 Poster: A snowHead
|
looking at both saalbach & hinterglemm for my partner, a cautious 2/3 week learner. Which of the two has the easiest access to gentle 'confidence building' pistes.
cheers
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Nein - Go to Niederau.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
beeryletcher, thought about it, but looking for somewhere that also gives me a good sized area to play in & where piste acces generally easy
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
It doesn't really matter, both have plenty to suit. The Kohlmais area at Saalbach is filled with easy blues, but tbh I'd go with wherever you find the best deal.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Hinterglemm gets my vote. reasonably easy ski down in the evening, some goo learner/early intermediate @ hochalm and Spieleck, as well as rietewrkogel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Thanks clarky999, and Bob, There's not much difference in the package prices, and both hotels close to the lifts, hence the question. I am leaning toward hinterglemm if only for the night skiing & the goatsstall !!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Night Skiing isn't great IMHO. But, The Goatstall is superb, and if you want to try the tobanning hinterlemm has a really goo run.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bob, Now you mention it, do remember the night slope being nothing special, however do have some blurred but pleasant memories of the goatsstall ! ( including heading back down the piste after sat on a bin bag, but that's another story...)
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Goatstall is ace, although Saalbach swings it for later night stuff. Only about €10 for a taxi between the two though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK - nothing in it skiing-wise, but drinking is more extreme in Saalbach (Goatstall excepted).
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
For someone with 2/3 weeks' skiing either Hinterglemm or Saalbach would be fine. In Saalbach I prefer piste 51 for the return to the village rather than 52. In Hinterglemm the blue 11a back down from the Zwölferkogel isn't always easy. The Hochalm area in Hinterglemm has good runs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
I would suggest Saalbach too. There are a number of nice runs back down to Saalbach all ending up at Bauer's which I preferred to the Goatstall for Apres Ski.
I have been twice and both times found the skiing up to the Right of Bauers to be very fun and varied, particularly for beginner/inter skiers. There are a number of easy to get to bars, huts, and restaurants up that side too. So much so our group are going back for the 3rd season in a row in Jan. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Both good choice, nice smooth pistes so can ski on very low snow cover.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
thanks for your advice all. not sounding as though there's much in it, particularly as our apres ski won't run much past a few gluweins at the end of the day ( I am with my partner......!). I remember prefering saalbach for the ambience, but then the hinterglemm option is slightly more upmarket for the same price...
this could be a coin-toss decision ! 
anyone any observations on or recommendations for ski schools in either area ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Plug for Fuerstauer in Saalbach 'cos I work there occasionally  Most of the school's are pretty good tbh, and all the instructors I've met in Saalbach have been cool. You could do worse than ask for Frazer or Georgi at Fuerstauer though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Thanks for that recommendationclarky999, Duly noted. do you know any of the hinterglemm crowd or do the same schools cover both ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
There are different schools over in Hinterglemm (although obviously lessons move freely between the two), sorry I don't know any of them though. Fuerstauer also took over Hinterholzer this year (although I understand Hans will still be involved). Snow Academy are also worth looking into (in Saalbach) - I'm always jealous of their uniform 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
thanks clarky999, will check them out, though still have to flick the coin for which of the two to go to. the hinterglem m option better value for accomodation, but.................. god I hate decisions!! ( particularly when I'm making them for my partner whose currently overseas, such responsibility !) 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
nickH, go for Hinterglemm - while there's not a lot in it, Saalbach is built up the side of the hill, so the main street and some of the roads off it are on a 10-15 degree slope with cobbles, so for a cautious learner that may be a bit much first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon. I've seen several nasty falls as a result. Hinterglemm is almost entirely on the flat.
For people more comfortable walking in their boots at the end of a long day, it's not generally a problem if you take care.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Good point ousekjarr, She's still far from comfortable trekking any distance in boots with skis & I remember coming a cropper myself heading down through the town one evening ( mind you there's a slim chance a long après ski session might have had some influence....)!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
nickH,
Bear in mind the sunniness of the slopes at the time you are planning to go. The large expanses of beginner/intermediate skiing on the Kohlmaisgipfel mountain above Saalbach and also on the Bernkogel are principally south-facing (which can be an advantage in say January, but not in March, when Leogang usually has the best snow)). Hinterglemm tends to have more west/north-facing pistes (as well as south-facing), so the sunny, easy skiing in January would be high up on the Reiterkogel, the Zwolferkogel and at Hochalm.
The Goassstall at Hinterglemm is great for apres-ski partying, and we are regular visitors. However don't under-rate Saalbach, which has its own equally popular venues. Perhaps the Saalbach equivalent of the Goassstall is the Hinterhagalm, which is just as lively and provides the same attraction of skiing down a flood-lit nursery slope at the end of the party. The main differences are that the Hinterhagalm party happens inside (a huge barn - google it) and the music is provided by an extremely popular resident band, the Flamingos, who have been performing every evening of every ski season for the last 30 years or so. Another difference is that at Hinterglemm (at least on the south-facing side - there are other places on the other side, such as the Hexenhaeusl near the Zwolferkogel bottom station), people tend to just gravitate to the Goassstall at 4pm, after maybe a pitstop at the Pfefferalm (quiet and peaceful), whereas at Saalbach you have the lively Happy Hour at the Bergeralm (on a sunny terrace up the mountain), followed by an easy ski down to the Maisalm (another sunny terrace with music and conviviality), followed by the Hinterhagalm party, followed by a final ski down the afre-mentioned floodlit piste to the famous Bauers Schalm (almost opposite our apartments) and the bars surrounding it - always very lively and fun.
Regarding the comments about the floodlit piste at Hinterglemm, this has now been significantly extended and provided with its own gondola cable-car (new for last season), so it's a very different proposition from the shorter piste and T-bar of previous seasons.
This coming season will see a brand new gondola up the Bernkogel at Saalbach, so that may well have an impact on both the skiing and the apres, with venues such as the Baernalm and the Westenstadl (up the Bernkogel) and the Backtattstall (at the bottom) possibly capitalising.
Regarding the comments about walking through cobbled streets, you don't need to do any (or at least much) of that if you choose your accommodation wisely. Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.
PM me if you would like my comprehensive guide to Saalbach-Hinterglemm, which covers just about everything you could ever want to know!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many thanks Tatmans Tours, for some great advice, I'll be pm'ing you for your insiders guide. As it is I only last night booked hinterglemm largely because the package was better on a number of points other than the skiing.
An interesting point about the direction of the pistes re sun.I do now remember coming out of a saalbach hotel some years ago one January morning with the valley temperature -14C. My partner being rather thin blooded will need all the sun she can get in those conditions !!
As for the après being so good in saalbach, having finished her lessons she could always take the bus to saalbach to meet me at the bottom, whilst I will just have to face the challenge of all the bars on the way down on behalf of the both of us, hopefully arriving in fit enough a state to convince her of my gratitude at her patience !!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
she could always take the bus to saalbach to meet me at the bottom
|
No doubt you'll find plenty of apres-ski entertainment in Hinterglemm, but it certainly makes for a more varied holiday if you try to sample both resorts's skiing and apres as fully as time will allow. As clarky999, has suggested, the taxis between the two are plentiful and relatively cheap. The ski bus is free until 5pm and after that you have the hourly Nightliner bus service, which costs only a few euros. Basically treat the two villages as one resort, and it won't cost an arm and a leg to go to and fro between them at will.
If your partner wants to meet you in Saalbach for the apres-ski, one recommended option would be to take the ski bus beyond Saalbach village to the Schoenleitenbahn gondola and go to the very top (the Wildenkarkogel), where you could meet around mid to late-afternoon. From there it's easy blue pistes all the way down to Saalbach (with no more lifts, so you can take your time), and all the apres-ski venues I've mentioned above are on the way down. You can stop at any you fancy, apres-ski to your heart's content and take a taxi or the Nightliner bus back to Hinterglemm afterwards.
An all day ski school lesson would of course interfere with the above-mentioned plan (the Schoenleitenbahn closes at around 4pm) - if she can't get away until later in the afternoon, the recommendation would be either to take a taxi all the way to the Hinterhagalm and meet you there, or to get the ski bus to the Schattberg Xpress Lift Station and then walk up through the village to Bauers Schialm and meet you there (or take a taxi from the Schattberg Xpress up to the Hinterhagalm and meet you there).
If she meets you at the Hinterhagalm (not so Bauers) she should take her skis with her so that you can have a nice, romantic, moonlit (and floodlit) ski down the nursery slopes afterwards.
Have a great time!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Thanks again Tatmans Tours ( bold bit doesn't seem to work for now) for more great info. Particularly interested in the transport info, very useful. Will have to assess her skiing again before I take her to the top & start her on the long après descent -you never know, might help her relax a bit, the shot of rum in my mid morning hot chocolate usually does that for me !!( or could it be the beer with the lunchtime goulashsuppe, or........)
Cheers
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
Will have to assess her skiing again before I take her to the top & start her on the long après descent
|
If she's not quite up to that long descent, a shorter, easier alternative which will still take you past all the same apres-venues is to:
- take the Kohlmaisgipfelbahn gondola to the top, exit to the left (not the right), double back under the cable-car (which will lead you onto the same piste (No.56) as if you'd exited right at the top - just misses the initial steep bit),
- then bear left down an easy blue track past the Thurneralm to the Bergeralm, then (after Happy Hour)
- down a very easy blue track ("Route 66") to the Asteralm. There you take blue Piste 52 (the Maisabfahrt") past the Maisalm (optional pit-stop) and the Hinterhagalm (compulsory drinks, singing and dancing!).
This is pretty standard stuff for anyone who has progressed from the nursery slopes. The reason I suggested the longer descent for your partner is that the ski bus deposits you at the Schoenleitenbahn lift. thus it does avoid the the 10 minute stroll up through the village from the Schattberg Xpress Lift Station bus stop to the Kohlmaisgipfelbahn lift (which incidentally closes at 4.30pm), as well as being a very satisfying ski down.
A glance at the on-line piste map will clearly show you what I mean.
I hope all this is of some use to you, and perhaps also others - it's certainly getting me in the mood!
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Tatman's Tours -a great itinery thanks & one that I shall definitely try, hopefully in the o/h's company !
Bring on the snow, roll on january
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
thanks markbish,not up to the headtorch stuff, but as long as there's snow I'll enjoy it !!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
markbish,
Nice to hear from another Saalbach afficianado! What goes on at the Skyrest and the Sunliner?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
nickH,
| Quote: |
not up to the headtorch stuff
|
Only necessary in the early season, if you hang around in the Bergeralm too long. Keep an eye on the gathering dusk, and you'll be okay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
I expect to be well ensconced somewhere warm, noisy & near the valley floor by dusk !!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
| Quote: |
somewhere warm, noisy & near the valley floor
|
That'll be the Hinterhagalm or the Goassstall then!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
