Saalbach Hinterglemm

Good morning all,

I am planning our first family ski holiday for the end of March this year and am looking for some advice to make sure I'm not making a big mistake!! We are looking at staying at the Hotel Unterschwarzachhof in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, arriving Saturday 28th March for 1 x week.

I will be travelling with my husband and three children (ages 9, 7 and 4) who will all be going into ski school as this is the first time they have skied. My husband and I are good skiers but haven't been for 10 years (pre kids!).

I wanted to ask about the snow conditions this time of year, are we too late in the season?! Will the snow be slush? What is the resort like first week of April, will everything still be open? Will the ski schools have any snow to ski on? I have read very mixed reviews about late season, so would love any knowledge based on current snow and recent years. The hotel has a big pool and other activities on for the children, so we're happy to be busy in the late afternoons non skiing.

Thanks so much for any help! I want to just make sure we're not making a mistake coming to Saalbach at this time of year.

Lucy :)

You need to realise so many factors of a ski holiday are defined by nature, and you have no control over that. No-one can predict long range weather forecasts that far in advance. It is late in the season but sometimes there has been a good late dump of snow.

The two resorts are quite spread out along the valley but Hinterglemm is the more family friendly. A good bus service links the two, and there are other regional buses to other resorts, ie Zell am See. There's shops and everything you will need for an alpine holiday.

Go prepared to ski, but also to understand that conditions may change throughout the day, and therefore other activities will need to be found. Quite often kids are more than happy just to be out in the snow building snowmen, sledging and just having the freedom to play,quite often with new little friends of different nationalities.

Manage your expectations and enjoy the beauty of Austria.