A mostly clear blue sky and a thick pack of fresh snow every night. This is winter sports like winter sports should be. Although it sometimes seems as if they were out of black and red markers when they signed the piste maps and they decided add some blue lines instead. Skiing in Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn is challenging, especially for beginners, that is one thing that is certain.
Skiing in Austria
We had lots of doubt about this years winter sports destination. Where would we go for our skiing holiday? We ended up choosing for Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn. The Austrian ski area stretches from Viehhofen, where the blue ski slope 68 ends and where we booked an apartment, to Vorderglemm, Saalbach and Hinterglemm and finally to the lifts of the Hochalm at the end of the valley. In total no less than 270 km of slopes. And so we took the Alpen Express train and headed to Austria.
The ski area is extensive and quite challenging. I am used to the blue and red slopes in France, but it turned out in Austria the slopes are a lot harder. The slopes that are labeled as blue in Austria, in my opinion could have been quite red. For beginners the area is certainly not easy, for who’s up for a challenge, this is heaven.
Early birds
Every day, we get up early to get to the slopes. Even though at the beginning of the day it gets quite crowded when everyone wants to be the first one in the ski lifts, later in the day there are hardly any queues at the lifts. The lifts in the area are connected quite well and you can easily make round trips. Only in Saalbach you need to walk. In this town many skiers walk from Kohlmais / Bernkogel to the other side of Saalbach to take the Schatberg Xpress lift.
Blue with a red edge
Our ‘daily round’ starts at the Talstation Schönleitenbahn. We take the ski lift to the mountain station and then descent to the Magic 6er lift. From here the lift and the blue piste take us to Saalbach. The long descent 2b is beautiful, but in the afternoon the slope is often too bad with a lot of moguls. So you can call the slopes blue but they can have a red edge to them.
The blue 46 Bernkogel to Saalbach on the other hand is a wide and easy descent, a nice beginner’s slope. More challenging is the blue valley run 68 to Viehhofen. Descending here is a must, especially if you make a stop at the Hecherhütte halfway. Please note that there’s a rather steep stretch at the end of the descent.
Winter sports in Saalbach Hinterglemm
We ski to the cozy Saalbach and the somewhat quieter village of Hinterglemm. We discover wide blue slopes, cozy forest paths and longer, red slopes. The Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn is one of the most diverse and best ski areas in the Alps and in Austria. It is therefore a great area for skiing, with perfectly groomed pistes (at least in the morning and beginning of the afternoon) and Austrian charm. There are few easy blue slopes. Many blue marked trails have a red edge to them, but there is also a lot of variation in the difficulty of the slopes. And, also important, on the slopes there is a wide range of mountain huts. Because you have to take some time to enjoy the sun and snow!
Saalbach is about 1000 kilometers from Utrecht, The Netherlands, where I live. You can go to Saalbach by car, but it is also possible to travel by train to Zell am See. Adventure guaranteed! From there you take the bus or taxi to one of the villages in the ski area. This blog was created in collaboration with Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn.