Text

|

Flachau is one of the most famous ski areas in the Salzburger Sportwelt and is located in the heart of Ski amadé. The lively village of Flachau and its districts meander around the spectacular local mountain Grießenkareck (1991 m), which forms the Flachau ski area, also known as the Snow Space Salzburg. Thanks to G-Link, Wagrain and Alpendorf are also easily accessible by cable car. This ski season Snow Space Salzburg is expanding its reach substantially with a new connection to the ski areas Shuttleberg and Ski Paradise Zauchensee.

In Flachau the ski lifts lead directly to the Grießenkareck. There you will find one of the highlights in the Flachau ski area. The Hermann Maier World Cup route is 3 km long and offers a real challenge for experienced ski pilots. The other slopes on the mountain are smoother and forgiving. These are mostly easy to moderate and lead up to 5 km in length over wide alpine pastures and wonderful forest aisles down into the valley.

Flachau proudly boasts it is the home of Hermann Maier, the Herminator, Austria’s World and Olympic Downhill champion, so one has to assume the skiing has much to recommend it. And it does, if you are an intermediate skier, that is. With a large array of wide, cruisey, beautifully groomed runs, most skiers will have a great wonderful time. Expert skiers, too, will find that the area is not without its challenges, not least the 6km run from the Griessenkar ridge.

Thanks to the wealth of easy blue runs, beginners will find themselves with plenty choice when the time comes for them to graduate from the nursery slopes and skiers of all standards will be able to enjoy exploring the area together.

Snow Space Salzburg is known for its immaculately groomed slopes. The hand full of black run pistes are deliberately left untouched so that you can enjoy the powder snow conditions. In addition, the lift system in the ski area is modern, fast and high-capacity. Although, the ski area can be quite busy, especially near Flachau, there is little to no waiting at the lifts. It is quieter towards Wagrain and Alpendorf.

Most likely, the crowds are a thing of the past; in the 2020-2021 ski season, the slopes of Flachau-Wagrain will be connected with those of the Shuttleberg (Flachauwinkl / Kleinarl). The new Panorma Link cable car connects both ski areas. Snow Space Salzburg is taking the next step in connecting the three different valleys with a lift connection to Zauchensee.

The Panorama Link cable car will enable the crossing from the Grießenkar above Wagrain to the Shuttleberg above Flachauwinkl / Kleinarl . The construction of the new cable car has been delayed, partly due to the coronavirus, but the opening in December 2020 seems possible. A 10-seater gondola lift will take passengers from one ski area to another in just 9 minutes. It will be a horizontal connecting lift over 3 kilometers in length. The slopes of Alpendorf, Wagrain, Flachau, Flachauwinkl and Kleinarl will be fully connected with each other from the coming season. Soon more will surely be known about a connection to Zauchensee.

A new connection to Zauchensee will complete the interconnection and create a ski area with more than 200 kilometers of slopes. This lift crosses the Tauern motorway so that you can get on and off the motorway on both sides. At the moment you still have to use the ski bus to get from the Sunshine Shuttle to Highliner 1. If all permits are issued quickly, this new runway should also be open in December 2020.

With the merger of the three ski areas Snow Space Salzburg, the Shuttleberg and Ski Paradise Zauchensee, the newly formed ski area offers you an exciting framework for an unforgettable winter holiday.

Flachawinkl

So what do the other two ski area bring into the mix?

Shuttleberg Flachauwinkl – Kleinarl is an attractive family ski area. In addition to its family-friendly character, this ski area also offers beautiful off-piste possibilities.

Zauchensee is characterised by beautiful sloping descents with limited challenge for the seasoned winter sports enthusiast. Zauchensee does provide many beautiful off-piste possibilities, the real freeriders can indulge themselves here.

Ski map Snow Space Salzburg

Link suggestions

For more information on Snow Space Salzburg, please visit the official website of Snow Space Salzburg

Related posts:

  1. The SkiWelt: phenomenal skiing in the Tyrolean Alps
  2. Hauser Kaibling : best maintained slopes in the eastern Alps
  3. Top 250 snow-sure ski resorts in the Alps
  4. Chamonix is not just for adrenaline junkies
  5. Saalbach: a vibrant winter sport hot-spot
Text

|

Located one hour away from Salzburg, Grossarl is a small, quiet village tucked away in the lesser-known Grossarltal, which runs parallel to the better-known bigger Gasteinertal, to the south of St Johann im Pongau. The village is located at an altitude of 924 meters and forms the heart of the Ski Amadé. The special thing about Großarl is that it lies in a dead-end valley. Here, the accommodations blend harmoniously into the natural environment which enhances the tranquil and relaxed atmosphere of this lovely authentic Austrian ski village.

The ski area is connected to Dorfgastein and forms the Skischaukel Dorfgastein Großarltal with close to 80 kilometers of slopes. With a ski pass you can ski here as well as in the other ski areas in the Gasteinertal such as the ski area of Bad Gastein and Sportgastein. In total you have 200 kilometers of ski slopes at your disposal. In addition, all areas are on the Ski Amadé lift pass which covers a massive 760 kilometers of piste across five neighbouring regions.

Although the mountain resort has a population of 3600, the size of the village in no way reflects how big the ski resort Grossarltal up the mountain is though. In fact, it is widely considered to be the best in the region for families and intermediate skiers thanks to its plethora of nursery slopes, blue runs and easy reds, with some steeper reds and a couple of blacks for the more experienced.

The Grossarl area is the larger of the Skischaukel Dorfgastein Großarltal, with a nice selection of long winding blue and red pistes providing a variety of home-runs down through the attractive wooded slopes to the two access gondola terminals in the valley. Several descents in Grossarl lead back to the village, making it a compact and manageable area.

The lifts of the two villages converge on the 2033 meter high Fulseck and the 2027 meter high Kreuzkogel. In between there are a number of bowls and long valley runs that lead back to the villages.

Grossarl is blessed with plenty of skiing for all levels. A smooth piste dashes down the ridge that divides the two valleys giving lovely views in each direction and you can easily ski either way, with gondolas back up. he upper half of the mountain is served by a gondola and four chairlifts. This ski area is therefore really very suitable for families and families with (young) children.

Better intermediates can make the most of the steep short reds into the bowl beneath the Kruezkogel peak, and there are a couple of ungroomed longer red routes off the Fulseck-Kieserl ridge on the non-lift-served side of this bowl; this unpisted but patrolled flank of the ski area also offers more advanced visitors some limited possibilities for some off-piste action, otherwise there are only two short black pistes in the entire linked area.

Budding freestyle skiers and snowboarders are very well catered for at Grossarl’s small but well-maintained snowpark on the Sonnenbahn slopes just below the Kruezkogel summit; with various kickers plus a nice set of novice-friendly butter-box modules, in flat, rainbow, and wave forms.

Despite the fact that the altitude range may seems limited, they do their utmost to keep the slopes as good as possible. Even after a longer period of thaw, the valley run often remains open and reasonably passable.

There are plenty of mountain bars and restaurants dotted around the slopes. Food is exceptional in all three areas with a collection of Ski-Toque huts, mountain restaurants offering signature dishes from top Austrian chefs.

In many ways perhaps Grossarl is the region’s best resort choice for families and for intermediate-level skiers. Großarl is one of the cheaper alternatives for a winter sports holiday in the Salzburger Land. If you are looking for an affordable small-scale family holiday, away from the crowds, then you have certainly come to the right place in Großarl.

Link suggestions

For more information on Großarl, please visit the official website of Großarltal

Related posts:

  1. The SkiWelt: phenomenal skiing in the Tyrolean Alps
  2. Val Thorens: legendary and world-class
  3. Chamonix is not just for adrenaline junkies
  4. Biggest ski areas in Europe: Does size matter?
  5. La Rosière: a good-value alternative to the mega-resorts of the Tarentaise