 Poster: A snowHead
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Looking at doing Saalbach before Christmas this year, not been before and it looks low, so crystal ball time will there be snow?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We went the week before Christmas last year and the snow was perfect. Some slopes weren't open though so you couldn't ski from Saalbach to Hinterglemm at the time on the North side of the valley. There is plenty of snow making equipment so as long as its cold enough you should have no problems.
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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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I went somewhere in Austria in September once. It rained. Cleared up in the afternoon though. Take travel scrabble, just in case.
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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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I've worked the last couple of Christmases in Saalbach. This year was a bit poor - plenty of snow cover, but icy and hard. Year before was great, rained in resort a couple of times, but snowed up on the hill. About 20cms of fresh on Christmas day was a nice present... Annoyingly, it always seems to dump just as I have to leave...
Whilst you can never guarantee snow anywhere, I would expect it to be fine (different weather patterns in Austria mean you don't need to go as high as you would in France to get snow).
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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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We've spent the last 5 Christmases in Saalbach and haven't had any problem - on the contrary we've had some great skiing. You can check historical snow depths for last season, which was worse for snow than average, on www.ski-club.co.uk The snow-making is very extensive and the Saalbach website makes the point that the mountains there are grassy, rather than rocky, so that skiing is possible with relatively low snow depths. It has been our experience that temperatures have often tended to drop very low during mid-December, only to rise and hover around 0 degrees at village level during Christmas week.
In the notorious 2006/07 season, when snow was thin everywhere, we were there for Christmas week. Air temperatures were cold and the snow cannons were roaring away day and night. Apart from the odd link that was inconveniently closed, we didn't feel at all restricted and had a great week's skiing. We returned for a further two weeks in mid-Feb and mid-March respectively and had such a great time that we had no hesitation in buying property there.
In the third week of November 2007 we travelled to Saalbach (to finalise the purchase) and the snow was already very deep - our garden fence was buried! The resort opened part of the Zwolferkogel sector that weekend - we hadn't expected to be skiing fresh powder under blue skies in November! My recollection is that Christmas conditions were excellent.
In December 2008 and 2009 we arrived in Saalbach just before Christmas to be told both times that we'd missed "perfect" conditions! A family who were there for the w/c 15th Dec commented that it had been head-numbingly cold all week - -20C or less. We had dozens of people staying for a family wedding in Christmas week 2009 and there were no complaints about the snow, which was plentiful.
Last season the snow was so bloody perfect in mid-December, and it galled me so much that our 2 bedroom apartment was standing empty, that I phoned my cousin and pleaded with him to take his family for a pre-Christmas break. He was there from 16th to 23rd Dec and enjoyed perfect conditions. My son was also working and skiing there and confirms that conditions were "beautiful". It got warmer after we arrived on 22nd, and, as Clarky999 has observed, it rained at village level a couple of times, but not enough to bother anyone - it invariably turns to snow fairly quickly at that time of the season.
With an eye to next season, I'm touching wood as I write this!
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I would say the snow condition varies from year to year but it should be fine in Christmas. In my year there Zell am See, which is a few away away, was a bit stony but Saalbach/Hinterglemm/Leogang was perfect.
Austria has nothing but mountains and some valleys can hold snow better than the others. Saalbach is one of them.
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is about 1,000 feet lower than Saalbach, which consequently tends to have much better snow. I have often known it to be raining in Zell but snowing in Saalbach.
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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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radar, Before Christmas it will obviously be quiet, so even if the snow turns out to be good, the pistes should be relatively empty, and there won't be a lot going on in the famous Saalbach apres-ski department. PM me your e-mail if you'd like a copy of my Saalbach guide, covering everything you're likely to want to know (that is, if you haven't already got it).
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Tatman's Tours, have been on your site and that along with the postings convinced me its the place to go, will PM you
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