 Poster: A snowHead
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Polish your crystal balls, please. Mine's a bit foggy.
I'm looking at a rather attractive package week in Saalbach starting on New Year's Eve. Having had a look at current conditions, it seems that 57 out of 108 slopes are in operation. This is not actually ideal, but how much can it improve in the 2.5 weeks left?
Any guesses? Skies are apparently clear for at least a week.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@SkiingDad, Just had a glorious day skiing in Saalbach today - see the main Saalbach thread. Conditions are really good, albeit all on artificial snow. Even with only 150km of pistes open out of 270km, this is more than many resorts can offer when they are fully open. The entire Circus circuit is open, as well as the links to Leogang and Fieberbrunn.
Last New Year the conditions were much worse than they are now, which resulted in many locals and day trippers/ weekenders from Salzburg and Bayern staying away, leaving the pistes very quiet. I suspect that is why there are some good deals to be had this year as well.
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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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Snowmaking is great at Saalbach. Last January had a great week, just limited / no off piste
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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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According to https://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/Austria/Saalbach_Hinterglemm_snow.html their crystal ball is showing 30-40cm of snow around Christmas, but of course any forecast for more than 2-3 days starts to diverge from reality to a greater or lesser extent and it could come to nothing.
57 slopes closed is not a major issue - have a look at https://www.saalbach.com/en/live-info/lifts-and-pistes and see what is open. There are a lot of small slopes in the bottom of the valley which are currently closed, plus 30-40% of Fieberbrunn, and all of the skiways which run down into the bottom of the valley with no return lift. Of the "major" pistes, about 80% are open.
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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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Regardless of the weather/snow cover, taking what is open now as a guide to the beginning of Jan probably isn't great. It will be very quiet pre Christmas so there just aren't the customers to make it worthwhile having all the pistes/lifts open. Even in years of stellar early conditions thy won't have everything open.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Skied saalbach, Hinterglem and Leogang last Friday. All pistes in good condition
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Have ticket, will travel.
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Thanks for all the replies! I knew about the snow-making, obviously, but I was a bit hesitant about how quickly they will be able to cover the area. You convinced me.
Of course, I could've chosen another resort, but Saalbach seemed sort of ideal for my family. Never been so early in the season before. We usually end up going in March.
OMG, not much time for packing. OMG, what to do on New Year's Eve? Ah well, it usually sorts itself out.
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