there (12 December)?

@SCollier1, I couldn't swear to it but I'm hoping so and I think they may well be (it has snowed another cm this evening, hopefully more up the hill, and more is forecast for the next days).

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SCollier1 said

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@espri, thanks for the pics, great to get a sight of what I can expect for my visit in January,

I wonder how much busier the pistes will be coming down the Bernkogel to Saalbach at the end of the day and also always found the lift going up during the day relatively quiet( I suspect given t bar at top), now that's gone interesting to see effect?

snow reports

@ribblevalleyblue, With the upgrading of the T-bars, I wouldn't be surprised if the upper section of the Bernkogel becomes a prime nursery area!

@ribblevalleyblue, yes, it will be interesting to see what difference the new lifts make. The Fieberbrunn lift company seems to expect more customers, since they have added two new ticket windows. I have always worried a bit that parking could become a problem in Fieberbrunn (and more that the slopes would become busier than we are used to). But, as you and Tatman's Tours suggest, the new Bernkogel 6er chairlift will probably have more effect on the Saalbach side.

You know it makes sense.

Yesterday the new TirolS gondola started operating, linking Fieberbrunn with Saalbach and Hinterglemm. John Barr and I went to try it. Snow was scarce; what there was, was all artificial. This meant that you couldn't ski all the way down to the valley from the Fieberbrunn side, so we had to take both sections of the TirolS. You can see the snowless track to the right in the photo below, looking down towards the middle station. In the background is the Vierstadlalm piste, leading down from the Reiterkogel above Hinterglemm...

In the morning most of the piste was in the shade, so we skied on the sunny, south facing slopes in the Glemmtal. Very enjoyable. By the afternoon, though, the sun had reached the Vierstadlalm piste and we had a couple of runs down it. The first photo shows the starting point where it branches off the piste alongside the Reiter-Ost chairlift...

The top section shown in the photo below is gently rolling but the piste has steeper sections lower down, making it quite a challenging red. In this photo you can also see, across on the Fieberbrunn side of valley, the Reckmoos Süd piste leading down to the new lift (and get an impression of how there are presently only strips of artificial snow)...

And here is one of the drops which is followed by a short section of track. I look on this as being a "bypass" for a steeper direct route but there was no snow on the direct run just now. The end of the track was scraped and icy and I found it tricky, moreso than the steep drops...

Despite the general lack of snow, we had a very good day's skiing. The runs in the sun were great, those in the shade very hard packed. The TirolS lift certainly opens up great new possibilities.

P.S. I had meant to mention that, starting from the base of the Fieberbrunn lifts, it took us about 45 minutes to reach the top of the TirolS on the Reiterkogel and then about another 15 minutes to reach the bottom station of the Bernkogel gondola. At the bottom station of the Bernkogel gondola in Saalbach there is a warning to be back at the TirolS lift by 3 p.m. for trips back to Fieberbrunn (on the bottom station of the TirolS, on the Fieberbrunn side, it said that the lift would be running till 4 p.m.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@espri, Brilliant updates - much appreciated snowHead

A snowHead

A snowHead

@quinton, I thought it made sense that there should be one - perhaps they've been reading this forum wink

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

was thinking that could make another circuit albeit with a bus trip but the times are not good either way as no bus either side of midday so looks like taxi will be the only feasible way to come over from salbach and get back

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I had never thought of taking a bus. I always imagined skiing over and then skiing back the same way, just as I did when entering the Saalbach Ski Circus from Leogang in the past. I hope to try it soon, so I'll let you know how I get on later

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Those of us who are based in Saalbach or Hinterglemm are probably looking for new opportunities to do a circuit of the system that doesn't involve covering the same terrain twice. When we do it (at a leisurely pace), a circuit of the main Glemm valley takes about 4 hours including a break for lunch and makes for a an enjoyable and satisfying day out. Looking at the ski bus timings, the journey between the Fieberbrunn and Leogang Asitz gondola stations takes about 25 minutes, which is possibly 10 or 15 mins longer than most people would want to sit on a bus. However I'm keeping an open mind about it, and there may be occasions when it may be more convenient to go round in a circuit, rather than return the same way. This would almost certainly have to be a clockwise circuit, as the only convenient bus timings seem to be the 14.26 departure from Fieberbrunn, arriving at Leogang at 14.51. That is actually ideal timing for skiing back from Leogang to get to the Bergeralm for happy hour. wink

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if you 2 think its possible will have to have a try, that will make for another fun day once the snow arrives or at least a mini challenge and with the option of a taxi or returning the way you came both ways possible, but agree with the thinking that the clockwise route is doable to make new tracks in fieberbrunn and the favorite return so long as all goes to plan with a smallish group and hopefully before we get there someone will have done it and reported here

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

For the record, I wanted to drive to the middle station of the TirolS lift today (with a friend who wouldn't be able to ski there). As I had rather expected, the road is only open for official traffic and taxis (presumably for skiers who are too late to complete the trip back to Fieberbrunn or Saalbach-Hinterglemm, or decide they can't ski any further). Deciding my trip was official enough didn't help, for only a few hundred metres further on the road was closed altogether because of avalanche risk.

So it seems that generally the only way to reach the TirolS is on skis (at present also for those who work there, I assume).

Help!!

TirolS - the link between Fieberbrunn and Saalbach-Hinterglemm

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