 Poster: A snowHead
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Resort: Saalbach
Who went: Me and my other half (J for the purpose of this)
Domain: The Skicircus, currently around 270 km of pistes, but likely to be expanded with a connection over to Zell am See.
When: Christmas 2017
Reason for choosing : As J is quite new to skiing I’d previously picked beginner-friendly resorts (Soldeu and Alpe D’Huez – I was pleasantly surprised by the former) and we were unlucky with conditions at both places (sheet ice vs slush). Sensing that J didn’t quite have the skiing bug yet I thought that Christmas in a snowy, traditional Austrian village would do the trick. We left it late so we knew conditions were pretty good and booked the Hotel Kristiana through Crystal for a very reasonable price (much cheaper than we could have done ourselves).
Flights and transfers : Flights from EMA to Salzburg on 23rd Dec – outbound we were delayed 2 hours. It transpires that this is a regular occurrence for this flight as it arrives at EMA from the rather chaotic Chambery. We should count ourselves lucky though, because a week later it didn’t take off at all (and was re-scheduled for a day later). Upon landing we were sat on a coach for about 90 minutes whilst the reps searched for four missing tourists (maybe they could just call them?). All of this meant that we missed our hotel meal, though the hotel soon put a smile back on our faces by preparing a meat and cheese platter with complimentary wine – lovely!
Coming home on the 30th, we arrived at Salzburg to be told that there was at least a 4 hour delay. Again the gloom was short-lived – a TUI flight back to Glasgow was empty (having just dispatched its first passengers of the season) and offered to drop us all off slightly earlier than the scheduled flight.
The hotel: The Kristiana is situated at the top of the main street, within a five minute walk of both lift stations in the village and is the best skiing accommodation I’ve stayed in. It has nice bar and very friendly staff. Christmas Eve was a highlight; the guests were gathered around the Christmas Tree to sing Silent Night (lyric sheets in German and English) and an Austrian band played during the 4 course meal. Breakfasts and dinners were very good all week and the mixture of different nationalities made for a great atmosphere.
The skiing : Having previously skied in Saalbach with a group of experienced skiers I hadn’t really paid attention to piste difficulty, but I was struck by the steepness of a lot of the blue runs. This is where the advice received from other Snowheads (especially Mr Tatman) was invaluable. A fantastic blue at the top of the Bernkogel lift (accessible from the gondola from the village, then a chairlift) was a great confidence booster, followed by the many steady blues on the Kohlmais side of the village. We only came unstuck when unwisely following advice from fellow guests to try blue 2 from the top of Schattberg Ost – very icy and steeper than anything else we’d been down– I had to carry J’s skis for a large part of this one.
A minor blip though, and by the end of the week we’d made it to Leogang, Hinterglemm and skied most of the easier runs at Hochalm. Whilst J was in a private lesson I made it over to Fieberbrunn, but didn’t hang around long as I was worried about the lift connection closing.
I can’t comment about the off-piste on offer, but piste-wise there looks to be something for everyone. By the end of the week J was skiing her first reds.
The snow : Conditions were great all week – lots of snow prior to our arrival, and sun for all but one day. The north-facing runs were icy, but we tried to avoid these where possible.
Lift system : Fast efficient lifts throughout the area and minimal queues (if any). A couple of times the higher lifts were closed due to high-wind at the top, but this didn’t affect us in the still valleys. This did lead to the comical spectacle of a couple (English) shouting at the lift man that he’d closed the lifts for no reason and they wanted a refund. Personally I’d have sent them up there. If you do get stuck, ski buses are pretty abundant to get you back to your village (although I’m not sure this applies to Leogang or Fieberbrunn).
The resort: Saalbach is a lovely small village with loads of bars and restaurants and some lovely looking hotels. Apres-wise, we usually ended up at Spitzbub, Burgi’s or Bauer’s Schi Alm at the base of the Kohlmais – all were great fun and it was a little difficult to drag ourselves back for dinner on a couple of nights. Criminally I had never been to the Hinterhag before (due to staying in a pension on the Schattberg side I think). This is an experience not to be missed, although I’m sure it would have been even busier at New Year. In Hinterglemm we had a night at the Goesstall – pretty good, but we preferred Saalbach.
Food : I can’t comment on restaurants in the village, but the mountain huts were all of great quality with friendly staff. The Sonnalm, Barnalm and Alte Schmiede were our favourites.
Costs: £850 pp each for the package, E255 for lift passes, cheap ski higher at Hansi’s complete with post-breakfast schnapps. Food and drink was very reasonable (cheaper than Andorra).
Conclusion: A fantastic week, so much so that we were trying to find ways to stay on a couple more days, but no beds were available.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nice report - looking to do another Austrian trip so good info - thanks
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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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Well done @Valluga its great having a good time.
Its also good that you are also blessed with that great gift of good thing happening.
Such as lucky flights.
I spotted your handle and thought for a moment that you were an old ski buddy of mine who had VALLUGA as his car number plate, but his wife was called C.
Great skiers both of them.
Thanks for the report!
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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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@DrLawn,
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old ski buddy of mine who had VALLUGA as his car number plate
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Wow, how much that one worth? Which is the 'number' in that? Maybe Austria doesn't have them?
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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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@DrLawn, not me I'm afraid - and we're definitely not great skiers. Just happened to be in St Anton when I first joined snowheads and that was the first name that came to mind. Well...the second, but it appears someone has already taken Stanton... 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Valluga, Glad you had a successful holiday and found my tips useful. Not surprised that you didn't like 2b, although it can be okay early in the day and in good snow conditions. Glad you used Hansi for your equipment needs; also that you discovered the subtle attractions of the Hinterhag.
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@Valluga, +1 for hotel Kristiana, I have been going to Saalbach for a number of years and stayed in numerous places (none of which were bad) However stayed in Kristiana for the first time in January and got to say this my new favourite when I take in all factors, quality of room and location stand out for me. Been in some other quality hotels but down at the bottom of the town or on main road, but they are not as good for location, access to lifts in morning or the best apres more importantly!!
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@PeakyB, V411 UGA in the old style, if you squint a little and use a sans serif font
@Valluga, 2B off the top of Schattberg Ost is one of the glories of the valley, but only when the conditions are good and the skiers are at a level to handle it. Lots of it is rolling, open and easy but the top section to the cut-off at Simalalm runs parallel to the red and is really of the same grade, and the bottom section down to Jausernalm looks pretty daunting if you've only ever been on blues before - whereas once you are comfortable on reds, the pitch down to Jausernalm is great fun. The only downside used to be standing up in the Schonleitenbahn to get out of the valley, but now that has been replaced by a heated and seated gondola the only issue is getting there before 10am or after 11am to avoid the queues caused by the ski school classes all trying to get on at the same time.
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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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I had a horrible experience skiing the 2b a few years back as an end-of-the-day run that I really didn't want to do. I'm more than capable of skiing it, but I'd wanted to grab a lift back down as I was very tired and I'd had enough of skiing for the day. However, thanks to a navigating cock-up by the group we missed the lift station and had to ski the 2b. The top wasn't too bad but the bottom section was a nightmare; huge, slushy moguls interspersed with sheet ice. I was raging by the time we finished and demanded an immediate large beer in the bar at the bottom. 
Glad you had a great time in Saalbach OP, it's a resort I'll most definitely return to and I will also make a note of that hotel, it sounds great.
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@HoneyBunny, Nightmare runs are good experience 😉
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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No, no they are not!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Valluga, good report. The more I read about Saalbach the more I like what I read and see. Certainly on my want to go to list in the next couple of seasons.
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You know it makes sense.
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FAQ
Although (it's just occurred to me) the busiest place all week seemed to be Schwips by the Schattberg lift. Very friendly but very smoky.
We've since had another great week in Schladming skiing on mainly reds, so I'm sure she will enjoy it more next time.
