 Poster: A snowHead
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Just like to know peoples opinion of the above, thinking of heading there this winter, I'd be one for the black slopes and reds, of which there doesn't seem to be too many, also it would appear a bit low in altitude for snow reliability, what are the views of you guys out there, if any?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to snowHeads Glengooly-Guy, I've taken the liberty of moving your thread. Sorry I can't help you about Saalbach, but I'm sure there will be someone who can.
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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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Glengooly-Guy,
Welcome,
Saalbach is a good piste blasters resort with lots of mileage if thats what you need. They put great store in the ski circuit but I don't recall it being too taxing. You might have to go looking for adventure. It is low at 1000m but that is typical for Austria and wouldn't put me off unless I was going very early or late. Small village whcih means it is easy to get to the lifts if you are central and easy to find nightlife. Good quality hotels - again typical for Austria as reasonable prices. This resort will get you accustomed to 4*'s. Very good fun apre straight off the slopes with their ompah band bars which start at the top of the nursery slopes, sometimes earlier, higher-up.
Not an experts resort as such but a good all round holiday destination for mixed goups IMO.
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I've not been to Saalbach but was planning a trip there this coming season. There has been quit a lot of discussion about Saalbach on the forum so I'd suggest doing a search and I think you'll get lots of info.
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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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Glengooly-Guy, I was there in January and really enjoyed it.
Altitiude: It's lowish 1000-2000m but typical for Austria. It's further East than France and colder for same altitude. From mid-Jan to late-March snow record is pretty good. As you're skiing on meadows and not rock, you need far less snow to get cover than on the rocks of somwhewere like Chamonix. In addition they have fantastic snow making facilities.
Lifts: top class, especially with the 2 longer t-bars being replaced with 8 seater heated chairlifts this year. Now has something like 12 gondolas and 15+ high speed detachable 4-8 seater chair lifts.
Challenging: not terribly, but good fun. The Zwolferkogel Nordfahrt is about as hard as any pisted run (e.g. excluding something like the grand couloir in Courcheval which is technically a piste on the map, you'd never get a piste basher on it) I've done. It has 1km vertical 3km length, narrow and very steep in places. The Schattberg black (slope 2?) is a nice smooth steep over 1km of vertical. If you like skiing fast and long on interesting and reasonably challenging reds then its great. There's 200km of slopes of which vast majority are red and some of the blues should prob be reds. Last season I did it as the first trip of the year, and really enjoyed it. That said - if you like trekking for miles before going down some narrow couloir to get your fix, suggest you look elsehwere.
Apres-ski: if you like coming straight off the slopes and ending up dancing on tables at 5pm in the afternoon, as good as anywhere. Town seems quite quiet in the evening, but only because all the bars/clubs are underground and well sound-proofed.
Summary: great resort for lower intermadieate to advance-intermediate/advanced skier. Little for a true expert. Some offf-piste, but a bit limited. Great night-life. Not most attractive village in Austria, but nevertheless has some charm, and far more than french purpose-built resorts.
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kamikaze, I though Saalbach was really pretty with the winding narrow street up the hill.
Glengooly-Guy, kamikaze has covered most things, I just wanted to reiterate that the altitude isn't a problem in peak season and the lift network is excellent. What Saalbach lacks in a challenge (in terms of black runs) it makes up for in mileage and it also has plenty of long red runs if you're looking for a bit of thigh burn!
The hotels are excellent. Nearly all 4 star with good facilities, swimming pool etc.
We're going next Feb for the 2nd time and are a group of confident intermediates. It suits us really well. I'd book soon though, we struggled to book our hotel back in May and others have mentioned similar problems.
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Saalbach gets my vote as well. Most of the details have been given, but I agree with Hayley t, that it is a really pretty place with some superb long distance skiing, with a few challenges thrown in. I did a bit of off piste while I was there two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
As Hayley says, it's getting popular so book soon.
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Glengooly-Guy, welcome to snowHeads 
I'm going back to Hinterglemm, which is part of the Saalbach ski area at Christmas. Same time last year the snow was pretty good, and the two towns are quite magical.
There's not much in the way of black runs, but plenty of reds, and lots of miles of skiing.
This very clever piste map shows you all the lifts and pistes, restaurants, and has webcams too.
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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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Glengooly-Guy, I was out there in March 2004 and snow cover was not an issue. In fact, it chucked it down for 5 days solid. Being a boarder, it was powder heaven.
As stated before, it's not too taxing but very good for racking up the milage on fairly decent pistes.
If you can, get a guide. Some of the hotels have them based in the hotel and if you can get one it will make a difference. We had one for a couple of days. Being on boards, all we were interested in was finding untouched powder and ....WOW. The off piste was unbelievable.
Great resort, fairly lively town centre and Hinterglemm is just up the road. Love it!! 
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RachelQ, We are at Saalbach this Christmas too! Glad to hear you recommend it - thanks for the link to the piste map.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Can only echo the good things which have already been said - a resounding thumbs up from every member of a group I went with this year. And like Richie said - the offpiste was awesome. What is it with the Austrians - there's fields of virgin powder left untracked at the side of the piste until British people whoop their way through it. I'm sure we were breaking some sort of taboo but hey - the fresh tracks!
A recommendation I haven't seen on this board for doing Saalbach on the cheap is the Hotel Riegler, which is run by a company called RocketSki (half board) or EquitySki (halfboard plus a ski pass/hire/guiding all inclusive deal of dubious value). The www.rocketski.com package price for flights, transfers and HB accomodation was £369 for late Jan last year (went down £100 about 6 weeks before). They're plugging it on their website now so I'm sure it's far from full and likely to be discounted again. Excellent value for money compared to the rest of Saalbach-Hinterglemm. 2 notes of caution - firstly the agents were staggerly inefficient and repeatedly lost booking details, tickets, you name it, they cocked it up, so prepare for a bit of pain before going. Secondly the hotel has 80% twin rooms in the front (massive, balcony, generally very nice) and 20% double rooms in the back (terrible box rooms that should be singles) all sold at the same price. Make sure you insist on a twin!
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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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bev bish, it would be good to meet up if we can, I only had chance to say hi to you and Chris for a minute on the last night of the EOSB.
We were very lazy last year and didn't go out to Saalbach at night, in fact the apres ski was so good we didn't go out after dinner much at all! But we've promised ourselves we'll try and curb the apres excesses and get out to see a bit more nightlife.
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