 Poster: A snowHead
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Saalbach, Austria: any good for a timid second weeker?
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 1-11-05 14:16; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Louis, Plenty of wide blues in Saalbach so it should be fine. I'm pretty sure there is an interactive piste map on their website so I'll check out the link for you. There are also a lot of wide reds to progress to. Its a fantastic resort, great skiing, good lift network (not too many t-bars) and apres ski.
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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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Louis, that's where I learned to ski 10 years ago. Plenty to play on, and great apres.
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Thanks guys-- girlfriend will be happy now
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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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Hmm - I probably wouldn't have given the same advice for a timid 2nd weeker, as IMHO, Saalbach, fantastic resort though it is doesn't really have any easy blues - the blues are generally hard, the reds generally easy, and the classification seems pretty arbitrary. I went with a couple of timid early intermediates and they struggled to be frank.
But, I'm sure you've booked it by now, so here's my "easy skiing in Saalbach" tips.
1. For a nursery slope tune up, there's a small "drag lift circus" at Hinterglemm North facing base, which will be obvious from the piste map. There's just one overcrowded nursery slope in Saalbach.
2. The easiest base-accessible blue is 52. Get the funny cable car with the 4 red carriages at the Saalbach central south facing area to the MIDstation (it's steep off the top!) and go down 52 for some confidence building cruises.
3. Next step is the chair lift which runs from the centre of saalbach town on the south face up towards the hinterglemm area. Nice long blue under it.
4. Finally, the Leogang day trip has a nice easy blue route, and is within the range of a timid second weeker - plenty of snowploughs about on those slopes. don't miss out on this. You have to tackle a few reds coming back, but they're all easy.
Enjoy, it's an awesome resort!
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JimiHendrix, cheers, thanks for advice
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Just took out my Saalbach Hinterglemm ski map to check JimiHendrix's recommendation which I agree substantially (did it for the benefit of the 2nd weeker) with the following exception
Leogang cannot be accessed without doing at least a red run in both direction near the entry point from Saalabch. The middle red run 88 may be avoided by taking the gondola.
Leogan is easier with the beginner especially at the bottom end but do take care on the Red runs 81, 82 and 83 near the Saalbach end.
I would say Saalbach Hiterglemm is a paradise for cruising to the immediates. If in doubt leave your 2nd weeker at the chairlift bottom and go through the run yourself once to be sure of its suitability.
Depend on the time of the year the sunlight could disappear pretty quick in the early evening and so do allow a good safety margin to catch the last chainlift. I missed it once and took frightening wife down the 4km Blue Run 46 in total darkness! I now carry a torch permanently in the rucksack.
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Blimey, was told earlier Saalbach would be good for a 2nd weeker, not so sure now!! Oh well, all booked now..can only hope for the best now- hopefully not a lot of tears and "oh my God , i can't go down there".
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Louis, Saalbach is fine for a 2nd weeker. Although contrary to what Jimmi Hendrix said (or sang), I wouldn't recommend blue 52 as it is actually quite reddish in parts. The grading of the slopes is (as with many resorts) pretty variable and very dependent upon conditions. I took several first weekers their in January, and they were fine. There are some very good ski-schools there, and suggest you check out slopes first, before dragging beginners down them.
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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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Louis, fact is it doesn't get much easier than Saalbach, so there's not much point in looking for alternatives! The only place I would offer you as being easier might be the Ski Welt which is also the biggest conglomeration of ski areas in Austria (Hopfgarten, Brixen im Thale, Söll, Itter etc etc).
But you've booked now, so don't look back. Look forward and start doing the snow dance instead 
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JimiHendrix,thats a very interesting post mate. What do you know about Zell am See and Kaprun?
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You know it makes sense.
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Louis, it will be fine, we've done it with second weekers. The good thing about Saalbach is that the majority of slopes are wide so if it does get a bit steep you have lots of time to make your turns.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Louis, didn't mean to worry you - Saalbach is an awesome resort and I wager your timid skiing girlfriend will be hooked after a week there.
To qualify my advice a little. I went with 3 people in their second week ( 2 timid, 1 bold) so it's very much from their feedback and on-slope reactions.
1. So some people say it's an easy resort, some a hard. Well both points of view are correct depending on your standard of skiing. I would say that particularly on the main south face there isn't much (blue or red) that a relative beginner would find really really easy, but conversely there's nothing hard either - hence perfect intermediate cruising terrain. One thing I would say in comfort to a timid skiier is that on the south face there are virtually no "surprises" on the whole mountain. So, snow anomalies permitting, your girlfriend is not going to start down a slope, go round a corner and find a nightmare drop.
2. Blue 52 - the bottom is easy, I agree with kamikaze there are some red bits above the middle station, but my second week friends loved this slope from the middle station down. This bottom section was also recommended by the hotel ski guide as the easiest around.
3. To put a number to the other blue i recommended from the Saalbach base - Blue 46
4. The Leogang trip. saikee is right, I , erm, forgot about the red entry - 81/82/83. However, all my second week friends managed this, no problem. It also gets easier the closer you get to Leogang, so if she manages the first slope, you're in. This is probably one for you to make a call on depending on her confidence and snow conditions while you're there.
5. Agree with hayley t - I don't think I saw "narrow plus steep" anywhere
6. I see on another post you're looking at booking ski school for your girlfriend - great idea as that gives the problem of selecting the most suitable slopes to the pros. A couple of people used a ski school this year, can't remember which though. We walked down the main street and went into a couple of offices, they all seemed to have plenty of availability even for same day bookings. We went for one which had videos of the skill level required for each group (no "ski-off" selection here) and had Crystal & Thomson signs up. The teaching was apparently really good, I don't think you'll go far wrong.
I'm jealous mate - you're gonna have a fantastic time. 
Renry - I've never been to Zell am See or Kaprun, but I'd like to, so if you go, let us know how you get on!
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Poster: A snowHead
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JimiHendrix, thank you very much, very helpful indeed and thanks for reassuring me. Start to pray for snow now!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Renry, I've been to Zell am See. Didn't get over to Kaprun though.
Zell was pretty good fun - its not a particularly big ski area (although Kaprun obviously extends things, but T-bars don't really appeal to me) but its a pretty area and I found it quite enjoyable. It got warm when we were there and the snow low down became very heavy - this made skiing back to the main cable cars difficult / painful as the 2 big blacks back down were hard work with slushy conditions. I was with my ex who would have been in the timid 2nd weeker category and she got on just fine.
I wasn't overly impressed with the main ski school - well my experience was awful. In short I'm a decent intermediate at very best but I was miles MILES above the average standard in the highest group and to have some silly ski-off along with almost beginners on a nursery slope was clearly ridiculous - effectively my standard just wasn't catered for - odd as I think a good ski school should be able to accomodate WAY better than me. After the grading we were last group to ship out and then had a few more late arrivals added in with us - of course it turned out that they were even further below the 'standard' and spent all morning losing skis in the fresh powder that had fallen over night whilst myself and my then new friend who was considerably better than me stood watching getting ever more irritated and frustrated. We lasted to lunch on day 2 I think or maybe day 3 and then buggered off. Thats just my experience - but I'd suggest looking into ski school before going.
The town was really nice, lovely big lake right there and decent apres to be had. Some of the Hotels are fantastic - we were in the Tirolerhof - it was outstanding and the spa bit was amazing - steam room, sauna, salt chamber type steam room, turkish herby steam room thing plus a couple more (one might have been called a laconium!?) it was the most relaxing post skiing I've ever experienced.
As for suitability for various standards - really good skiers would be pretty bored I'd imagine, it caters pretty well for 2nd weekers to low / mid intermediates I'd say.
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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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JimiHendrix's post is OK. My intention was to highlight the red runs "if" one ventures into Leogang which is another different valley nearly perpendicular to and at the front end of the Saalbach/Hiterglemm Valley. Going to Leogang is optional as Saalbach/Hinterglemm is not a small area to cover.
Between Zell am See/Kaprun and Saalbach/Hiterglemm/Leogang the latter is definitely more suitable to beginner, although both have enough easy and steep runs.
Like haylet t said the runs in Saalbach/Hiterglemm/Leogang are massive, wide and very long. A lot of them are over 2km long. There is plenty scope to go for the easy spots of each run.
Zell am See and Kaprun are two separate areas making a total of 130km pistes. This is small by Saalbach/Hiterglemm/Leogang standard where you can ski the whole 200km piste area which is fully linked. The biggest fully linked resort in Austria is Ski Welt, made up by 8 sattelite sub-resorts, with 250km piste.
Personally I regard doing a loop in the Saalbach/Hinterglemm Valley is one of the few delights of skiing in the Alps. The only repeated negative comment I heard about Saalbach is it hasn't got sufficient challenging blacks to satisfy the experts.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Wed 2-11-05 11:38; edited 1 time in total
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Louis, when are you going?
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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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JimiHendrix, Saalbach offers much better skiing than Zell or Kaprun unless you are a beginner. But the town of Zell is really nice with good nightlife like Adam Holt mentioned.
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hayley t, 14 Jan 06.
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Good luck with the snow - last year it dumped all that week. It is on the early side of the season but due to the meadowed terrain, fairly sheltered valley and heavy early season snow gunning they seem to go from green fields to fully open very quickly.
It shouldn't be at all crowded then either. I can see you're planning things carefully but you shouldn't have any trouble with the rock-up-and-see approach for ski school, equipment hire and lift pass on the first morning there especially if you are staying near central Saalbach or Hinterglemm.
AdamHolt, I did chuckle at your ski-off story. I had a classic a few years ago where after a 10 year break from skiing, I was faced with ski-off as my first metres of skiing in a decade. As nursery slopes go, it seemed fairly steep, and in attempting to get my ski on, it shot off down the piste. By the time I hiked back I was sent to the lowest group! 
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if 14th Jan is early, im going December 17th. /renry does snow dance, crosses fingers and gets on his knees and begs for snow!
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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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Hi, Saalbach is a great place. I've just finished working the summer there, and it really is an addictive little village, just see how many workers have settled there!
If it is your gf's 2nd week, then I expect she should be in ski school anyway, the ski instructors I met were all great people.
The hardest part about the resort is going to bed!
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sorry to jump in on your thread againLouis, but is Saalbach a area I could ski if we are based near Zel? and if so which is the better. Zel and Kaprun or Saalbach?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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I stayed in Zell am See in 2003 Christmas and then drove to Ellmau of Ski Welt for the week after.
From memory Saalbach is just the next junction down the road (opposite to Kaprun direction). Distance wise my record show 3.5, 13 and 16.5 miles from Zell to Kaprun, Saalbach and Hiterglemm respectively.
My record shows Zell to Ellmau is 43 miles. From Ellmau to Kitzbuhel is 28 miles. My estimation for Saablach to Kitzbuhel is probably about 50 miles. By taxi it will not be a small sum. I think there are two possible routes of similar distances.
The mileages I had were obtained by MS Autoroute. From my experience it has been very accurate and the variation should be within a 5% range.
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Thanks saikee, It is obviously further than I thought! 
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You know it makes sense.
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My comments on Saalbach, based on experience in Feb 2004...
I took my Girlf, now wife, who at the time was a 4 week snow boarder, really only comfortable on Blues ( she had a bad few years learning ). Now I KNOW its rather different proposition skiing to boarding, but by the end of the week in Saalbach she had comfortably progressed to reds and had even gone down a Black ( "I thought it was a bit steep", she said ). Anyway, my point is Saalbach was a turning point in her 'career' on snow and I will always be thankful for that !
There is a a host of great wide blues and particularly a long blue (7km or something ), that forces you to keep skiing / boarding over a longer period and hence improvement comes quicker. The reds, in general, were wide and great fun - I was able to take my wife onto them without her realising they were 'reds' and at the end of the run explain that she had just completed her first 'red' and wasn't it easy / great etc - did wonders for her confidence.
Lastly, Saalbach makes great play on the 'Ski Circus' - a round trip route up one side of the valley to Hinterglemm and back the other side. Couple of points on this, you need to do at least 1 and maybe 2 red runs to complete this if I recall correctly and secondly you have ( or at least 'had' in 2004 ) to do a steep button drag lift to get back into Saalbach ( there is an option to drop into the Valley and take a bus back instead thou ! ). Probably fine for a skier, but a little nervy for an unconfident snowboarder.
Oh, and lastly lastly, Saalbach was really picturesque, pretty little place ( at least compared to most of the French resorts I have been too ) - not that it makes a great difference to me, but its nice for newbies to experience some real mountain charm ! If I could remember the name of the bar, i'd recommend the Brandy enhanced hot chocolate we had at the end of every day - great way to finish !
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Richie_S, I think the steep drag you are talking about (back from Leogong?) is one of the two they've swapped for heated detached high speed chairs.
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Poster: A snowHead
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there are 3 new heated chairlifts opening in Saalbach Hinterglemm this winter, one past Hinterglemm, one next to the Reiterkogel, and I forget where the 3rd is - probably the Leogang one kamikaze.
Oh the luxury!
The lazy won't want to get off.
If I don't get placed there, I will definately visit a few times over the season.
As for a lack of challenging blacks, I can agree, but with only a little bit of effort there are nice looking areas to ski off piste for experts, being in a steep valley, you will always end up on the main road on one side, and a track down to Leogang on the other - take a guide though! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The drag I was referring to is marked as number 16 on the piste map, next to red run 47. ( south facing side of the valley on the way back into Saalbach from Hinterglem ) It takes you up from the bottom of the the Rieterkogel Ost blue, ( adjacent to the Chair 14 ) up to the top of Bernkogel, from which there is a great fast, but sometimes busy blue piste which takes you back into Saalbach. The top of Rieterkogel Ost is reached from the top of the 'Sunliner' 4 pack. Its worth noting that at the bottom of hte Rieterkogel Ost, you need to carry on down a little further (150m+ ?) before you get to see the drag lift. If you then decide it isn't makeable then you've got two choices : head down and get on with the drag, or a real hike back up to chair 14 to go back to the top of the Rieterkogel Ost. In reality one you leave the bottom of the Rieterkogel Ost you are in reality committed to taking the drag.
I did this once with my wife, and it was tears before bedtime [ note to self, NEVER force your 'novice' snowboarding wife on to a drag lift, when there are no other options ! ]
That said, the very next day, I left the decision entirely to my wife, and she returned to try the drag with the benefit of some more empathetic support from a girlfriend - I stayed well out of it - and halleleuah if she didn't make it, which improved her confidence on drags no end.
There is a piste map here ... http://www.saalbach.com/default.php?id=20&L=0
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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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BTW, when we went, there was no fresh snow and the temperatures were very high - on the south facing side of the valley, it was pretty slushy spring type conditions in the afternoon, and the North side was always rock hard in the morning before it got chopped up. ( this was in early Feb ). Luckily there had been plenty of snow in the preceeding weeks. What impressed me was how well they looked after the pistes - far better than my experience in French resorts. They were out there bashing out the slush before the lifts closed - following the freshly bashed tracks of the piste basher in soft conditions was great fun !
What could have been a not so great week, was excellent because we had great sunshine, nice and warm and very well maintained pistes ! Incidently the quality of the mountain restaurants was excellents - really encouraged us to spend a bit more time over lunch - normally its a Croque Monsieur, a coke and back on the lifts !
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I visited Saalbach as a brave second weeker and I have been there five times since then. I read some excellent descriptions here from Richie_S, JimiHendrix, saikee, I agree with. The resort has just mailed me their new broschures and piste map. The new lifts are numbered as 9, 10, and 42. The first two is the replacement of draglifts and they are heated below 3C.
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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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The North side of the Saalbach/Hiterglemm is South facing. So 50% of it always has unobstructed sunlight (on any sunny day) making skiing very cheerful. I believe this could have something to do with its popularity and relative few criticisms. If you do not appreciate this try Courchevel and ski under a huge shade provide by the Saluire peak in the early afternoon.
Snow wide it always managed to have more snow than the neighbouring Zell am See. When I monitored it the Saalabach/Hiterglemm Valley was always colder than area outside the valley. With a much bigger skiing domain and copled with less visitors (Zell am See in on a trunk road whereas Hinterglemm is at the dead end of a valley) Saalbach is hard to beat.
Piste quality, chairlift links, lunches at the mountains, dinners at Saalbach, busy night life in Hinterglemm stood out very memorable. The resort is very well organised and is one of the few that give "free" covered car parking at the town centre close to the chairlifts when you purchase a day pass.
It is one of the best skiing places I had been despite going down a 4km piste in total darkness after having missed the last chairlift link.
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Is Saalbach skiiable if Im based @ Zel?
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One of my post indicates the distances from Zell to Saalbach and Hinterglemm are 13 and 16.5 miles respectively. Hiterglemm is at the dead end of the valley but the first chairlift station of the Valley may be reached in about 10 miles from Zell, I would say. I believe they run a bus service between the two resorts but I never used it.
Thus even by taxi one can sample Saalbach/Hinterglemm/Leogang while staying in Zell Am See. The two resorts are run by separate companies I think. Only Kaprun is included in Zell am See ski map but in Austria one can buy a regional type pass to cover several resorts. Not done it with Zell and Saalbach but I skied Kitzbuhel, Alpbach with a upgraded ski pass in Ski Welt.
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Reney, you can upgrade to the Super Salzbergerland pass which includes Zell, Kaprun, Saalbach Hinterglemm, then a lot of other areas that UK companises don't seem to visit - there are 5 villages which you can ski through all 5 linked in one day including- Maria Alm, Saalfelden and a lot of others I've forgotten!! There is an excellent bus service from Zell to access this area. I know tour operators organise a ski away day from Zell to Saalbach, and this is always the reps favourite day of the week!
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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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sound good Andy C,
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