Saalbach - Hinterglemm - Leogang - Fieberbrunn 2017/18 Official Unofficial Thread

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@radar, Very useful and interesting George. Thanks for posting.

A snowHead

snow-forecast.com is predicting an end to the currect mild spell, cold weather (freezing level 700m) and significant new snow next Saturday - just in case anyone's interested Very Happy

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@tatmanstours, nearly got caught out Toofy Grin

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Zwolferkogel today, Hintergelmm and Saalbach beyond looking in excellent condition

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Sat in the Hecherhütte having lunch right now. First time down blue 68. Doesn't disappoint! Very quiet and even though mild temperatures, not cut up at all. Bottoms of most runs were mogul filled slushy stuff late on yesterday and raining ☹️ We also got caught in a hailstorm on the way back from the chicken man yesterday which was' interesting 😨

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@Whitty,sat at home having lunch just thinking about the fun we had in saalbach last week . im presuming you will going back up and of to claim your spot early doors on the balcony at the hinterhag,

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Will be doing happy hour at the Bergeralm (just for a change wink

), and popping into the Hinterhag to meet radar and Mrs radar. Haven't skied today (yet) but looks beautiful out there now.

After all it is free

Sitting in the Bergeralm listening to the usual apres-ski mash-up - songs originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Four Seasons/Andy Williams, Doris Day, John Denver/Olivia Newton-John, Gloria Gaynor. An eclectic mix set to the usual euro-pop beat. My “quiz question” is, what were the songs? 🙂

looking down to Leogang from the Grosser Asitz at 1pm yesterday,

@Whitty, missed the hailstorm , did have snow at the top of Wildenkarkogel around 3.30, aiming to do 68 today, agree on the slushy bit, though the reds are in better condition

Had our first Experience of the Hinterhag!

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@tatmanstours, Another excellent recommendation we enjoyed a very good pizza at Alpz a worthy replacement for Wallner

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snow reports

@Whitty, yes did it yesterday, got there around 1 and it was very soft coming up to Hecherhütte and supper soft towards the end, but well worth doing.

Agree about the slush fest, we did stop early and will take the cable car down this pm

Forecast for next week is showing -11c

View on route 68

You know it makes sense.

The passing warm front and “Foehnig” weather we’ve had this week is a phenomenon that we’re well used to. It can happen at any time of the season. Fortunately there is plenty of snow to withstand it, and, as mentioned above, we’re about to be plunged back into “tiefwinter” (deep winter) weather from Saturday. In the meantime there’s plenty of opportunity to practise slushy mogul skiing, which actually does become enjoyable and satisfying if you stick at it.

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

Today we attempted @tatmanstours, route 3, printed it out and had it in my inside pocket to be sure there would be no deviations! one slight problem the Freeride World Tour, which meant the F6 and F6a are closed.

I thought I would try an time it, we were at the Bernkogelbahnn for 9.30, connected to the Berrnkolgel 6er, then 48 to Reitter-Ost 6er, down 37 and left onto F14, which was in excellent condition and a joy to ski. Up the TirolS connect with the Reckmoos Sud, then down F10 as @tatmanstours, has said the black F10a is so much better than staying on the red, too the short ride on the Reckmoos F5, then stopped for coffee at the Larchflizhochalm,

then down F9 fabulous and empty , up the Larchfilzen 4er, then down F1 and F1c, then as recommended we took the Dolschberg then down F8 as has been said in the Route 3 guide, this isn't really a red.

Then we took the Streuboden cable car an interesting experience, we then went down F2 which was in great condition, slightly soft a the bottom but no slush, not many people on this run either.

Back up the Streuboden cable car connected to the Larchfilzkoge, we had to deviate from Route 3 and forgo the Wildalpgatteri Sad

took F1 to the Reckmoosnord (we remembered to turn right) rode it all the way up , then down F10 and F10a a sharp left at the bottom of F10a to get to the Teehutte for lunch at 1.15.

, nice spot decent goulash and pea soup

After lunch back up the Reckmoos Nord then down F12, bit of mogul practise towards the end but not too bad, but decided we weren't going to do F13 and took the TirolS all the way through, then down 37 which was in remakablity good condition.

Down 46 to the Barnalm for a gluewein, then down to the bottom and finished by 3.55

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Just seen my posting on a full size computer! The first picture is the view from the Larchflizhochalm, the second is at the Teehutte, please note the nifty way of parking your skis, no their not mine Very Happy

Wish I was till there

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Good skiing today. Beautiful sunny weather and generally good snow too, especially over at Leogang. Chicken Man for lunch, Bergeralm for late afternoon drinks and quite a party atmosphere (thanks mainly to a 30 strong group from Saddleworth/Oldham area), Hinterhag for an apres party, Backstatt Stall for dinner (biggest and meatiest rack of ribs ever!), and Otzi Bar for late evening apres-apres with Spacey.

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Is there anywhere in the Ski Circus that you can park your camper van? I know there is good site in Zell anything closer?

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@radar, Assuming you mean in the summer, I understand that there are sites at the Walleggalm at Hochalm and at Viehhofen.

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@tatmanstours, nope, have some friends going to Obergurgl in a camper van and on to Zell but they thought about a detour to Saalbach

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@radar, At Viehhofen then - or maybe at the Schoenleitenbahn

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After all it is free

@honved, Yes, of course, the obvious answer! I’d forgotten about that, even though I noticed it last time I was over there.

@honved, Thank you, looks very nice, might take up camping!

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After dustings of fresh snow over the past few days, it was snowing quite hard for while this afternoon. Skiing conditions currently superb - fresh snow, and hard, fast, uncrowded pistes with no slush or moguls. Piste 68 is still open. For me the best skiing so far this season has been mid-December, mid-January, and mid-March. Took 36 minutes to ski from the top station of the Kohlmaisgipfelbahn to the Chicken Man (Hendl Fischerei) at Leogang, and that was without racing or busting a gut. Frequently I found myself on empty pistes and was able to just blast down them. Wonderful!

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just had a look on webcam and looks as if major works have started at the bottom of kohlmais , still seems to be a fair amount of good piste available everywhere with few folks about

snow reports

@ski for fun, That’s right - idyllic conditions today and it’s nice to see the valley white over so late in the season.
Yes, the area where the Kohlmais chair lift was (now dismantled) has in the last week become a building site. They seem to be excavating to create an underground car park. The poor old Kohlmaisgipfelbahn is in its death throes!

Many thanks to @tatmanstours! Saalbach is worth a go for anyone who has not visited. Skied 13,500m vertical by 1530 on Saturday, including lunch, and enjoying half price beer. Pistes were in great nick, although low south facing slopes a little wet in the afternoon. Left Saalbach at 1730, took off from Salzburg at 1950 and home at 2145. Can't really beat it. Still a lot left in this season.

You know it makes sense.

@FionaTwice, Half a meter of fresh snow is forecast for Saturday (See www.snow-forecast.com)! Not that it’s needed!
Great day in Fieberbrunn yesterday - Good skiing, particularly in the morning and early afternoon. Snowing lightly today.
These “White Pearl Mountain Days” are great fun and, like last year, certainly add something to the late March atmosphere. Yesterday was the turn of the Larchfilz Hochalm - lunchtime was spent lounging in the sun, eating pizza and enjoying the piste-side entertainment of live music and dancing girls dressed as sparkling, silver angels.

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Just had a snow alert for Thursday, 14cm forecast, assume they are still closing on Sunday

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@radar, Yes, they always seem to get a dump just as the resort is closing, or just after it’s closed. Can’t complain though, we were skiing in fresh powder last Sunday, and conditions were “like January” (I.e. the days in January that weren’t “like March” 😉)

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Is 68 still open?

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@PeteMan, No, it finally closed a few days ago. Everything else is more or less running as normal though (with a few exceptions like the Seekar and Spieleck and Zehner 6er lifts, and piste 14, which is closed owing to avalanche danger). Did the anti-clockwise circuit of the valley today, and ended up at an unusually quiet and peaceful Bergeralm.

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Well I suppose that's it for another year but what an epic season it was?

I'll miss the little Kohlmais 3er, we used it whenever we skied that side of the circus. I won't miss the coke cans next door to it but I did ride them one last time and couldn't help but admire the engineering (like little trains stopping at a railway station).

The replacement sit down cable car is progress I suppose but I can't help thinking that a nice quick heated chair would have been better.

We'll be returning to Saalbach in 2019 following what I hope will be a great summer messing about on the water in my new boat. see you there!

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@PeteMan, The building site opposite our apartments is a sight to behold! The whole lift station building is being torn down rapidly, and an enormous pit has appeared to the right of it, which is to become an underground car park for 100 cars. I beg to differ about that old, slow chair lift, which we hardly ever used, and I am more than happy about the prospect next season of being able to cross the road and get straight into a fast, relatively luxurious, 10-seater gondola (I can't really see how a chair lift would have been preferable).

You're right about it being an epic season - -right up to the last day (yesterday), which was a superb skiing day. Our friend, Spacey (singer, guitarist and ski instructor), skied over to Fieberbrunn, and he reckoned he had the best skiing that he'd had for years - like us (on a trip over to Leogang, via Schattberg, and returning via the Kohlmais), he had well-groomed, empty pistes, on which the skis just begged to do long, sweeping, carved turns. Although it was warm and the sky was completely cloudless all day (as it has been for the last few days), the lack of people has meant that chopped up pistes and moguls are virtually non-existent. It's been fantastic - we even had fresh powder a week ago - and we can thank all those people who continually go on about Saalbach being too low and having too many south-facing slopes for late season skiing Very Happy

I raise my glass to them.

Today nothing has changed - there's still plenty of snow, and the weather has been beautiful - except that the lifts have stopped and the mountains are devoid of skiers. The resort could easily have kept going for another couple of weeks, but of course it wouldn't be cost-effective to keep it all running for the benefit of the few of us who still remain.

Enjoy your boating, and remember that it's only about seven months before the snow cannons are switched on again Very Happy

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I am determined to break away from our February HT routine which has meant alternating between the 3Vs, the Espace Killy and Whistler for the last 6 years ... we’ve only been to the Arlberg and Zell / Kaprun in Austria but fancy Saalbach in 2019. I presume February is a safe bet (in a normal snow year)? And which is the best airport to fly to? Any recommendations for a 4/5* family friendly hotel too? Thanks.

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@franga, Yes, Saalbach is one of the most snow sure resorts in Austria.
Salzburg is the most convenient airport, being only just over an hour’s drive away (a private transfer for a family can be booked for about EUR 150 each way via the Holiday Shuttle website, or one of the taxi firms that advertise airport transfers on the internet).
Many people also fly to Munich and take the train to Zell am See , followed by a taxi or local bus to Saalbach. Car hire from the airport is also an option.
You are unlikely to be disappointed with any of the village centre 4 star hotels. However some are better located than others (I.e. ski convenient), and a few have recently downgraded from half board to B&B (apparently for tax reasons).
The ones that I feel I can recommend, based on reports from friends who have stayed in them, are: Hotel Kohlmais (next door to us), Hotel Kendler, Hotel Kristiana, Hotel EVA Village, Hotel Saalbacherhof, Hotel Post, Hotel Bauer, Hotel Neuhaus, Hotel Panther, Berger’s Sport Hotel, Hotel Alpinresort.

After all it is free

@tatmanstours, thanks, much appreciated!

@franga, to back up what @tatmanstours said, it would have to be an incredible freak year for you not to be snow sure in February. The resort is so incredibly efficient at what they do. About three years back, I was there in early January, at the end of an incredibly warm and dry period. If they had been relying on natural snow there would literally have been no skiing. Instead the majority of runs were open. All they seem to need is a few cold days, and the artificial is laid down to last the season. It's not perfect, but it ensures a lot of good skiing. As for hotels, I'll throw out the Hinterglemm alternative. The Alpine Palace gets good reviews, but for me is big and brash, (though one wing is the cheaper original hotel, with access to the 5-star facilities.) Nearby is the much smaller, recently renovated, family run Hotel am Reiterkogel, (4-star), which has some good family suites, (room 213 being the biggest if I recall). The food is excellent, treading a fine line, and mainly succeeding, between the traditional Austrian stodge, (not a criticism), and a more gourmet experience. Staff very hospitable, happy to prepare meals for picky children and so forth. Both hotels are very central, less than 2 mins to the Reiterkogel lift, and 3 or so to the U-bahn which opens up all the other main lifts. As mentioned above though, it's quite hard to go far wrong with any 4/5 star hotel in the area it seems to me.

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@Colinthc, thanks very much.

We've only skied the Arlberg and Zell / Kaprun in Austria (both extensively) but looking at the piste map and reading the comments on this thread I think that Saalbach is a fantastic option for us. We have booked flights to Munich (flying to Salzburg would have cost us £800 more for February HT week).

I'll look at the hotels you have both recommended and email a couple.

Thanks again (I'm actually looking forward to going back to Austria after a long hiatus).

Help!!

Saalbach - Hinterglemm - Leogang - Fieberbrunn 2017/18 Official Unofficial Thread

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