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Skiing in Ski Circus
The Ski Circus is the collective name for the region of Saalbach, Hinterglemm and Leogang, 3 villages comprising the largest connected ski resort in Austria, with 200km of pistes served by an efficient new lift system, and offering a notoriously wild apres-ski scene. The 2 villages of Saalbach and Hinterglemm are situated at the bottom of the Glemm Valley – Saalbach being a quaint, authentic looking village, despite its’ youth, with the loudest, brashest nightlife, and Hinterglemm being slightly more modern and fragmented, housing most of the large hotels and other accommodation. The valley offers a combination of sunny south facing slopes and crisp snow retaining north runs, creating enjoyable skiing conditions all day long, and the excellent snowmaking facilities and cold temperatures down in the valley help to ensure good snow coverage, despite the resorts’ low altitude of 1000m.
Skiing in Ski Circus – The Mountains
The expansive ski area of the Ski Circus is served by 55 lifts, capable of transporting 75,000 passengers an hour around the area – this fact, together with the possibility of skiing in either direction from any of the 9 access points, makes for a smooth running resort with shorter than usual lift lines. Of the 60 runs available, 27 are devoted to beginners, and the sunny south facing nursery slopes of Hinterglemm offer the best area to learn in - choose from 8 ski schools throughout the whole area for instruction. Then it’s time to progress onto the intermediate slopes – making up 50% of the total runs – and there are plenty of lovely tree-lined open runs, try the Bernkogel Kolmas or the Zehnerschlepplift runs. Expert skiers should head for the Schhattberg Seilbahn, with its’ vertical of 1000m, or the 3km black mogul run on the Zwolferkogel, and if you should run out of prepared advanced runs, then let a guide show you the 100km of off-piste available. Boarders can enjoy a fun park with half-pipes and even have their own exclusive 10km as well as the marked ski trails, and the local speciality of “tandem boarding” is a taught here.
Skiing in Ski Circus – The Apres-ski
The Ski Circus area is chosen by some primarily for the apres-ski, and the resorts certainly do not disappoint. When the skiing is winding down, and sometimes before, the mountain bars begin to fill up and the partying begins, and then it’s on to the many watering holes in the pedestrian village – perfect for strolling (or staggering) through in search of one of the 20 restaurants to dine in, before hitting one of the nightspots and dancing the night away. Particular favourites with the diverse European crowd, a mix of perennial partygoers such as Germans, Dutch, British and Swedes, are Bobbys’ Bar, Bar 8, Costellos, The Pub and The Londoner. Floodlit toboggan runs are popular in the evening, and for non-skier there is a good selection of activities such as ice-skating, bowling, swimming and tennis.
Ski Circus Skiing Holidays & Resorts
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