Saalbach/Hinterglemm trip, 8-15 January

Hi,

We just got back from our first trip to Saalbach/Austria.

We liked many things about the area, namely:
- very well connected ski circus by modern lifts,
- an abundance of lovely traditional mountain huts,
- general atmosphere in the resorts.

We strongly recommend 2 long scenic, cruising blue runs:
1. Run no.68 to Viehhofen: at 7.5 km longest run in the area (return to Saalbach by a ski bus between 14:30 and 17:00)
2. Run no.87-88-90 to Leogang.

However it could have been much better if
it wasn't for:
- poor and worstening by a day snow conditions
- lack of easy long blue runs within the main circus.

Many people staying in our hotel commented that most of the blue runs in Saalbach/Hinterglemm are in many parts Red in reality.
Although not an issue with me it was an issue for my wife who is a timid intermediate.

I checked a snow/weather report on this forum for Saalbach yesterday evening.
It said 70 cm of snow on upper slopes and Powder!!!???

Unfortunately it was slush and wet spring snow at best as we had positive temperatures all week and some heavy raining lower down as well.

Could you please recommend a resort anywhere in Alps with long easy, scenic blue runs and reliable snow for our/yours ) next ski trip?

Regards,

Hi,

A few photos from our trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58744169@N04/5387430620/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58744169@N04/5386829397/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58744169@N04/5387433180/

It was actually rather nice despite high temperatures;)

My mate was out there that exact same week. He referred to the conditions as "water skiing" after 11am, but still made the best of it by heading up as high as possible and skiing in the shaded areas.

Yeah,

Snow was not too bad on the northern slopes.
I really liked black World Cup run from Zwolferkogel, and a night toboggan run from Reiterkogel in Hinterglemm :D.
Unfortunately all runs on the north side of the main valley were too steep for my wife to enjoy. The south side was really slushy from half way down the mountains. However the 2 long runs mentioned before to Leogang and Viehhofen alone were worth the trip to Saalbach/Hinterglemm.
Oh, and the mountain huts there are very nice. Best We've seen so far )

We had one difficult day with snow conditions, but still quite skiable. After that, the snow improved every day. As mentioned the north facing retains good conditions down to village level.
The most positive aspect was the run over to Leogang village. OK, it wasn't steep, but it was lovely meadow skiing. Cheap to eat at village level.
Some interesting traditional stubles to drink/eat on the mountain. We had a fair bit of nebel, fog, but that is a feature above 2000m in many resorts.
Met up with an old fell running mate, who is a good standard skier, so we had a blast.
We stayed in Hinterglemm, but viewed it as expensive, and visited/did Skiset ski hire in Saalbach. We thought this a more interesting village, retaining some of it's old character.
Having said that, the skiing is much better, now that we are in Niederau. Outside of the USA, I have never experienced such good mountain management.